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-20- <br />~~ain, profited by a minor boom which soon faded out. Uranium <br />~~ fits can still be seen near :faybell, Colorado. <br />One of the latest "booms" in the region has been oil shale. <br />r'or many years it coos known that the "burning rock" was easily <br />available. During the 1920's, .;mall oil shale e:traction <br />operations were tried in the Piceance Basin, but on the whole <br />were failures. The problem that miners fac=_d was that they had <br />to use the Scotch Process for extraction. This took millions <br />of gal lor.s of water, a reeource that simply was not available. <br />idhen the energy crisis occurred in the early 1970's, many oil <br />companies began to reconsider the possibility of oil shale <br />extraction. Another boom occurred, but soon died off. Presently <br />only Tracts Ca and Cb are in use and these are experimental <br />~• in nature. <br />The northwestern region of Colorado's history has been <br />one of booms and busts.. From the days of the fur trade on <br />through the uranium boom, the residents of the area have tried <br />to promote their region as one of vast natural resources that <br />need to be exploited. However, because of geography, climate, <br />and the basic lack of transportation, rune of these booms ca,-..e <br />to much. Currently the area is experiencing the development <br />of numerous resources including oil, natural gas, oil shale, <br />and most importantly coal. The coal industry shows great <br />promise for northwest Colorado, but if his to r;: is correct, it <br />may be only a short term boom that leaves the northwest isolated <br />once again. <br />