December 29, 2013 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Wildlife
The wolverine M56 who trekked to Colorado seeking safe haven and, perhaps, a mate has gone missing as federal and state authorities delay decisions on whether to protect wolverines from intentional killing.
No radio signal has been detected since October 2012.
Federal officials this month announced they will delay a decision on endangered-species protection for wolverines until scientific disagreements on climate- change impacts are resolved.
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December 20, 2013 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Water
Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas have agreed to use a 12-mile pipeline to transfer water from wells in northeastern Colorado to the Republican River for agriculture in Kansas and Nebraska in 2014.
The deal made this week may help resolve a decades-old dispute over rights to water in the river, which flows from eastern Colorado into Kansas and Nebraska. Colorado hasn’t been meeting its obligations under the 1942 Republican River Compact that governs use of the river.
In May, Colorado officials sought arbitration after Kansas rejected a request to use the pipeline to meet its obligations under the compact.
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December 17, 2013 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Wildlife
COMMERCE CITY — There’s still no home for some of the bison that must be culled from the growing herd on a federal refuge north of Denver, and herd managers Tuesday had their hands full rounding them up into a circular corral.
“Bison are a different kind of animal. These are wild. They don’t behave like cattle,” said Dave Lucas, manager of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, as he looked down from a 12-foot elevated catwalk. “No human is getting down in there with these bison.”
A crew of 40 staffers and biologists — using native prairie grass and water as enticement — coaxed bison into a fenced area and chutes.
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December 3, 2013 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment
Government-backed U.S. scientists on Tuesday urged for the creation of a warning system to help people anticipate the impact of climate change on food, water and cities.
Early warnings would give more time to adapt, but they will require much closer monitoring of warming oceans, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and extinctions of plants and animals, according to the scientists and a report unveiled by a National Research Council committee.
There are too many blind spots to be able to anticipate change and its impacts, said Jim White, the University of Colorado-based committee chairman.
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A journalist and lawyer, Bruce Finley has investigated local, national and international issues with on-site reporting in more than 40 countries. In his position as a staff writer for the Denver Post, he is focusing on environment-related news including water challenges, the oil and gas boom and wildfire.
