Colorado’s dirty secret: A $500 billion mining industry built on Indigenous land

By Taylar Dawn Stanger, Indigenous Affairs Fellow • July 8, 2024 • Grist 

Skiing, hiking, and other outdoor recreational pastimes have lent Colorado a woodsy — and environmentally friendly — reputation. This image is at odds with the state’s first and biggest industry: mineral extraction. From 1858 to 2022, mineral extraction in Colorado has amounted to a $546 billion dollar industry. The state remains one of the leaders in coal and gold, but the state is also home to oil, natural gas, limestone, and helium mining. Read the full article here.