Best Liquid Asset

No one can accuse ranger David Jamiel of not making the most of his assignment at Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge -- a 73-acre Arvada "sub-unit" of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Jamiel has attracted almost seventy volunteers and 6,000 visits to the prairie paradise, an accomplishment that recently earned him top billing as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Refuge Employee of the Year -- besting 7,500 employees at more than 530 refuges nationwide. On his tours, Jamiel likes to point out the 100 species of birds, wildlife such as deer, fox and coyotes, as well as assorted creatures that dwell in the three ponds at Two Ponds. And since this offshoot is miles from the arsenal proper, chances are good that visitors won't be stumbling over any unexploded sarin bombs.