September 28, 2012 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Land
Fifteen bicycle-rental companies that deliver to trails along Vail Pass were sent letters this week advising them that after Nov. 1, they will need U.S. Forest Service permits to continue the service.
Similar letters were sent this year to companies that drop off all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.
The permits may also be required for drop-offs on non-national forest land, if the bikes will be used on national forest land, White River National Forest district ranger Jan Cutts said in the letter.
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September 25, 2012 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Wildlife
A study unraveling the genetics of Colorado’s state fish, the greenback cutthroat trout, has found that pure greenbacks exist only on a 4-mile stretch of a creek southwest of Colorado Springs.
This overhaul of what is defined as a greenback cutthroat may come as a blow to anglers who fished such high-country sweet spots as Rocky Mountain National Park and thought they caught the real thing.
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September 14, 2012 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Water
CASTLE ROCK — Deep wells are being drilled to tap 1.5 million acre-feet of water under the Greenland open space in Douglas County, a potentially game-changing project at a time when south-metro communities are scrambling to reduce their dependence on underground aquifers.
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September 9, 2012 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution, Water
MONTEZUMA — Colorado mining authorities have dug through a mountainside and reopened the dark granite shaft of an abandoned mine that turned deadly — trying to find options for dealing with one of the West’s worst environmental problems.
The Pennsylvania Mine, perched above timberline, discharges an acidic orange stream moving 181 pounds per day of toxic metals into Peru Creek and the Snake River, which flow into Denver Water’s Dillon Reservoir.
The poisoning of the watershed has gone on for more than 60 years.
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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.
