http://brucefinley.com Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:34:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en An exotic fungus spreading southward through Rocky Mountain forests is threatening Colorado's oldest trees — the gnarled limber and bristlecone pines that can live longer than 2,000 years. White pine blister rust fungus afflicts hundreds of those trees on national forest land and in the Great Sand Dunes and Rocky Mountain ... http://brucefinley.com/environment/fungus-threatens-rocky-mountains-ancient-bristlecone-pines/ A Denver-based federal team fighting invasive freshwater mussels is investigating new and hopeful treatments, including poison, blasts of ultra-violet light and shock waves, and the introduction of a mussel-destroying predatory sunfish. The researchers testing these tactics say some seem to work and, if proved, could save tens of millions of dollars ... http://brucefinley.com/environment/experts-testing-tactics-to-keep-harmful-mussels-from-muscling-their-way-in/ Front Range authorities poised to divert more western Colorado water to the east face opponents rallying around the mountain lake. With current diversions already suspected by some of mucking up Grand Lake's water, any new water removals — such as those proposed by Denver Water and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy ... http://brucefinley.com/environment/opponents-of-grand-lake-diversions-muddy-water-plan/ Deep-cover Russian spies posing as suburban Americans. Money covertly changing hands. Supposedly secret information moving via encryption software. It's an elaborate replay of Cold War intrigue that leaves some experts puzzled. But the FBI case against 11 people charged with conspiring to spy for Russia also raises concerns among counterintelligence veterans ... http://brucefinley.com/security/puzzling-russian-case-reminds-that-spying-in-us-is-still-active/ Denver-area authorities are embarking on $760 million worth of massive water-treatment projects, to convert substandard water into drinkable new supplies. The projects are driven by scarcity — the growing difficulty of drawing sufficient new supplies from mountain snowpack — and by rapid depletion of groundwater wells that some metro residents rely ... http://brucefinley.com/environment/760-million-flowing-into-metro-water-treatment-projects/ Colorado River water consumed yearly for agriculture and by the 30 million Westerners who rely on it now exceeds the total annual flow. A growing awareness of that limited flow is leading to increased scrutiny of urban development — especially projects that require diverting more water to the east side of ... http://brucefinley.com/environment/development-in-colorado-going-with-the-flow-of-water-deficit/ Denver-area water providers are pressuring state mining regulators to force Cotter Corp. to clean up a defunct uranium mine contaminating groundwater and a creek that flows into a major reservoir. The latest water-quality tests showed that Ralston Creek below Schwartzwalder mine carried as much as 390 parts per billion of uranium, ... http://brucefinley.com/environment/water-providers-raise-alert-over-uranium-pollution-from-mine/ Persuading Americans in love with the concept of saving energy to actually do it is getting personal in Boulder. A thermology expert who hunts for "energy vampires" has just arrived at Loraine Masterton's door. Over the next hour, Shawn Le Mons will fire up a reverse-fan and create a vacuum ... http://brucefinley.com/uncategorized/boulder-county-dangles-loans-to-encourage-home-improvements/ A defunct uranium mine in Jefferson County is contaminating groundwater near a reservoir, but government regulators and mine executives have yet to settle on a plan for cleanup. Read More http://brucefinley.com/environment/defunct-uranium-mine-contaminating-groundwater-near-reservoir/ A Muslim cleric turned terrorist leader - targeted for assassination by the U.S. government - is a Colorado State University graduate who honed his preaching skills in Colorado mosques. Born in New Mexico, Anwar al-Awlaki arrived in Colorado in 1990 to study at CSU after spending more than 11 years in ... http://brucefinley.com/inside-the-war-on-terrorism/muslim-cleric-targeted-by-us-made-little-impression-during-colorado-years/