In 1956 Arch Dam Constructors, a consortium of western construction companies, began work on a Flaming Gorge Dam, a component of the Colorado River Storage Project. The dam, about three miles downstream from Ashley Falls, was completed in 1963. It is almost 600 feet high; the resulting reservoir backs up to within five miles of the town of Green River. The wildlife and the trees are gone. Flaming Gorge Reservoir is now a "playground for millions," with fishing, boating, and water-skiing. Below the dam, literally thousands of people now run the remaining fifteen miles of Red Canyon. The wait for a launch is sometimes two hours. That pressure, and the conflict with trout fishermen for the clear, cold water and splashing rapids below the dam, has caused the Forest Service to consider implementing a permit system.