DISINFORMATION CORRECTION ALERT: “Hughes is not pristine, and shouldn’t be conserved as a Natural Area”
When people who want to develop Hughes for a massive bike park or visitor center/campus tell you that Hughes isn't "pristine" and shouldn't be conserved as a natural area, remind them that many of our water storage bodies along the Poudre, and our precious natural areas, were LITERAL dumps and strip mines for gravel and sand, before being extensively RESTORED to the critical ecosystems and low-impact recreation (fishing, walking and wildlife watching) they are now.
Hughes is in WAY better condition than most natural areas and open spaces that have been conserved within the City. And, with very little maintenance for native grasses, Hughes can restore itself with Mother Nature's help.
https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/05/18/fort-collins-gravel-pits/27516919/
From the Article:
These are city of Fort Collins Natural Areas along the Poudre River with ponds that are remnants of gravel-mining operations, along with when land for the areas was acquired. Some areas involved several acquisitions:
North Shields Ponds, 1962 and 2014
Magpie Meander, 1995 and 2015
McMurry, 1998 by Larimer County; 2003 by the city
Udall, 1994
Kingfisher Point, 1979 to 2015
Cattail Chorus, 1985 and 1997
Riverbend Ponds, 1977 to 1999
Prospect Ponds, 1974 (owned by Fort Collins Utilities)
Cottonwood Hollow, 1995 to 1998
Running Deer, 1998 to 2014
Arapaho Bend, 1995 to 2014
Shields Pit, which will soon be renamed, 2014
