Show pagosa springs may yet see uranium boom it come to pass yet but his this summer uranium miners ia la the pagosa springs area may lay side aside their tools to fight right a forest are fire in the san juan national forest in comparison to other plateau bomm u cities pagosa springs is lelath relatively ely untouched go 0 o far by the uranium boom true a few claims have been hied filed on and more raining mining men are becoming interested in the area but pagosa Is not yet a moab monticello or cortez aside from the tact fact that little V prospecting prospecting has been done there k another reason big and white why uranium addicts are not now flo flocking cling to pagosa that reason is sno now tons of it which in winter almost bury this small logging eom community and which hide bide all access roads into mountainous sections Z spots were uranium finds would be likely bulldozers shovel the white stuff off ft to the side of the roads but must fight an almost continuous battle throughout the winter to provide at least a little space for vital transportation speaking a king of roads we oa big pro e mem faces archuleta county with 12 sau sawmills mills in the area th the operators pera tors want access to a billion board feet of isolated virgin timber and it will be necessary to build a main haul road to the trees the oneal park road which runs northwest out of 0 pagosa does not reach all 0 the ie timber areas the budget bureau is now considering a request by the U S forest service to build the new route of the 12 mills two wo of the largest tru truck ck out an average of more than a million board feet a year just how big a part is p played la y ed in the towns economy by lumber is revealed by the number lumber of men estimated employed in the logging business in one capacity or another with a population of approximately 2000 pagosa boas boasts ts that a quarter of the comm community unit Y is in the lumber trade to the pagosa translated from the indian it means healing waters offers tamed famed mineral springs excellent fishing and hunting bunting pack trips scenic trails for hikers and high mountain peaks for climbers pagosa and the surrounding area is rich HI ln U S history in addition to indian legend and history the area was also the scene of several expeditions by the spanish padres and was the first home of ft lewis erected to protect settlers in the san juan basin aside from its lumber and tourist industries the lush mountain pastures East pastures ures are crowded with purebred red hereford cattle an and d fat sheep to commemorate this activity the town and surrounding countryside each year turn out en masse to attend the red kyder ryder roundup held each july 4 and 5 the rodeo is named in honor of the com comic ic strip character created by fred harman whose ranch home is in blanco basin south and east of pagosa springs some oil and gas well drilling w will ill be found in the county tince since the surrounding mountains mark the beginning of the uplift of the famed san juan basin Pa gosas present industries supply the community and the county with a firm economic basis but it is to uranium with ith all its eye popping appeal that the town looks for growth |