A Vast, Variable, and Valuable Empire
The central and southern Rocky Mountain
regions-a 10-State area stretching from the
Canadian border of North Dakota to Mexicomake a vast, variable, and valuable empire that
comprises one-fourth of the land area of the conterminous 48 States.
Physiographically, the area is characterized
by high mountains and true desert at the extremes, with high plateaus, rich mountain valleys, and high and low plains between. The natural
vegetation reflects the accompanying climate.
Within this vast and variable empire are
bounteous natural resources of water, timber,
forage, wildlife, and recreational and scenic values
that contribute much to the Nation's economy.
Unquestionably, water is the most important
resource the area contributes to the western twothirds of the Nation. Several major rivers of the
West, including the Missouri, Platte, Arkansas,
Canadian, Pecos, Rio Grande, Gila, and Colorado,
have their origins in the Rockies. From these
waters, irrigation and light and power are furnished for much of the West and Midwest. Cities
and towns rely on mountain watersheds as their
major source of water. And, mountain waters,
held in multitudes of manmade lakes and reservoirs, provide prime outdoor recreation of a type
that otherwise would not be available.
Some 80 percent of the lands is suitable, to
some degree, for grazing of domestic livestock.
Ranchers in the Rocky Mountain region derive
over $1 billion annually from livestock, many of
which are grazed under permit on Federal lands,
chiefly National Forests. Some 11 million cattle
and 9 million sheep graze a third of their forage
from these ranges, which vary from semidesert
grass-shrub ranges to alpine grasslands.
Wood products have always been a continuing
segment of the economy of the central and southern Rockies.
Commercial forests cover roughly 30 million
acres; another 50 million acres are covered with
noncommercial forest, primarily pinyon-juniper
woodlands. The commercial forests support more
than 108 billion board feet of sawtimber-32 billion cubic feet of net growing stock. The wood
products industry is now in a transition stage,
switching toward more specific product orientation-emphasis on remanufactured products
rather than plain boards.
Over 1.5 million big-game animals are the
primary drawing card for hunters. Mule deer head
the list in terms of numbers, while elk are the
prized trophies. There is no sure way to put a
dollar value on the wildlife resource itself, but as
an example of the values at stake, Colorado alone
estimated the value added to the State's economy
by sportsmen expenditures (hunting and fishing)
at nearly $329.4 million in 1973.~
The esthetics of a diverse wildlife population
broadly overlap into the field of recreation. The
food value of the game the hunter brings home
is but a small part of the total value he derives
from being in the forest or field. The scenic grandeur of its mountains and deserts, however, gives
2Nobe,K. C., D. M. Blood, and Lee Ann Ross. Survey of
sportsmen expenditures for hunting and fishing in Colorado,
1973. (A contract report for the Div. Wildl., State of Colo.,
prepared by Dep. Econ., Colo. State Univ., Fort Collins.)
3
MAJOR RIVER DRAINAGES AND
GENERAL VEGETATION TYPES
Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station
March 1976
SCALE
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200
O
IN MILES
growing youngster in
d e u e w n g country
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the area great interest to recreationists. National
Forests within the area accounted for 18 percent
of the visits or days' use for all the National
Forests across the country in 1974, yet the area
supports only 7 percent of the country's population. Winter sports, especially, are gaining rapidly
in popularity. Recreation takes many forms in
the central and southern Rocky Mountains, and
encompasses all seasons.
Regions Used Early
Although the 10 States that make up the
central and southern Rocky Mountain regions are
officially young-7 are among the last 14 admitted
to the Union-their history of use by the white
man is old. Spanish explorers and settlers spread
northwestward from Mexico over much of the
region before the Pilgrims landed in New England.
Early records show that a Jesuit missionary promoted livestock raising in southern Arizona in
1540. The Spanish settlers spread mostly over
the lowlands, following the river courses back
into the interior.
Settlement of the rugged, mountainous areas,
and the prairies to the east, progressed slowly
until the late 1880's. Then several factors combined to cause boom growth: the construction of
railroads to link East and West, the discovery of
rich ores of gold and silver, and trail herds of
cattle moving east from the Oregon Territory to
Nebraska and Kansas railheads were a few.
Significantly, the lack of water-or perhaps
more accurately, the erratic distribution of water
-was a challenge even then to the development
of communities and agriculture. 'Extensive irrigation systems were functioning as early as 1880.
Forests, especially those around developing
communities, were logged off to provide necessary fuel, building lumber, fence and corral posts,
mine timbers, and railroad ties. The tie hacks,
especially, high-graded the forests in the railroaders' rush to connect the Coasts. Railroad
construction also adversely affected the wildlife.
Market hunters slaughtered great herds of game
to provide meat for construction crews.
The range resource, too, was hit hard before
the human population increased significantly.
Livestock numbers soared to an early peak in
1885-over 5 million head of cattle, and nearly
10 million head of sheep. Overgrazing soon took
its toll, and the herds suffered heavy losses during droughts and blizzards.
A Great Public Resource
Large segments of the forest and rangelands
in the central and southern Rocky Mountain
regions are in public ownership and-significantly
-a public responsibility. Moreover, a close mountain-valley relationship exists. What happens on
or to the mountains directly affects the values
and activities in the adjacent valleys and cities.
Here lies an immense piece of highly valuable
real estate, its potential yields of renewable natural
resources not yet fully known or appraised in
terms of management guides.
The dominant value of the water resource
requires that management and use of the other
resources must often consider water yield as a
limiting parameter. Thus, the economics of multiple-use relationships play an increasingly important role in the great Rocky Mountain empire.
A close nuncntuin-valley rekationship exists i n the central and southern Rocky Mountuin regions.