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When politicians actively seek to gum up or slow down the legislative works in an effort to throw up obstacles to governors or presidents, they often increase the power of executive-branch bureaucracies or courts to make the rules. The result can be a less-informed citizenry, researchers find.

Think of Robert R. “Bob” Crifasi as a kind of Zelig or Forrest Gump when it comes to water in �Ǹ�Թ�, Denver and northern Colorado—he spent a quarter century getting his hands wet, both literally and figuratively, in countless ways. Crifasi, who earned bachelor’s degrees in geology and chemistry and master’s degrees in geology and environmental science from CU-�Ǹ�Թ�, has served on the boards of—and often, pitchforked weeds, trash and the occasional dead skunk for—11 �Ǹ�Թ� County ditch companies.

<p>�Ǹ�Թ�’s public open-space system was launched 50 years ago, and an event at CU-�Ǹ�Թ� will bring together experts who will discuss the lay of the land in the next half-century.</p>

Researchers at the �Ǹ�Թ� recently examined the aftermath of two catastrophic conflagrations and found an unexpected ally in wildfire-education efforts, the “citizen entrepreneur.”