CHAPTER
11
A RECREATIONAL ECONOMY Welcome to Flaming Gorge Country. . . . Only primitive roads lay across the eastern Uintas when construction of Flaming Gorge Dam began in 1957. Dam construction, the development of the recreation area, and construction of highways have ushered in the modern era for this ageless country. —PROMOTIONAL BROCHURE
I,
.n Daggett County and many other areas of the American West, the decades following World War II have brought tremendous change. Agriculture and extractive industries, the West's traditional economic base, have declined in importance. With the aid of massive water-development projects, it has been the West's cities that have boomed in the postwar era. Manufacturing, defense, electronics and the growing service sectors have brought millions of new jobs to budding Western metropolises. A spiralling urban population has enjoyed unprecedented gains in both spendable income and leisure time, and recreation and tourism have become one of the region's biggest industries. In terms of h u m a n history, t o u r i s m as we k n o w it is a fairly recent phenomenon. It grew out of the industrial revolution and the 243
