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KUNC's Colorado Edition: We See Trees Of Green, Animals Too

Rae Ellen Bichell
/
Mountain West News Bureau

In this week's Colorado Edition, we're going to dive into some topics that are what Colorado is all about: animals and the outdoors. We hear about beaver engineers, historical trees in the Rocky Mountains and an ambulance company in Weld County that's helping our four-legged friends. Plus, a look at how vet schools are working to communicate better with immigrant farm workers.

But first, a story that's definitely the talk of the town and the nation. Bomb cyclone, snowmageddon, snowacane — whatever you want to call it, this week's extreme weather took the state by storm. We wanted to find out what you saw out there, and collected some of our listeners' thoughts and experiences.

Speaking of weather, research scientists at Colorado State University are learning how to predict severe weather that could lead to tornado and hailstorms two to five weeks out. Cory Baggett and his team studied 37 years of data from a frequent tropical weather pattern near the equator, and shares some of their findings with us.

Did you know it used to be illegal for first responders to treat your dog or cat if a pet was injured in a car accident or house fire? In 2014, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill allowing emergency services to be provided to animals. Now, an ambulance company in Weld County is the first in the country to take things a step further. Stephanie Daniel has more.

Walking through forests across the Mountain West, you might not realize you're seeing historical artifacts big enough to crush you. They're ponderosa pine trees that have had their bark peeled off in a special way. As Rae Ellen Bichell reports, the trees are a bit of a mystery to archaeologists — one they’re running out of time to solve.

About half the people who work with livestock in the U.S. are immigrants, and many speak Spanish. That's not the case for the veterinarians guiding the farmworkers, but there's a push in vet schools to break down the barriers to communication. Esther Honig brings us the story.

At one point, hundreds of millions of beavers populated North America. But as settlers moved west, they trapped them to near extinction. Scientists say the loss of beavers caused immeasurable damage to mountain ecosystems. As Luke Runyon reports, efforts are underway to boost their numbers, and in turn, get us more comfortable with the way they engineer the environment.

This past year, KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz talked about a few of the films at the 45th annual Telluride Film Festival, which took place over Labor Day weekend. Today, we're taking a look at how he chooses the films that he reviews at festivals.

Colorado Edition is made possible with support from our KUNC members. Thank you!

Our intro music is "Remember Me" by Colorado musician Kalatana. The midshow break is "Bling Bong" by Robbie Reverb. Other music this week by Blue Dot Sessions:

  • "Lamplist"
  • "Pat Dog"
  • "Sage The Hunter"
  • "Turning"
  • "Molerider"
  • "Homegrown"

This episode was hosted and produced by Karlie Huckels and assistant news director Erin O'Toole. Digital editor Jackie Hai handled the web. News director Catherine Welch and managing editor Brian Larson contributed to this episode.

KUNC's Colorado Edition is a weekly look at the top stories from our newsroom. It's available every Friday on our website, as well as on iTunesGoogle PlayStitcher or wherever (RSS) you get your podcasts. You can hear it on the air every Sunday at 9 p.m. on KUNC.