Page 2 - Mark Dabling News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

First, you have to get past the “ugh” factor. “It’s a real thing,” Tara Kelley, manager of wastewater treatment for Colorado Springs Utilities, admits.

For Colorado Springs’ urban explorers, Sinton Pond is a treat. It is a surprising, wild oasis a stone’s throw from Interstate 25 and a railroad-bordering industrial zone, hiding amid tall cottonwoods and pines and grasses and shrubs — protection for a colorful array of residents. The 13-acre open space “is a small enclave of natural habitat in an otherwise urban setting,” reads a management plan by the city of Colorado Springs. From a paved regional path, one suddenly meets a thin, dirt trail and is greeted by bird song and critters shuffling near the shore. Mice and amphibians make...