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Greetings Friends and Neighbors, First, thank you so much for your dedication to the protection and preservation of the Hughes land. Your commitment to protecting the natural beauty of the Hughes land and the surrounding foothills is truly inspiring. Our coalition of indigenous organizers, grassroots community advocates, and energetic volunteers have worked extremely hard to get a fully-protected Hughes Natural Area on the ballot for voters (Vote YES on measure 303!). But, our campaign to pass the 100% Hughes Natural Area ballot measure faces powerful opposition from those who want Hughes to be developed into a playground for the privileged. Pro-development interests have already lined up with their large donors, intent on paving and scarring over the very land the community has worked so hard to protect for nearly a decade, when it was first announced that CSU would be demolishing the old Hughes Stadium. On top of that, City Council has placed a gratuitous and confusing ballot measure on the ballot to compete against the citizens’ measure to protect Hughes as a 100% Natural Area. Council’s measure is the product of a dubious process that puts political interests ahead of community voices. And, the Council did this with a flick of a pen, rather than with the same hard work that organizers and volunteers invested by collecting thousands of petition signatures and engaging directly with the community. Council’s “multiuse” mess threatens to confuse voters and weaken the chances of real, lasting protections for the Hughes land. Simply stated, the ballot measure that six of seven Councilmembers approved is a Hughes land grab and power grab by monied special interests like we’ve not seen before. Council’s Ordinance and ballot measure are chock-full of misrepresentation and misinformation meant to confuse voters (there were six official protests of Council’s ballot language). Despite referencing support for the Civic Assembly’s recommendations, Council’s measure ignores the Civic Assembly’s final report recommendations entirely. The Civic Assembly did NOT recommend a dirt bike park at Hughes. The Civic Assembly did NOT evaluate and recommend a stand-alone zoo-like Campus for million-dollar nonprofit enterprises to develop a carve out of Hughes, and possibly charge admission fees (per the Coloradoan May 2025). And, the Civic Assembly did NOT support the transfer of land ownership to the organizations that want to construct a large “Campus” for their own purposes. Frankly, the antagonistic actions of City Council and their favored special interests toward years-long community-driven grassroots Democracy is disappointing and heart-breaking to say the least. Our Hughes Natural Area campaign is truly grassroots and powered entirely by people like you — we don’t have corporate backers, foundation funding, or big-money interests behind us like our opponents do. In contrast, the opposing issue committee that wants to slice-and-dice Hughes received $10,000 as its very first donation from a wealthy contributor from Arizona who supports the development of Hughes for the so-called Wildlife and Nature Office Campus - that is, an open-air zoo-like facility with animal enclosures on display, restricted public access, administrative offices, a large visitor center, paved-over parking lots and paths, and lights that would interfere with our dark skies. And, the dirt bike park lobby and their backers will get their own carve out of the Hughes land, creating scars along the foothills where, today, wildlife moves safely in and out of the City. This is what will become of Hughes if City Council’s “muti-use” mess passes (Vote NO on 2H!). What our campaign does have is a years-long people-powered movement that cares deeply about conserving open spaces, and ensuring Hughes is protected for future generations, with low-impact recreational activities, and for the conservation of our local wildlife that are increasingly encroached upon as Fort Collins grows. We can’t win without your support. Please take a moment to make a donation today, share our donation link with your network, and help us keep this campaign strong all the way to Election Day. Thank you again for being part of this effort. We’re so grateful to have you with us. Friends of Hughes Natural AreaVOTE YES on 303 ✅️VOTE NO on 2H ❌
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