Curators in a huge federal freezer west of Denver are bracing for a long-anticipated shipment of an increasingly coveted commodity: ice samples from 1,400 feet under the snowiest part of Antarctica. The ice cores drilled over the past year are expected to give the most detailed record yet of Earth’s ancient climate.
Federal engineers Tuesday began scrutinizing a developer’s proposal to divert water from western Wyoming across the Continental Divide to meet Colorado Front Range needs through 2030.
Two miles deep in their latest tunnel, coal miner Steve Baker and his cohorts barely blink at underground hazards: a cavern collapsing behind them, explosive gas around their boots, roiling clouds of black dust. But they dread the above-ground parrying of state and federal politicians over protection of the nation’s forests. Decisions expected soon by Gov. Bill Ritter and the Obama administration may threaten the miners’ livelihoods — and the future of a traditional industry in western Colorado.
The mountain pine beetles that have ravaged about 3 million acres of Colorado and southern Wyoming forests may be exhausting their primary food source — raising the prospect that the beetle epidemic could end, state and federal foresters said this week. Regeneration of decimated forests has begun as the U.S. Forest Service hires loggers to remove dead trees. “I think we’ve seen the worst of it,” said Sky Stephens, Colorado State Forest Service entomologist.
Taxed by increasingly complex requests for climate modeling, the National Center for Atmospheric Research will build a new supercomputer — but house it in Wyoming, not Boulder. While climate-change modeling once dealt with global scenarios, the typical request now is more complex: ” ‘Where are the impacts?’ ‘How fast is it coming?’ and ‘What does it mean on a regional scale?’ ” Those who request models include utilities in major Western cities, insurance companies, an international bank and a ski area. All want to plug unique variables into computer models for climate change to anticipate how people can prepare and adapt.
Denver has hit turbulence in its biggest water-supply project since the 1960s — a $225 million effort to prevent future shortages. Denver Water proposes to divert enough for 45,000 families from mountain rivers on the western side of the Continental Divide, then pump it through tunnels to Front Range reservoirs, including an expanded Gross Reservoir above Boulder. But the plan requires federal approval, and at public hearings, opponents concerned about environmental harm have argued that Denver must rely more on using less water — not pump more from the mountains.
A Canadian company’s push to build the United States’ first new conventional uranium mill since the Cold War has cleared local hurdles — despite environmental concerns — and won wary high-level support. Many residents of the economically bereft western Colorado area around Nucla and Naturita (approximate population 700 each) now count on the Energy Fuels Inc. project to bring back Atomic Age prosperity. Beyond the mill, they envision uranium mining jobs as part of a national nuclear renaissance that could spur homebuilding, better schools, restaurants and recreational amenities. “Nothing’s going to happen without a mill,” said Mike Thompson, 25, board member of the Naturita-based Western Small Miners Association. “Right now, we can’t support 18- to 30-year-olds because we just don’t have the jobs.”
A federal push to protect 18,462 Front Range acres as habitat for the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse has set off an endangered-species battle royale.
Wildlife conservationists cheered the release Wednesday of the federal proposal, which could limit development on the land, mostly along 184 miles of rivers and streams.
Representatives of developers promised a court challenge, arguing that protecting more habitat isn’t necessary because the mouse itself already is protected as a threatened species.
Among projects that could be affected: the planned Jeffco Parkway southeast of Rocky Flats, an expansion of Chatfield Reservoir and housing developments in El Paso County along tributaries of Monument Creek.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to nearly double the current 20,680 acres of protected habitat for the mouse — a bug-loving brown omnivore that springs up as high as 3 feet to evade predators.
State, feds take a fresh look at once-rejected protections
From wolverines to black-tailed prairie dogs, dozens of species in Colorado and across the nation are being re-evaluated for possible threatened or endangered status. The Obama administration is taking a fresh look, in many cases under court order, at Bush administration rejections of special status.
Sens. Mark Udall and John McCain strolled somberly through a meadow in Rocky Mountain National Park Monday inspecting beetle-killed pines, lamenting the damage of global warming and pledging their bipartisan support for nuclear power as part of the solution.
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.
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