Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />businesses, In the final analysis, depend. Manufacturing, <br />agriculture, trade, and the service segments of society are <br />dependent upon earth resources. <br /> <br />Colorado's history documents this fact. When the mines <br />closed, people moved away, thriving communities became ghost <br />towns, railroads were abandoned, and only the land remained <br />to be used again. Aspen, Crested Butte, Telluride, and <br />Breckenridge are ltborn agalnlt towns with a change in land use <br />from mining to skiing and other recreation/tourism activities <br />based upon hunting, fishing, camping, hiking. and sightseeing <br />and cultural events. <br /> <br />One common Colorado resource Is often overlooked. It is <br />natural hot spring water for which Steamboat Springs, Pagosa <br />Springs, waunlta Springs, and Glenwood Springs are named. In <br />some loca I es the hot water from the earth I s used to heat <br />publlcand private facilities. Elsewhere, such as In the San <br />Luis Val ley and near Mount Princeton, the qeothermal <br />resources are being evaluated as a source of thermal energy <br />for generating electrical power. <br /> <br />Clearly, Colorado's past and present well being are <br />Inseparable from minerai development. The challenge for the <br />people of Colorado. then, Is to direct growth and development <br />In a way that will minimize the potential confl icts between <br />mineral resource development and other uses. No home owner <br />wants a large strip mine 100 ft from his house. Nor can we <br />afford to prevent extraction of needed mineral deposits by <br />pre-emptlng the land for other uses. For this reason, the <br />Colorado Legislature passed, House Bill 1529 (1973) and House <br />Bill 1041 (1974), which are summarized in the Appendix. <br /> <br />These conflicts can be greatly diminished by designing mining <br />operations with the potential problems In mind. In <br />combination with this, local governments and property owners <br />can schedule the development of areas to avoid many of the <br />conflicts. <br /> <br />We can never know exactly where all future mining will occur, <br />but using past activity and geologic information as a guide, <br />the potential for land-use conflicts can be greatly reduced. <br /> <br />54 <br />