Dixie Project legislation, 1963-1964

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Mr. Jay R, Bingham - 3> April 25, 1963 new full-time farms in the project area on new lands alone. It seems clear, in any event, that the Dixie Project, if undertaken, would result in a substantial increase in employment opportunities in the area. It seems reasonable also, that since the anticipated use of the new lands to be developed will be primarily for livestock and crop purposes that the need for foreign labor to work the land would be held to a minimum. The fact that 18 per cent of the new lands under the project a r e federally owned and will probably be developed by home steading, should bring some new population into the area and encourage other local residents to enter farming as an occupation. The availability of new water supplies and power supplies for the St. George area, together with the better access to the a r e a through com­pletion of the interstate highway system should encourage and stimulate light industrial development and greater activity in the tourist industry. These conditions should result in increased non-farm ernployment oppor­tunities and also provide supplemental incomes for the continuing part-time farmers. New employment opportunities in the area a r e limited at present. However, in the past twelve months there have been several encouraging developments which will improve employment opportunities. Completion of the Dixie Project will no doubt accelerate these projects and encourage new ones. They are: 1. The Hawthorn Company of New Haven, Missouri, have under construction an 80, 000 square foot building in St. George which will ultimately employ four hundred workers in the manufacture of tents, tarps, sleeping bags, and other recreational sporting goods. Most of the pro­duction of this plant will be marketed in southern California by Sears Roebuck. 2. The Travelodge chain of motor courts has purchased a site in St. George and a new Travelodge will be constructed in the summer of 1963„ This development stimulates confidence in the future of Washington County as a tourist mecca. 3. There is increasing interest in southern Utah coal deposits as a source of energy to satisfy mounting power needs of metropolitan centers*, Investigations have been made by Nevada Power Company for a thermal generating plant in Utah with transmission lines running to the Las Yegas area. Other investigations have been made of the economic feasibility of