Is Colorado’s Natural Beauty its Own Downfall?

COLORADO— Millions of tourists fly every year into Denver International Airport hoping to see the natural beauty Colorado is known for. Huge signs on the walls as they arrive exclaim “WELCOME TO COLORFUL COLORADO,” against color-saturated pictures of people straddling mountain bikes looking astonished at mountain vista they find themselves in, and skiing chest deep…

Following the demise of Colorado’s oil and gas setbacks initiative, efforts to fight fossil fuels continue

COLORADO SPRINGS – Colorado’s Proposition 112, that would have required 2,500 foot buffers between new oil and gas drilling sites and occupied buildings such as homes and schools, failed last week in the state’s general election. Industry lobbyists and campaigners spent $30 million arguing that the grassroots ballot measure threatened to significantly limit the extraction…

Urban Wildlife Refuge for Animals, Humans

COMMERCE CITY – Short grass prairie is starting to re-emerge at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge just outside of Denver. Flocks of birds move across the sky along with airplanes from Denver International Airport. The 15,000 acre refuge has to handle more than just the wildlife. The refuge’s urban location means that, in many…

Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees For Customers at Dollar Tree

COLORADO SPRINGS — For the liberal elite, superfluous consumption isn’t fashionable anymore. If you have money, you aren’t supposed to buy more—you’re supposed to buy better. In an era when plastics threaten the environment, beverage drinkers are asked to find alternative straws. When the agricultural industry threatens global warming, wealthy millennials buy vegan products from…

Water Conservation Efforts Could Save Western Rivers

COLORADO – Rivers in the West are drying up, and increased incentives for conservation may be the natural next step. Droughts can have dire ecological and economic effects. This would threaten Colorado’s wildlife, ecosystems, and be detrimental to the health and agricultural practices of people throughout the Western states. Recently, farmers in Colorado’s San Luis…

Fighting Bubonic Plague to Save Endangered Species

DENVER – Land conservation is a tricky business, and everything is a trade off, according to David Lucas, manager of The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, outside metro Denver. Native insects most likely perish from the chemical-laden flea spray wildlife managers use, but the endangered mammals that live on the refuge stay plague-free. The…

The Dirty Secret of the Ski Industry

COLORADO SPRINGS–As the first snows of winter blanket Colorado and launch ski season, ski industry leaders are facing a difficult challenge: a finite number of years left for people to get out and ski powder. The industry draws 56.5 million people, who spend $8.4 billion a year, to ski resorts around the United States, according…

Can a Growing Recreation Industry Exist Alongside Conservation?

  CRESTONE– Colorado’s ceaseless efforts to get people outdoors and develop a recreation industry may be ruining ecosystems. In one high mountain valley, San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council (SLVEC) director, Christine Canaly, declares that enough is enough. If ecosystems collapse, Canaly argued in a recent interview, then both humans and other wildlife will be hurt.…

South Platte River from Natural to Cement

DENVER– The South Platte River is a critical resource in the Denver area over the past 50 years it has endured massive change development and abuse. But fishing groups, the Greenway Foundation and water users say they are committed to restoring natural processes. The Chatfield Reservoir built in response to a massive flood which deluged Denver in 1965, holds water that could be released to simulate fluctuating flows. What’s the incentive? Property values…