vised Statute 106-4-3, 1971 Session Laws, Colorado Land Use Act. It is thought that implementation of that statute could create an entirely different environmental impact situation than would lack of implementation. The appropriate subsection (f VIII) of the Statute reads as follows:

"In the event local municipalities or counties in which the Olympic events are to be located fail to provide land-use controls with adequate environmental safeguards, the land use commission, upon the recommendation of the Governor, is empowered to take steps to establish adequate land-use regulations."

Specifically, it is thought that with adequate, sound land-use regulations, any environmental impacts relating to the Olympics occurring under items A and B above may not be adverse to a significant degree. Without implementation, the converse may exist and holding the Olympics may likely add to growing land use and related problems throughout much of Colorado.

The possible implementation of the statute is not considered under Section IV of this statement. "Mitigating Measures Included in the Proposed Action,” because it does not relate to any proposed facilities to be funded by the proposed action, because the State, legislation was passed prior to any specific site identification, because it is vastly broader in scope and area than specific site mitigation measures, and because it is considered to be a possible part of the total Olympic planning and staging effort rather than solely a mitigation measure,

per se.

A. Economic Growth and Development of the Olympic Area of Influence

It is speculated that holding the 1976 Winter Olympics in the State would effect to some degree the growth and development of the Front Range and central Colorado Rockies. This effect would relate to the publicity leading up to and surrounding the events; publicity which would largely be directed to describing the attributes of the State. That description was part of Denver's presentation and publicity to the IOC in its bid for the Games:

ones

attitudes.

"Reasons for its (Denver's) spectacular growth are many. Some of the major are climate, physical terrain, geographical location, and community "In various surveys, Denver has been named repeatedly as one of the most desirable places to live because of its climate, the year-round recreation offered by the close proximity to the mountains, and its metropolitan atmosphere.

"This preference is further demonstrated by a survey conducted by an international management consulting firm specializing in recruitment of degreeholding engineers, scientists, and technical administrators. Over 81 percent of the 100,000 surveyed gave Denver as their first choice as a place to live. The preference among those with Ph.D. degrees was 90 percent.

"Denver also ranked third in a study of 24 major U.S. cities offering the healthiest living conditions, according to a recent national survey.

"The attractiveness of Denver living conditions is shown by the fact that fewer than half of the present population are native-born."

It is expected that the planned publicity-TV, radio, and the press-will emphasize many of these same points-the cultural and physical amenities of the State of Colorado.

The effect of this publicity may be to stimulate continued growth and development slightly beyond that which might be expected without the Olympics. This statement is not now supported by hard fact because the growth has not yet occurred, but it may be reasonable to infer.

In this regard, recent past Winter Olympic Games were reviewed to determine if their planning and staging was similar to the 1976 Denver effort. These included the recent games at Sapporo, Grenoble, Innsbruck, and Squaw Valley. It was determined that any relationship between effects of the Olympics on Colorado and the effects of the Olympics on the previous Olympic areas could not be proven because of wide cultural differences and/or differences in physical and demographic characteristics.

A review of Colorado growth patterns, and causes and effects thereof, over the last two decades may serve, however, to illustrate possible effects of the Olympics specifically on portions of Colorado.

The Colorado Legislature, beginning in 1941, has appropriated over $11 million to date to a State Division whose primary purpose is to invite, through various means of publicity, business and people to settle in Colorado. The appropriations

have been reduced in recent years. The effect of this effort has not been measured. Colorado has grown substantially during those years; it would appear that any effort which would serve to inform and influence people and business about the State and its attributes might contribute to some degree to growth and development.

The fact that the campaign has lasted a number of years and that annual appropriations were made would indicate that decisionmakers thought it successful and worthy of continuation. However, the rapid recent growth of the State likely would have occurred to a large degree without that effort. Therefore, the effect of that effort is speculated to have been a small incremental increase in growth and development above that which would have occurred in any case.

This incremental increase is thought to be similar to the situation which might occur from the publicity of the Olympics. However, the current growth and development rate, particularly for metropolitan Denver, is already one of the highest in the Nation. It is not reasonable to expect nor is it projected that this high rate will increase in intensity. Thus, while it is speculated that the publicity surrounding the Olympics may serve to draw people and business to the area, the magnitude will be in the range of a relatively small incremental increase in the intensity of growth and development and a similar small increase in the length, in number of years, of the growth curve.

A more definitive and quantitative analysis is not possible because of the lack of facts on similar situations elsewhere. In essence, a reasonable judgment is that the Olympics may affect to a relatively small degree growth and development by increasing both.

The portion of this process of economic growth and development which might relate to the Olympics is considered a general environmental impact of hosting the Games. More specifically, growth and development may be measured and defined within two broad categories: (1) increases in population, jobs and services in the Olympic area of influence and (2) increased commitments of resources to provide for those people, jobs and services.

1. Population increase

The most dramatic and noticeable measure of growth and development in population increase within the State and the Denver Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). In the last decade Colorado's population increased 25 percent, more than double the national average. The Denver SMSA has tripled in population, due in part to substantial immigration, in three decades, from 445,000 in 1940 to over 1.2 million in 1970.

The Front Range area has seen the largest part of the increase. At the end of World War II, this region contained approximately 37 percent of the State's population; today it contains over 55 percent and projections indicate that the percentage will increase still further to around 60 percent by the end of the decade. The 1980 and 2000 population projections for the State total 2,860.000 and 3,815,000, respectively.

Population growth may also be measured by resident and nonresident demand for outdoor recreation activity days. The Colorado Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan states that the demand for the years of 1970, 1975 and 1980 will be 343 million, 480 million, and 646 million activity days, respectively.

With population increases will come increases in employment and the total number of jobs available. The increase in jobs can be expected to approximate the increase in population. Past figures and projections for statewide employment for the years 1950, 1960, and 1970 total 497,800, 663.000 and 888.000. Increases in the economic indices of various sectors of the Colorado economy show a similar substantial upward trend. Value added by manufacturing was 931 million in 1960; 1922 million in 1970. Total governmental wages and salaries during the same years were 604 million and 1582 million, respectively. Total cash receipts from Colorado farming and ranching increased from 656 million in 1960 to 1249 million in 1970.

Federal employment is indicative of the population increase. Denver is the city with the second largest concentration of federal employees. Denver has been named as one of the ten key region centers for federal activity. Recently, additional federal agencies have increased, by relocation, the number of their employees in the metropolitan area.

The trend of increased traffic into Stapleton International Airport is similar in appearance. Passenger enplanements increased from 906,000 in 1960 to 3,851,000 in 1971. Major refurbishings and new facilities are planned for that facility.

2. Increased commitment of resources

Economic growth and development also means an increase in the commitment of land and water resources to serve the numbers of people and the business and industries which go to make up that growth. Present population projections and the tendency of the Front Range cities to grow horizontally along the axis of the corridor rather than vertically would appear to indicate the large-scale commitment of presently unused or extensively used agriculture and grazing lands for other purposes, principally residential development. A doubling of population can be expected to mean an almost doubling in size of present, rapidly developing urban areas.

Land values are reflective of land changes and land speculation prior to development. On the southwest fringe of metropolitan Denver, surplus federal property which was valued at approximately $5,000 per acre five years ago is now valued at approximately double that amount. The selling price of centrally located land on the urban fringe of Denver which is now zoned agricultural approaches $35,000 to $50,000 per acre. A number of major highways are being built or are planned around the present outer edge of suburban Denver; their justification includes the expected growth of the area and an expected large increase in the volume of vehicular traffic.

Land developers have submitted to Jefferson County, the most rapidly develop ing county within the Denver SMSA, more requested plats for subdivisions between January 1970 and June of 1971 than in the entire prior history of the

county. The value of all building permits in the SMSA doubled between 1960 and 1970. The increase in the absolute number of permits was from approximately 60,000 to approximately 70,000. The State of Colorado, in a study of the Front Range, predicts that uncontrolled growth of that area may lead to a strip city between Pueblo on the south and Fort Collins on the north with Denver as the primate city.

In the mountain areas the commitment of the land resources for recreation and home sites may be particularly significant. Privately owned recreation areas in the State now totals approximately 1.5 million acres. A doubling of projected recreation activity days by 1980 may indicate that additional private lands will be converted to satisfy the unmet recreation demand. The development of additional sport and mountain resort communities can be predicted with certainty. Since 1960, the number of skiers has increased at a rate of about 20 percent per year. New or large facilities are planned at Steamboat Springs, Avon, and Copper Mountain.

The water resources of the State are being similarly committed to diversion and development as a result of growth. In 1936, the Denver Water Board began to divert water for the first time from the western slope of the Continental Divide to metropolitan Denver. Today, approximately 80,000 acre feet per year are diverted by a massive system of tunnels and aqueducts. By the year 2000 it is predicted that 350,000 acre feet may be diverted. Water consumption in metropolitan Denver has increased from 166,000 acre feet in 1960 to 213,000 in 1970 with a projected use of 468,000 acre feet in the year 2000.

Together the commitment of land and water resources is preceding apace with population increases and other economic indices. These are the most important manifestations of the presently indicated economic growth and development pattern of the State.

Growth, in turn, may be affected, in the form of a small incremental increase, by the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Again, however, it is emphasized in this section that Olympic impacts as they relate to growth and development are only a small part and parcel of the larger pattern of that growth element. Thus, the types of impacts described above apply generally to the rapidly developing portions of Colorado.

Possible implementation of the Colorado Land Use Act likely would not significantly affect the quantity of growth and development, population and employment increases, or the changing commitment of the State's land and water resources. In this regard, the "with" situation does not apply in this section (III– A). Rather, the implementation of that statute would appear to be aimed at constructively guiding growth and development and its manifestations rather than changing the quantity of that growth and development.

B. General Environmental and Land Use Relationships

Growth and development, increased numbers of people and the increased allocation of land and water resources may have many tangible and significant impacts upon the natural and social environment of the Olympic area of influence. These are largely physical impacts. It is the purpose of this section to discuss the more important of these and the relationship of one to another.

This statement does not imply that total impacts will be resultant from the 1976 Olympics. Such impacts, the result of rapid growth, were evidenced in Colorado before the games were awarded to Denver; they will exist after 1976 if the Olympics are not held. Only slight differences in degrees of each might be attributable to the Olympic effort.

The following major types of impacts are those which might relate and effect natural resources and those affecting human resources in the Olympic area of influence. Because it is virtually impossible to separate potential Olympic impact from total impact, they are discussed here in their totality. It must be kept in mind throughout this discourse that only a small degree of the total is considered potentially attributable to Olympic influences.

1. Natural Resources.

Four major types of environmental impacts can be reasonably determined: (a) esthetic changes, (b) reductions in the acreage of natural-wilderness areas, (c) natural wildlife and biotic reductions, and (d) air and water quality changes and/or deterioration.

a. Esthetic Changes.-The new lands needed to accommodate increasing numbers of people, businesses and residences would appear to indicate a large-scale change in the esthetics of the natural landscape. The esthetic values of open space would be lost as lands are devoted to intensive uses. Vacant, open space areas within the developed and/or developing urban areas likely would vanish because of the trend to more intensive use of such lands in areas of rapid growth. It is estimated that less than 1 percent of the lands in metropolitan Denver is totally undevelopable. Much of the 99 percent can be expected to be developed as urban pressures continue. The 1968 open space plan of the Denver Regional Council of Governments identified and recommended a series of highpriority public parkland acquisition projects. Since that time, a number have already been converted to other purposes with the resultant esthetics of diminishing open space and wide vistas.

New or existing highway corridors are particularly prone to such changes. In mountain areas, which are largely national forests, the lands adjacent to highways usually are privately owned and the most desirable for residential development. The trend of such developments will increase the esthetic changes from forest and meadow to mountain subdivisions. Such change is already wide spread along the western, mountainous edge of much of the Front Range area.

The establishment of new electrical transmission corridors across undeveloped mountain areas may be required for growth and development. These will have substantial visual impact and impact upon natural values.

b. Natural Area-Wilderness Loss.-The commitment of new and additional land resources to serve increasing numbers of people may involve substantial alteration and/or loss of natural and wilderness values. Timber, minerals, vegetation and soils will be affected by increasing consumption through removal and other types of displacement. Increased mountain subdivision and resort development means a clearing of the natural landscape.

Colorado has five areas within the National Wilderness Preservation System and six Primitive Areas which are being or will be studied for inclusion in that system. A portion of the previously noted expected rise in recreation pursuits will be directed to those areas. This increased use will impact upon wilderness values. In several areas of the country, the use of wilderness lands has been restricted because of over-use pressures and similiar actions might be expected in Colorado.

New or expanded highways, the result of growth and increased vehicular loads, pose a significant problem in relation to the loss of natural and wilderness areas. A new all-weather highway is being proposed across the Continental Divide north of Denver. This highway would open up a large portion of the State to development and that development would likely mean the loss of additional natural values, with significant environmental impacts. Other proposed roadways may have similar effects.

c. Natural Wildlife and Biotic Reductions.-The past development of Colorado has seen the elimination or reduction in numbers of a variety of wildlife species including the grizzly bear, mountain sheep and buffalo. Certain types of fresh water fisheries, particularly trout, have been severely restricted in area. Increased numbers of people and the use of additional mountain lands for their habitation will continue and might likely accelerate this trend, particularly around developing mountain resorts and along highway corridors. Use pressures likely would decrease the range of numerous animals by disturbing their natural habitat and by a reduction in forage areas. Hunting and fishing oportunities would be lost as a result of this change.

d. Air and Water Quality Changes-Water quality, water management and water resources planning might be particularly affected by growth and development. Additional waters for residences, business, and industry likely would need to be diverted from areas of relative water abundance, principally the western slope of the State, to the eastern growth areas along the front range. If this occurs, it might result in significant impacts at and below the places of diversion. Stream areas might be dammed for storage with resultant loss of freeflowing qualities, esthetic values and existing fishery values. River basin areas would be subject to a dewatering condition with resultant loss of aquatic and wildlife valnes.

Water management might be significantly affected by growth and development because of the potential need to better conserve water in the semi-arid environment of the Front Range. Recycling and more efficient water metering may