DENVER- At the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, site managers routinely spray pesticides with unknown effects on the site where a $2.1 billion chemical cleanup took place. “We spent billions of dollars to cleanup a chemical and now we are spraying another,” said David Lucas, manager of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. The refuge…
COMMERCE CITY–Surrouded by a city undergoing a population boom, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a place for both wildlife and people. It may also be the birthplace for the next generation of conservationists. The refuge plays a key role in the conservation of wildlife including migratory birds and endangered black-footed ferrets. It’s…
DENVER –This wildlife refuge along Colorado’s Front Range just north of Denver is an emerging oasis for black footed ferrets and bison where rangers also promote conservation to children. The 15,000-acre refuge once was home to a chemical weapons factory in WWII. Later shell leased the land and produced pesticides including DDT. Then in the Cold War, the army produced nerve agent called sarin, a deadly gas. The place…
ALAMOSA — Renewable Water Resources, a Denver-based company, is considering a diversion of up to 22,000 acre-feet of water a year out of the San Luis valley for Front-Range municipal use, according to Cleave Simpson, general manager of Rio Grande Water Conservation District. The San Luis valley is one of the poorest and driest regions…
ZAPATA RANCH – Sunlight shines through dusty air as ranchers gather hundreds of bison for weighing and sorting. The Zapata Ranch, a Ranchlands property located in the heart of the San Luis Valley, is merging conservation and ranching. The Nature Conservancy owns the 110,000-acre ranch and has partnered with Ranchlands to manage the land. The…
ALAMOSA – Nestled beneath snow covered mountains, this high desert basin is so dry that one resource matters above all else – water. In the San Luis Valley of south-central Colorado, life revolves around water. Agriculture is the main industry. For locals, agriculture means more than income. It is an engrained culture. They depend on…
SUMMITVILLE – The massive scar gouged into the side of a mountain on the western rim of the San Luis Valley is an environmental disaster that will cost Colorado taxpayers $2 million a year indefinitely. In the 1980s, a subsidiary of Galactic Resources Ltd., Summitville Consolidated Mining Company, Inc. established a massive open-pit gold…
SAN LUIS VALLEY– The tradition of ranching is dying. Zapata Ranch is home to around 2000 bison located in the San Luis Valley. The bison roam on 50,000 acres of the total 110,000-acre ranch. Each year, ranch workers harvest 500 bison. They are sold under their label, Lasater Grasslands Beef. Among the buyers is Whole Foods. Ranch manager Duke Philips said his goal is to mimic…
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK– Fighting light pollution to preserve starry night skies and securing water flows amid climate changes are growing concerns at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. It falls to Fred Bunch, the parks natural resources manager, to face these challenges. Bunch has been working at the dunes for the past 30 years. Visitor rates have skyrocketed. In 2017 a record 487,000 people visited, up from 230,481 visitors…
ALAMOSA- Cleave Simpson, a local alfalfa farmer and general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, is fighting for the future of farming in the San Luis valley. Agriculture is under threat as water sources dwindle and valley leaders anticipate thousands of acres of irrigated crop land will dry up. “Our community, our culture…
