By Marjorie Haun

In southwestern Colorado’s historic mining town of Telluride — now a haven for the uber-rich, the San Miguel County Commission recently approved mining regulations that will effectively halt new uranium exploration and mining in the county’s mineral rich west end. The vote, delayed nearly two years amid hearings and opposition from rural stakeholders and industry experts, highlights divisions between Telluride’s wealthy liberals and the prospectors, miners, ranchers and working residents in the county’s rural towns.

Telluride, the county seat and population center, is popular with celebrities like Daryl Hannah, Dierks Bentley and Oprah Winfrey who own properties with values in the tens of millions of dollars. Perhaps due to its outsized cultural and financial influence, commissioners tend to favor upscale Telluride and Mountain Village over their rural constituents.

The regulations impose unreasonable barriers to exploration and mining on private and federal lands. They are unnecessary, as state and federal laws already address environmental concerns. They create overlapping requirements that conflict with frameworks for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Department of Energy (DOE) lands, risking Supremacy Clause violations by infringing on mineral rights on public domains.

Permits are required for any disturbance beyond casual prospecting, with exhaustive submissions on transportation, noise, blasting, dust, wildlife, vegetation, drainage, erosion and proof of financial/technical expertise. Activities face public hearings before the Planning and County Commission. Reclamation bonds are adjustable; permits expire after three years of inactivity, with extensions creating time-consuming additional processes. Violations risk revocation and bond forfeiture, creating administrative quagmires for the smallest exploration or extraction operations.

Though some of the regulatory conflicts with state and federal laws have been removed, the vaguely defined “Impact Area” clause makes court delays and added costs inevitable. County oversight extends to any “adverse” impact location, triggering a two-step review which demands excessive and unnecessary documentation. Applicants pay for county-selected consultants and exhaustive reports on emissions, habitats, plant monitoring, and light pollution in remote areas. This invites inspections and lawsuits that target the uranium/vanadium industry and threaten the economic future of the county’s small towns.

The framework effectively bans mining to appease Telluride’s elite environmentalist class and eco-tourists who see extraction as an affront to their idyllic scenery, while disregarding the working families in Norwood, Egnar, Redvale and neighboring Nucla, Naturita and Dove Creek. These towns, home to ranchers, miners, tradesmen and small businesses, thrived on the Uravan Mineral Belt in the 1950s and 1970s, which yielded 11% of U.S. uranium and 80% of vanadium during the Cold War.

Veteran uranium professionals warn the county regulations will thwart a revival of uranium and vanadium mining in the southern Uravan Belt where new operations could add $1.3 billion to Colorado’s economy by 2040.

Adam Eckman, president of the Colorado Mining Association (CMA), testified the regulations unlawfully give the county “veto authority” over Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety approvals, creating duplicative hurdles conflicting with BLM/DOE mandates. It undermines state jurisdiction without improving environmental protections. He noted national implications: “The Department of Energy must secure domestic uranium for nuclear fuel to power electrical expansion for the AI Revolution.” Passage risks federal preemption, as seen in previous local oil-and-gas bans that have been struck down in court.

Montrose County (Nucla, Naturita) Commissioner Sean Pond explains, “These regulations show ideology replacing science and stewardship. They stack hurdles, vague standards, and reviews to impose a de facto mining ban while pretending otherwise.”

With passage of the regulations on Jan. 21, the backlash will be swift. The CMA and allies plan federal lawsuits alleging Fifth Amendment takings and preemption. From a legal standpoint, the county is picking an unwinnable fight. Court fees and damages could reach into the millions; defense costs might bankrupt the county, diverting funds from rural services, roads and schools. Rural taxpayers should not have to carry the financial burden of legally problematic county policies.

San Miguel’s uranium and vanadium ore deposits are where they are because of geology. These ore deposits cannot be moved to some other location. They cannot be replaced. Long before transplanted elites discovered its remote beauty, Telluride was one of Colorado’s oldest and most productive mining towns. A new mining boom would have very little effect on Telluride as it is today. Nevertheless, good mining jobs and related industries would bring a flowering of prosperity to the struggling towns also situated in and near San Miguel County.

The mining regulations aren’t protection — they’re privilege masquerading as conservationism. San Miguel County now faces a harsh reckoning that could cost the county amounts of money that would leave even Telluride’s nouveau riche bewildered.

Marjorie Haun is a freelance journalist who specializes in natural resources policy and western agriculture. She is a longtime contributor to RANGE magazine and owns and manages the website Free Range Report.