The purpose of this study was to analyze the economies of size in farming in the Roosevelt- Myton area of the Uintah Basin and to assess their impact on the financial viability of different size farms . This information will be useful in recommending changes to reclamation law. Farmer interviews were used to obtain cos t s of production for 160 , 320, 640 , and 1280 acre farms . The field data were entered into the Oklahoma State Budget Generator to provide the necessary cost breakdown . This in formation was used to derive a curve approximat ing the long run average cost curve and to determine the viability of different farm sizes. Cash flow problems of beginning farmers are discussed. Conclusions are drawn and implications for existing reclamation law are discussed.

A general survey of the vegetational changes of the rangelands of the Uinta Basin was made using historical records, documents, interviews, and recent vegetational surveys. Historical vegetatienal information about the Uinta Basin is very limited, most of it pertaining to the vegetation along the streams and rivers. Escalante, in 1776, mentioned the splendid groves of cottonwoods, the fine pastures, and the abundance of game along the rivers. Ashley in 1825 and Powell in 1870 entered the Basin via the Green River. Ashley crossed the Basin following the Duchesne River and its tributary the Strawberry River. He described the groves of cottonwoods and fine pastures found along the Rivers. Powell also described an abundant growth of vegetation along the rivers. General Fremont in 1844 described the hills at the middle elevations as being clothed with ''Cedar" and valleys supporting a covering of grasses. In 1905 the Ute Indian Reservation was opened for settlement. A majority of the settlers owned livestock which were grazed on the range the year around. At the time of this settlement the ranges probably supported near climax vegetation. The sagebrush areas were probably dominated by shrubs but also sustained a rich understory of grasses and forbs. The pinyon-juniper areas supported a sparse understory of shrubs, grasses, and forbs very similar to what is found today. The winter ranges, cottonwood river flood-plain, saltgrass meadows, badlands, mat Atriplex - Hilaria and the low-altitude Artemisia communities, supported a growth of palatable shrubs and grasses. Since these ranges were greatly overgrazed, they deteriorated first and have remained in this deteriorated condition. Little information could be found covering the high altitude ranges. Only two enclosure plots could be found and these indicated only slight deterioration between 1925 and 1963. The ranges as a whole show deterioration. The sagebrush areas show the greatest deterioration with an increase of shrub type vegetation and a decrease in grasses. Part of the Ute Indian Reservation is an exception of this. The Reservation has sustained very limited grazing since 1937 and many-areas have received rehabilitation measures, primarily spraying with herbicides. Areas under the management of the federal agencies have also received rehabilitation measures. The Forest Service has treated many areas and have greatly improved parts of the ranges, especially the mid-sagebrush community. The Bureau ot Land Management has also treated areas which has greatly improved range conditions, but the amount of range land treated compared to the amount of rangelend in the basin is so small that the ranges, except part of the mid-sagebrush range, are in a deteriorated condition. This is especially true of the winter ranges.

The major objectives of this study are to determine whether or not future needs for water in the Uinta Basin can be satisfied by the present quantity of water produced by the hydrology of the Basin. The specific objectives are as follows: 1. To determine the present demand for water in the Basin. 2. To determine the present annual quantity of water produced by the Basin. 3. To project the changes in the demand for water in the Uinta Basin resulting from energy, agricultural and other development. 4. To project the changes in the quantity of water available to satisfy these increased demands as successive units of water are made available.

Before presenting an economic analysis of farm tenure in the Uintah Basin, it will be helpful to consider some aspects of the historical, economic, and social background of that portion of the region included in this study. A portion of the Uintah Indian Reservation, which was created in 1861, was opened to white settlement under the homestead and townsite laws on August 28, 1905 after 103,000 acres of farming land had been allotted to individual Indians living on the reservation and 276,000 acres reserved for Indian grazing lands and timber reserve. Because of the large deposits of asphalt products that had been found nearby and a belief that the mountains were rich in minerals, much attention was attracted to this homestead opportunity. As a result 37,702 persons applied for entry of which it was estimated there would be land for only 5,772 when final drawings were made. Although this region seemed to be an "Eldorado" at that time it has later become one of the greatest problem areas of the State of Utah.

The Colorado River is subject to a salinity problem which affects the downstream user. It has been suggested that approximately 40% of the salinity in the Colorado River results from irrigation return flow. The evapotranspiration process extracts nearly pure water for plant use leaving behind soluable salts which may become part of the return flow. These salts adversely affect the orop yield for the downstream user. Farmers' contributions to the irrigation return flow have been criticized. With the criticisms have been many suggestions on salinity control, including restriction of salt outflow at the farm level through either voluntary or mandatory means. An important element in the policy making procedure is a good information base showing the economic effect of salinity control on the individual farm to which the control affects. To date such a base has not been available. Such an Information base is necessary to establish policies and implement programs to solve the salinity problem in the Colorado River.

Eriogonum corymbosum Benth. in DC is a low-growing perennial shrub which is found in many cold temperate desert shrub regions of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada.. It is a species which grows on numerous soil types and/or geological formations. Specific objectives of the investigation were to study and describe certain community relationships of ten different plant communities where E. corymbosum was found. Each community was sampled to determine the amount of ground cover, percent composition, frequency, and density of each participating species. Physical site factors viz. soil texture, total soluble salts, pH, cation exchange capacity, and amount of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium were determined. The ten communities were compared to determine the degree of similarity existing between them. Correlations between individual plant species and measureable characteristics of the community were attempted. Evidence is presented that the distributional patterns of some species are related to these measured characteristics. Eriogonum corymbosum, Chenopodium leptophyllum, Atriplex confertifolia, Stipa comata, Artemisia tridentata, and Agropyron smithii all showed correlation to both vegetational and edaphic factors of the community. The sites studied showed definite increases in total vegetative cover from the desert areas to the mountainous areas of the Uintah Basin. As the vegetative cover increased, soil depth also generally increased. Eriogonum corymbosum was shown to decrease in importance in the communities