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Geologic Investigations Series I–2750–B
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Principal Areas of Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal Production in the Northern Part of the Front Range, Colorado

By Neil S. Fishman, Stephen B. Roberts, John M. Evans, and Robert J. Olmstead

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The infrastructure of a populated region, such as roads, sewage treatment plants, and water transmission facilities, is critical to the area’s vitality. Construction and maintenance of the infrastructure requires large volumes of natural resources—herein termed infrastructure resources—such as energy (oil, natural gas, and coal), construction aggregate (stone, sand, and gravel), and water. Infrastructure resources are particularly important in areas of rapid population growth, including the northern part of the Front Range urban corridor of Colorado. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project (FRIRP) was undertaken to improve our understanding of the location and characteristics of infrastructure resources in and near the urban corridor and to make this information available, particularly for planning purposes. This map, compiled on the stylized base from Fishman and others (2000), shows principal areas of oil and natural gas (petroleum) production and past coal mining in the vicinity of the urban corridor as a way to illustrate the geographic relationship between areas of energy production and urbanization. The effects of the production of energy resources on land use are explored in Fishman and others (2005).

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Posted July 2005

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