Population Growth

The landscapes of the Colorado Plateau escaped significant human land-use impacts until Anglo-Americans and their livestock began to settle the region in response to the arrival of the railroad in the late 1800s and the arrival of the automobile around the turn of the century.  In the Four Corners area there were pre-historic periods of large native populations, but since the Anasazi collapse the region has remained sparsely populated until recent times.

A major population boom occurred after World War II and has continued since, particularly in metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Las Vegas on the periphery of the Plateau. These and other western urban populations have tapped the water and energy resources of the region and contributed to heavy recreational use, particularly at popular destinations such as the areas around Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks, the San Francisco Peaks, and Lake Powell. With more and more people claiming their share of the Colorado Plateau’s water, energy and recreational resources, conflicts between mutually exclusive uses such as eco-tourism, recreational off-road vehicles, and ranching are becoming widespread and chronic.

Source: Hecox, W. and Ack, B. 1996. Charting the Colorado Plateau: An economic and demographic exploration. Grand Canyon Trust, Flagstaff, AZ, p. 25.

The population of the Colorado Plateau has increased six-fold since the turn of the century and has more than doubled since the mid-1960s. This growth rate is two-and-a-half times greater than the nation’s rate of 39% for that same period. Population growth on the Plateau is now outpacing growth in the western U.S. as a whole, as people fleeing the urbanization of the Pacific Coast move into the intermountain west. From 1990 to 1994 alone, the population of the Colorado Plateau increased 13 percent (see figure above).

Unchecked sprawl surrounds St.George, Utah.

The fastest growing areas on the Colorado Plateau are San Miguel County in Colorado and Washington County in Utah. The town of St. George, Utah, in Washington County just southwest of Zion National Park, saw its population rise from 11,350 people in 1980 to 28,502 people in 1990, an increase of 151% in just 10 years.

The largest city on the Plateau–Flagstaff, Arizona–has a population of between 50,000 and 60,000 full and part-time residents. Although the world's largest continuous ponderosa pine forest surrounds the city and is largely public land, natural meadows and other open spaces important to wildlife in and around Flagstaff are being sacrificed to the "sprawl" of new home development. Growth in outlying areas has increased dependency on automobile transportation, causing unacceptable traffic congestion both in and out of town. The negative effect on the quality of life has led to the formation of vigorous citizen activist organizations trying to protect the land, the wildlife, and local values.

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