Show I F I Western Resources 1 a t k 1 WRAP-UP WRAP X f. f M M f l y MH I The West looks great That Is the impression of ot native turf that this correspondent has received after a month of travel mainly In the West thru much of Colorado central and southern Arizona a sliver of southern California around Imperial dam western Washington and western Montana-as Montana well as visits In the Chicago Boston and New York areas Evidence of well being is everywhere Inthe Inthe in inthe the West In most households all adults are working some including Grandma Houses and yards look better kept up than ever before Where old Industries in industries In- In are phasing down new industries are taking th their lr places Pueblo Colorado the historic industrial collar blue-collar community community com com- community in the state now has a multifaceted multifaceted multifaceted multi- multi faceted economy with a beautiful art center flourishing tho pinched money Southern Colorado University and an expanding colony of retirees The steel mill no longer determines Pueblos Pueblo's economy Young homeowners are buying up old houses in this correspondents correspondent's hometown of Leadville Colorado They have painted and patched up many of the old houses and they look great Somehow this historic old mining town doesn't look so old oldany oldany oldany any more Durango Grand Junction and Craig the three anchor communities on Colorados Colorado's Western bustling So are virtually all other West Western rn Slope communities except Gunnison on according to Paul Hathaway of the Grand Junction Sentinel who lives in Delta Della and travels the area a lot t WESTERNERS ARE AHE quite concerned about the drought Eastern Colorado looks very dry Western farmers however express far more concern about the price of wheat than they do about the drought Two vo cattlemen whom we met on the trip an owner of a feedlot f near Yuma and a cattle callie buyer from LaPorte Ind who had been buying cattle in Montana said the livestock market is recovering from the thelow thelow thelow low prices of recent months Even so the in the West is js only breaking even when he sells his cattle aUle the cattle dealer told Western Re Resources Wrap-up Wrap I feel frel real sorry sorry for some Montana ranchers he said As elsewhere farming and ranching are arc widely regarded as a win no-win occupation in inthe inthe inthe the West A couple of young brothers who live on a small spread near Parker Colorado who are expert horsemen and cowboys are arc getting no help or en- en Jamily lending ig in- in lr me Partners partners partners Part part- ners in n a f f ranch arm rant arm ranch rm-ranch i operation They want to build a foundation herd and buy farm farmland farmland farmland land near Elizabeth EI zabeth Colo One plans to become an accomplished rodeo performer to help finance his share The other plans to go to an agricultural college to get the necessary scientific and technical training Still all agree their prospects as farmers and ranchers are not bright WESTERN TRAVEL IN NOVEMBER The West's tourist season doesn't feature late fall But November in the West can be incredibly beautiful A bus ride between Silverton and Ouray Colo in November mid-November after a recent snowstorm was unforgettable The Southwestern Southwestern Southwestern South South- western Colorado were gleaming in their new white snow cover and the evergreens were wem Jaden laden with new snow An air trip from Grand Junction to Denver a few days later was breath breath- taking One could see in one eye span the San Juan mountains in the distance the and Mosquito Ranges up close while flying over the last Mt Elbert Colorados Colorado's highest mountain with Twin vin Lakes at al aUts its foot was clearly etched on the Western horizon hori It made leaving Colorado tough for one born tarn and bred at the base of the Continental Divide Roads are arc generally good and airlines and buses ran on time during last months month's trip Food is good passable good passable to-passable most everywhere service Self-service salad bars are arenow arenow arenow now the big tiling thing ng in the larger Western eateries They appeal to the diet conscious travelers and they cut down on needed restaurant help to boot Motel-hotel Motel space Is generally available Since koho salmon were Introduced several years ago In Flathead Lake In northern Montana they have begun to spawn upstream In Glacier National Park Now Glacier has a new fall attraction People d drive ive on Icy roads even In late November to see eagles dive for salmon Inthe in inthe inthe the Park So many tourists have become watchers eagle that the National Park Service recently has complained they are arc disturbing the eagles Indian reservations In Arizona Colorado California and Montana Montana- especially in Montana-look Montana better than this correspondent has even seen them Altho the of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service are generally held in low regard the federal money that they and other federal agencies have been pumping into the Indian reservations is making Indian communities look more attractive TilE THE COLLISION course on which many tribes and Western states appear to beheaded be beheaded beheaded headed on water rights may not occur The Chin Ak-Chin tribe in central Arizona is attempting attempting attempting at at- tempting to work out its water problems with its non-Indian non neighbors Both belong to the same irrigation district in south- south central Arizona Arizona- The two Colorado Ute tribes have already worked out an accommodation accommodation ac ac- ac with their non-Indian non neighbors neighbors neighbors neigh neigh- bors in southwestern Colorado regarding g division of water from federal water projects In each instance Uncle Sam is expected to come up with money to fund the water wafer projects to meet the needs of both Indians and Indians non alike Whether it will actually do so under this Administration is a big if all agree The historic friction between Indians and the states over jurisdiction and taxes continues Collection of state sales taxes in Indian areas from non-Indians non was the biggest bone of contention in the Indian areas visited last month Indians lure to their reservations by advertising by word-of-mouth word or otherwise that they dont don't collect sales taxes from non And they dont This drives state revenue collectors up a wall to no avail On a purchase which this correspondent made at a Gila River Indian gift shop in Arizona in November mid-November we specifically asked about the state sales tax None charged the Indian clerk crisply replied CARTER DOESN'T UN UN- uy yiu lit an mi sur JJ ni u u Westerners who follow politics hold the view that if President Carter seeks a second term in 1980 he will get bla blanked ked in inthe inthe inthe the West Nest on electoral votes as he was very nearly blanked in the West in 1976 The most mot frequently voiced complaints are that he doesn't understand the West or he doesn't understand Western problems talked to only one Westerner during the November trip who was on the fence regarding Mr Carter All others were Carter anti-Carter some violently so A lot of sentiment against Mr Carter extends beyond him to the federal government generally which he now heads Disillusion about the federal governments government's ability to solve problems is widespread Until the federal government has lias a better beUer track record on problem- problem solving and cost effectiveness it may be that no President can be re There is much support in the West for Alan Bakke the engineer who claims he failed Tailed to get into medical school because the University of California at Davis denied his application solely because he is isa isa isa a white male The case is now before the US U.S. Supreme Court A number of Westerners told they thought the federal government or President Carter or both are leaning too much in favor of minorities blacks Chicanos American Indians Orientals or women Women are not a minority but they are generally regarded as such in equal empl employment programs Equal employment opportunity programs are having their impact On the Spokane Spokane Missoula Missoula leg of our journey we met a couple of truck drivers Including a ayoung ayoung ayoung young woman who temporarily had given up driving a truck from Missouri to California to log in Washington's forests She talked in unintelligible CB language to the man still truck driving In an effort to establish her credentials as a colleague with him His Ills face was a mask he wasn't impressed ON UN Tim THE Chicago-Boston Chicago leg of our journey we met a young field construction engineer who was a petite young woman of 25 Like her father she is a civil engineer He lIe was initially terribly upset when she told him she wanted to be an engineer she related But after she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh as an engineer she said he had been very helpful in giving her guidance in her work Now he is extremely extremely ex ex- proud of her and they talk shop when they are arc together she happily concluded Such programs toss up the other side of the coin too A year old youth in Melrose Mass is an expert on and is obsessed with railroads especially Western railroads He acquired this hobby and his love for trains from his grandfather grandfather grandfather grand grand- father who worked as a trainman on the Rio Grande in Salida Colo His Ills applications applications applications ap ap- ap- ap to work for a half dozen railroads have been turned down because he is a white male and they are arc under orders to hire more minorities and women H lies He's s 's bitter Finally the population of the West is rapidly becoming older as more retirees settle in the West permanently or temporarily temporarily temporarily tem tem- The number of snow birds elderly couples in trailers that had already settled in for the winter around Yuma Ariz by November mid-November was amazing They appear to settle in anywhere with or without utility con con- The problems of the aging are arc competing for attention with the problems of youth The problems of the elderly will accelerate sharply in the years ahead if the current trend to retire in the West continues VIGNETTES FROM WESTERN TRIP Nine dead deer were counted by two travelers along the side of Colorado State Highway 13 between Meeker and Craig on Nov 11 All of the deer casualties were due to deer crossing the highway and colliding with cars Utilities which are not expanding are contracting out key to those that are arc Joe Credit who has worked on a number of new power plants as a up start-up engineer has I been loaned to Ute Colorado-Ute Electric Association by a New England utility to work on Colorado Utes Ute's new steam plant being constructed near Craig Colo The Arizona Atomic Energy Commission Commission Com Com- mission has had very little to do with the construction of the Arizona nuclear power project being built outside of Phoenix That work is being done by the utilities which own shares in the plant Instead has been teaching and educating the public about atomic energy in general according to Rick Elder of the Salt Sail River Project of Phoenix Polly Gallardo of is credited by Elder and others with implementing the educational program for is a veteran The amount of irrigated acreage in the Salt River Project in Arizona the nations nation's oldest reclamation project has decreased from approximately acres to about acres the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Reclamation estimates Homes near the Mexican border south of Yuma have battened down the hatches Windows are arc sealed and high fences surround the houses Some fences have electric current to discourage illegal Mexican aliens from molesting the homes Mexicans simply walk across the dry Colorado River bed to enter the US U.S. at that point along the Mexican Arizona border I |