ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE — American Bison, a species that has greatly declined in number, roam on an open, recovering prairie, grazing on freshly-burned land, the Denver skyline in the background. Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is an ex-chemical and weapons manufacturing site turned refuge. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been…
WINNIE — Driving through rural east Texas, the roads are lined with farm plots as far as the eye can see covered in corn, wheat, and lots and lots of rice. The town of Winnie (population 3,254) is home to Frost Ranch, a leading rice producer. Perfectly straight rows of green rice alternate with muddy…
ALAMOSA, CO — In Colorado’s San Luis Valley, water is becoming more and more valuable. Surface water is drying up and groundwater is steadily increasing in price. The valleys main use is farming, requiring complex irrigation systems to carry water over long distances. Many of the crops grown here are water intensive. “Without agriculture, the…
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK, CO — In the mountains of Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley just north of Alamosa, Medano Creek flows down into the valley. The river helps shape the dunes. “A key piece of this is the role of water,” said Fred Bunch, chief of resource management…
SUMMITVILLE MINE — At the top of a snowy peak in the middle of the San Juan Mountain Range in Rio Grande county Colorado sit piles of toxic orange sludge covered in fresh white snow. The sludge, dirt, and heavy metals removed from the creek water has been moved here as part of a United…
COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs Utility owns the Clear Springs Ranch on the semi-arid prairie southeast of the city, and operates two power plants — one coal and one natural gas. Nearby, utility contractors have installed 140,000 solar panels. These facilities, along with the coal-fired Drake power plant in the middle of downtown, generate electricity…
ERIE — Sitting on a park bench in Erie, a town north of metro Denver along Colorado’s heavily populated Front Range, town councilman Christiaan van Woudenberg looks out at a 40-foot high beige sound wall surrounding a massive oil and gas production facility. The noise from drilling cuts through the air, foul fumes that drift…
COLORADO SPRINGS — Recently, Colorado College has been raising money to build a new hockey arena on campus. Honnen, the current arena, was built in 1936. “It’s certainly not a green building,” said Linda Alexander, the director of Honnen. CC has been doing their best to work with what they have, updating lights, putting on…
I am a first-year at Colorado College studying film and journalism. I grew up in Macon, GA and moved to Austin, TX in 2013. After the move, I learned about climate change in school for the first time. I quickly realized that this was a serious issue and spent more time studying it. I believe…
