‘I think folks just need to know it’s a problem:’ CO doesn’t have funding to mend unknown number of abandoned mines
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - It's a problem that not many Coloradans think about on a day-to-day basis.
"I think just having the public aware of this is kind of an underlying problem that needs to be addressed not only on a Colorado or state level, but on a national level," Jeff Graves, the director of the Office of Active and Inactive Mines at the State of Colorado, told ABC News.
The interview is part of a new ABC News investigative story about abandoned mines that airs on Tuesday. Graves estimates there are 23,000 mines in Colorado, but also admits that the number isn't close to accurate.
"We feel like that 23,000 estimate was a significant underestimate just based on the number of mine features we've closed since our program was developed in the '80s. And then the number of features we continue to find on a routine basis each year would suggest that there's probably at least twice as many of those features here in Colorado," Graves said.
While the total number of mines in the state is unknown, Graves knows one thing for sure these mines are a serious hazard.
In 2025, Jennifer Nelson went missing on a hike in the Uncompahgre National Forest, according to ABC News. They report that Nelson was eventually found dead at the bottom of a mine shaft that neither the state nor the Forest Service knew about.
"I think folks just need to know it's a problem. I think it stays hidden until you have an unfortunate incident like Jennifer's where someone has died, and that kind of exposes what's an ongoing problem across the country," Graves said.
The sudden death devastated the Nelson family, including her younger sister Nora.
"It was really hard for me because I had just been proposed to. I got engaged in September, and I was really excited because I wanted her to be a bridesmaid. I wanted to share that moment with her. And it hurts because she's my big sister," Nora Nelson said to ABC News.
That mine is now covered up, but that's only one mine shaft. A drop in the bucket, as Graves describes it to ABC News.
"It's not just a Western problem," Graves told ABC News. "We have hardrock states like New Jersey, Michigan, New York that don't have any coal, but have hardrock or non-coal issues as well. So it's really, I think requires a significant change in how the federal government is approaching funding to address the problem."
Tuesday morning, watch the ABC News full Investigative report about forgotten and abandoned mines in America and the problems they create.
Click here for an interactive map showing more than 200,000 closed and abandoned mines in America.
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