Make 100% of Hughes a City Natural Area!
Sierra Club Poudre Canyon Group, March 2023:
“Fort Collins’ population is anticipated to grow by at least another 70,000+ people in the next 50 years. As our population grows and places greater usage demands on our City’s natural areas, one of the best ways to protect the tax-payer investments in our Natural Areas is to keep them undisturbed and to seize once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to extend our existing Natural Areas.”
The experimental “Civic Assembly” is the City’s latest attempt to get the answer that City leaders themselves want for Hughes Open Space. This costly, experimental process carried out by a hired consultant and CSU is underway now.
Background Info & Serious Concerns with the Civic Assembly Process
Legislative Intent of the Hughes Citizen Initiative (including the 5 years of work that came before it)
The intent of the ballot measure, and what voters understood that they were voting for, was to CONSERVE Hughes as PROTECTED open space or a Natural Area with a the possibility of a 5-acre wildlife center, with LOW-impact recreation.
Yes, we DO know this because we actually did the work and spoke with voters and residents of varying opinions and perspectives!
A wildlife center did not mean a 75-acre “wildlife and nature CAMPUS” development with a (1) large, busy visitor center, (2) zoo-like animal enclosures, administrative offices, paved parking lot, sidewalks, night lighting, and traffic. That is way more development than what voters wanted there.
The intent also didn’t include that 75-acres of Hughes land would be swapped or sold, to be owned by a wildlife center, as has been floated by those proposing this use now.
Recreation was meant to be LOW-IMPACT and LOW-MAINTENANCE, like the recreational uses that exist there NOW.
Those low-intensity recreational uses DO align with conservation, similar to the conserved and contiguous Natural Areas Maxwell and Pineridge. It’s that simple.
The legislative intent of the Recreation did NOT mean a “large-scale 60-80 acre recreation-destination bike park” attraction or intersecting and zig-zagging trails all over the site. Those high-intensity uses would NOT align with conservation.
It was understood, according to the legislative intent, that the City would ZONE and ACQUIRE Hughes, and hold the land in public trust for all the citizens of the community. Hughes would truly publicly-owned and operated open space or Natural Area, with low impact recreation.
The City leaders failed to do this for the residents and voters of Fort Collins. This is one key reason that the public is in the increasingly divisive state of discourse that it is in now.
We (PATHS) are the organization that had the vision to prevent Hughes from being being turned into a subdivision. And it was our hard work, time, money, canvassing, signature gathering and testifying that allowed Hughes to be acquired for the stated legislative intent. The literal petition and election campaign motto was “Keep Hughes Open Space”.
Despite the bullying and misinformation coming from other groups, we will not be sidelined, ignored, or frozen out of any discussion about the use of the property.
It’s sad that the two proposed high-intensity uses at Hughes that do NOT align with the legislative intent of the Hughes initiative have created division in the community.
Many cyclists and wildlife advocates that voted for Hughes Open Space do NOT support the two high-intensity uses that are proposed there.
Regardless, we stand ready to do whatever we can to protect the will of the majority of voters, and make sure Hughes remains conserved, publicly-owned and maintained land with low-impact recreation.
Didn’t We Vote on This Already??? Isn’t Hughes Already Protected???
The City continues to ask the question, “What should we do with Hughes”, despite the successful 2021 citizen initiative, and despite hearing repeatedly that Hughes is special, and sacred to many, and should be conserved as protected open space with minimal-intensity uses like those that exist there now. This latest rendition of “community outreach” by the City is another example of City leaders asking the same question over and over again until they get the answer they obviously want: Hughes to be re-developed into very high-intensity, high-impact uses that ignore the legislative intent of the citizen-driven ballot measure. Two high-intensity re-development options that are at the top of the list due to special-interest lobbying of Council out of public view include: a proposed 60 to 80-acre recreation-tourism bike park, and a proposed 75-acre eco-tourism “nature campus” replete with a visitor center, office buildings, animal enclosures, intersecting paths, a paved parking lot, concrete sidewalks, vehicular and bus traffic, and ~50 acres fenced-off from the public.
What’s clear is that these monied special interests are attempting to grab Hughes for their own self-serving, revenue-generating agenda, both groups shamelessly running roughshod over fellow community members and the well-established legislative intent of the citizens’ ballot measure. There has even been talk of swapping or selling Hughes to the eco-tourism “Wildlife & Nature Campus” lobbying group.
Neither of those high-intensity and high-impact uses for Hughes Open Space is very natural AT ALL. Both violate the “Keep Hughes Open Space for ALL” legislative intent of the ballot measure that was presented to voters: Protected open space with low impact and low maintenance recreation, much like the uses that exist there now.
Serious Concerns with the Experimental Civic Assembly Process and Biased Community Guides
MANY community outreach and engagement events have occurred over the past ~10 years for Hughes, hosted by CSU and/or the City of Fort Collins and their hired consultants. The current effort is far from the first. But, undoubtedly, protecting Hughes as open space has been the most common directive from participants in each outreach and engagement effort.
PATHS and Fort Collins community members have MANY questions and grave concerns about this so-called “Civic Assembly” and “Democratic Lottery” processes, and whether these experimental processes are truly fair, unbiased, and transparent. Recall that the City has a history of what appears to be biased outreach and conflicting interests on Hughes, including hiring a national bike lobbyist to conduct public outreach for Hughes, who unsurprisingly, ultimately recommended a large bike park at Hughes despite broad opposition, including from the local Sierra Club Poudre Canyon Group.
This is particularly appalling. From the get go, there is a clear imbalance skewed toward a large recreation-tourism bike park and/or an eco-tourism “Wildlife and Nature Campus” . Community Guides affiliated with these high-intensity proposed uses are using their Community Guide status to unfairly advocate for their development projects at Hughes, though they are supposed to be objective. For instance, a vocal pro-bike park social media influencer, with over 1.2 million followers, was selected to be an objective “Community Guide” for the Hughes assembly. He has publicized the survey on his social media accounts where any of his 1.2+ million followers can complete the survey no matter where they live. At his recent information session, he encourage attendees to make City engagement accounts in their kids’ names to rig and skew the survey toward a bike park. And the flyers presented at this information session were anything but objective.
Some additional concerns include:
An official survey that is poorly designed and allows ANYONE to respond from literally ANYWHERE in the world, and as many TIMES as they like
Biased “Community Guides” with affiliations to deep-pocketed special-interest groups who want to divert Hughes away from the broader community, and toward themselves and their pet projects
People who live outside of Fort Collins telling Fort Collins residents what we should do with our publicly-owned lands
Community Guide outreach sessions that are invitation only, NOT open to the public, and thus not transparent
Furthermore, at least one Community Guide (associated with the “Wildlife and Nature Campus” development) is having in-person outreach events in Loveland.
So much for fair, balanced, and democratic outreach for the residents and voters of Fort Collins. It simply doesn’t make any sense.
20 People Are More Statistically Representative Than Thousands of Voters?
One of City Council’s supposed concerns is that the 2020 citizen petition that collected ~9,000 signatures, and the successful vote of April 2021 that counted ~28,500 YES votes for Hughes Open Space (~69% of voters), did not represent enough residents of Fort Collins to get an accurate idea about what should be done with Hughes. Yet, the new Civic Assembly outreach, managed by hired consultant “Healthy Democracy”, will consist of 20 “randomly selected” residents who will make a final recommendation to council about the future of Hughes. And, that data will likely be significantly biased based on reports of unethical advocating and lobbying that some Community Guides with vested interests are engaging in.
Finally, it’s clear as mud how and why the 20 residents (called “Delegates”) will be selected to sit on the assembly, or how they will better represent tens of thousands of voters and petition signatories.
Hughes Open Space Needs YOU!
Despite serious concerns with the City’s outreach process (again), and the monied special interests who are co-opting the process, we implore you to stay engaged and to not become disillusioned to the point of disengagement. We need you and your neighbors to participate in the City’s current engagement process so that we can exhaust every avenue to protect 100% of Hughes as a City Natural Area for ALL members of our community, and for our local wildlife that are returning to the site.
Get Up To Date and Take the Survey!
We urge you to take a few minutes to listen to the Fort Collins Through Another Lens Podcast to get up to speed. You’ll learn a bit about those who want to use and abuse Hughes for their own self-serving, monied special interests (rather than the broader Fort Collins Community’s interest, which PATHS has always worked to represent), and to hear about the current Civic Assembly outreach process being conducted by the hired consultant right now.
Civic Assembly Input
We strongly urge you to complete the City’s survey aimed at collecting input from the public as soon as possible, and share the survey with your circle, because time is short, and the City is moving forward quickly. According to City staff, the current survey is only available for a little while longer. Please take the survey now. You must register or already have an account with the City’s engagement system.
Designated Community Guides
As far as we can tell, there is only 1 of 25 Community Guides that is knowledgeable about the detailed history of the Hughes initiative, and the LONG grassroots struggle to save the parcel preceding the initiative. If you would like to speak to a Designated Community Guide who is uniquely knowledgeable about the history of the community’s grassroots effort to Keep Hughes Open Space for All, you can reach out to the guide here. Like the other 25 guides, she will be collecting community input and providing that input to the 20 selected Civic Assembly Delegates.
Let’s Work Together to Finally Make Hughes a 100% Protected City Natural Area.
TAKE ACTION: HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP NOW!
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Listen to the Podcast
In this Hughes episode, a PATHS organizer discusses some of the questions & concerns around the experimental Civic Assembly process with podcast host, Trish Babbitt.
Also discussed are the high-intensity uses that two monied special interest groups have been pushing for, behind the scenes, to try to get a piece of the delicate Hughes ecosystem for themselves. -
Make a Donation to PATHS!
PATHS is a grassroots nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization. We are NOT funded by national chapters or multimillion dollar foundations. We are 100% funded by members like yourself.
Please donate to help us conserve Hughes for our community, future generations, and our wildlife that inhabit the site.
(Note: A PayPal account is NOT required when donating with PayPal) -
Sign Up to Help Us!
We Can’t Do This Without YOU!
Please Sign Up to Volunteer or Stay Up To Date by Email with PATHS’ Grassroots Movement and Our Next Steps to Protect Hughes as a 100% City Natural Area! -
Comment on the Bike Park Feasibility Study
The City of Fort Collins has funded and is currently conducting a feasibility study for yet another Bike Park in the City. It’s no coincidence that this study is occurring during the latest Civic Assembly outreach on Hughes, as the bike park lobby has made crystal clear.
Fill out the comment card and tell the City that Hughes Open Space is the last place that a recreation-tourism destination BMX-like bike park should be built. Make YOUR voice heard. -
Contact City Council or Speak at a Council Meeting
Tell City Council that a recreation-tourism Bike Park and an Eco-tourism "Nature Campus" with enclosed animals, buildings and offices do NOT Belong at Hughes!
Remind Council that this sort of high-intensity development of Hughes violates the legislative intent of the conservation focused citizen-driven ballot measure! And we think a judge will say so too! -
Share this Page!
Please share our new website with your circle of family, friends, and neighbors!
We will be updating this page frequently. Bookmark this page, and check in often to see our updates. Thank you! -
ENDED: Important: Take the City's Hughes Survey Today!
The Civic Assembly process will be using a SURVEY to determine the future of Hughes. Take the survey TODAY. Feel free to tell the City to honor the legislative intent of the ballot measure and voters, and finally designate 100% of Hughes a New, Protected City Natural Area Once and for All.
The survey will be closing on March 5 at 5:00 PM! -
ENDED: Watch for a Postcard in Your Snail Mail!
The City of Fort Collins has launched the selection process for its Civic Assembly on the Hughes site. 15,000 randomly selected households across Fort Collins will soon receive invitations to apply to participate.
If you receive a postcard inviting you to participate in the Civic Assembly, make sure to respond asap! The deadline to respondis March 1, 2025. -
ENDED: Speak with a Civic Assembly 'Designated Community Guide'
If you would like to speak to a Designated Community Guide who is uniquely knowledgeable about the history of the community’s grassroots effort to Keep Hughes Open Space for All with LOW IMPACT recreation, you can reach out to the Guide here. 25 guides will collect community input and provide that input to 20 selected Civic Assembly Delegates.
