Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety

08/13/2026

The Smith Hill Coal mine site is an award-winning example of how a large abandoned mining site can be transformed.

Four miles northwest of Crested Butte lies the site of the Smith Hill Coal Mine. From 1884 to 1946 it produced over 1.2 million tons of coal. The town of Anthracite, as well as a railroad line, spring up in support of the mining operation. After it was abandoned, the site fell into disrepair, with large amounts of coal left behind in wetlands and on the steep slopes above the valley. Sedimentation into the Slate River, noxious weeds, and lack of vegetation on coal piles were among the environmental concerns posed by the Smith Hill site.

Starting in 2010, the DRMS worked with the Crested Butte Land Trust to resolve the mining-related environmental and public safety issues related to the 11-acre site. This included restoring wetlands, stabilizing and improving a load-out area used by local ranchers, and stabilizing and revegetating the steep slopes above the valley floor.

The Crested Butte Community was involved, helping to plant willows in the wetlands and shrubs in the uplands, with the Coal Creek Watershed Coalition, the Crested Butte Land Trust, Gunnision Valley High School, Allen Family Ranching, and others lending a hand.

The project was completed in November of 2011, at a cost of $472,572. It received the Western Regional Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Award from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in 2014 — and, more importantly, returned this valley to beneficial use for reclamation, ranching, and wildlife.

08/11/2026

🪙🪙 A quarter here, a dime there: Adding up SMCRA

Mine land reclamation didn’t used to be A Thing Folks Did, and certainly did not fund during the boom-times of hard rock or coal mining in the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries. Some states created their own programs — Colorado started a voluntary reclamation program in 1965 — but there was no national program to safeguard or reclaim abandoned mine lands.

That changed in 1977 with the adoption of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, or SMCRA. SMCRA uses fees from each ton of coal produced to reclaim coal and some non-coal mining sites. It also establishes permitting guidelines for current and future coal mines, balancing the need to protect the environment from the impacts of coal mining with the nation’s use of coal as an energy source.

Current mine operators pay a tax into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, which pays for safeguarding and reclamation of abandoned mines. Money is then distributed to states that have approved reclamation programs (like Colorado’s DRMS). Other money is used by the Federal government to reclaim abandoned mines in states that don’t have such programs.

Those coal production taxes have been reduced over the years: in 1977 the tax was 37¢ per ton of surface-mined coal (15¢/ton for underground coal, and 10¢ for lignite). Today, the tax is 22.4¢ per ton for surface coal, 9.6¢ for underground coal, and 6.4¢ for lignite. Those quarters and dimes add up, though: each train car full of 121 tons of coal adds between 12 and $27 to the fund — roughly $1,400 to $3,000 per train! By 2011, SMCRA had provided more than $7.2 billion to reclaim nearly 300,000 acres of hazardous abandoned mine sites.

In 2025, Colorado received $2.83 million in fee-based grants from SMCRA.

SMCRA also allows for funds to be used for non-coal reclamation, administration, and emergency coal-related closures and safeguarding.

08/06/2026

Throwback Post!
Water quality is has been an important part of Colorado's Inactive Mine Reclamation Program since the beginning, 50 years ago. All mines have the potential to create water quality issues, from acid mine drainage to sedimentation from disturbed mine waste. Here, Jim Herron prepares to filter water to be tested for dissolved metals near Lake City in 2006. Sampling is crucial to assess impacts from past mining in order to plan appropriate remediation, and after a project is completed, to gauge its success.

08/05/2026

And happy 50th anniversary to us, too.

08/03/2026

Colorado turned 150 years old over the weekend! Since before it was a Territory miners have been delving into the area’s mineral deposits. While a voluntary reclamation program was initiated by the state in 1965, it wasn’t until 1976 — 50 years ago — that Colorado created a formal Mined Land Reclamation Division to regulate non-coal mining operations. The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act was passed, and a Mined Land Reclamation Board was appointed to serve in an administrative and adjudicatory capacity.

You can read more about the history of mined land reclamation in Colorado at https://drms.colorado.gov/about-us/drms-history

07/30/2026

We regularly partner with organizations to leverage their experience and resources. One of these is the Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA), an organization dedicated to promoting youth and conservation, to assist with reclamation and tree planting on some of our reclamation projects. These projects provide unique opportunities for youth corps members to invest in their communities and the environment performing reclamation at previous disturbed mine sites. In this photo, the Division and CYCA plant trees in Phoenix Park near Creede as part of a reclamation and revegetation project at the Phoenix Mine and Mill site.

07/27/2026

New in Outside Magazine: "A recent tragedy in Colorado wasn't an anomaly. From drowning in quarries to stumbling into open pits, hundreds have died in vacant mines across the United States since 2000."

A recent tragedy in Colorado wasn't an anomaly. From drowning in quarries to stumbling into open pits, hundreds have died in vacant mines across the United States since 2000.

07/23/2026

Beatriz Truxillo Morgan grew up west of Trinidad, in the coal mining communities of Valdez and Primero. Her father and grandfather were miners in the region, and she shares many of the stories about their work in the mine, as well as what it was like to grow up in a coal mining town in the mid-20th century. You can see her entire interview here: https://lnkd.in/gicHF-Py

07/20/2026

Barbara Renowden is one of several Silverton-area folks who spent time in the mining industry. Here, she talks about some of her experiences living in Silverton in the 70's, and how things have changed. This is an excerpt from a short video about Silverton (now, and then), featuring miners and others from the area. You can view the entire video at https://lnkd.in/gVKcf4wZ