Make 100% of Hughes a City Natural Area!
Because once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.
Denver7’s Maggy Wolanske Covers the Hughes Citizen Ballot Measure to Protect Hughes, 303, and City Council’s Last-minute Competing Ballot Measure to Develop Hughes for Two Special Interests, 2H
Updates:
The most unifying, inclusive, protective, and the only FUNDED use for Hughes is as a designated City Natural Area. A Hughes Natural Area would serve the community as a LOW-IMPACT multiuse designation (low-impact recreation while conserving diminishing wildlife habitat and migration routes).
The 3 Steps to Save Hughes in the Public Trust:
1.ZONE (2021) ✅ 2.ACQUIRE (2023)✅ 3.PROTECT! (2025):
VOTE YES ON 303 ! **AND** VOTE NO on 2H ! "
We must vote on BOTH for 303 to
PRO STATEMENT: VOTE YES ON 303. Make Hughes a 100% Natural Area for ALL
A YES vote on Citizen-initiated Ordinance 303 to make Hughes a Natural Area establishes the entire 165-acre site as protected natural habitat, provides public access, and a wide range of LOW-impact multi-use outdoor activities open to all users and their abilities, including hiking, running, biking, bird watching and more.
It ensures the protection of a 100% Natural Area within Fort Collins made possible by the purchase of the land when the majority of voters approved the ballot measure in 2021.
Located in our Foothills, this vital ecological corridor connects the Maxwell and Pineridge Natural Areas. This unique area supports a wide range of wildlife and is one of the last large open spaces remaining within city limits.
Designating the entire site as a Natural Area would protect this important habitat and provide a legacy of open land for future generations.
Since 1992, Fort Collins has had its own dedicated funding through sales tax for the acquisition and ongoing management of Natural Areas. Designation of the land as a Natural Area can be implemented immediately without additional taxes or funding sources.
This Citizen measure offers a clear, lasting commitment to preservation, low-impact recreation, wildlife conservation. It reflects both the growing concerns among residents that our open lands are disappearing as our region grows, and the importance of protecting them in Fort Collins.
Supporters of this measure believe that the people of Fort Collins can continue to be leaders in conservation and community-driven planning.
Voting YES on Measure 303 is a vote to protect nature and preserve our natural areas for the public and wildlife to enjoy forever, right here within our City limits, where our residents and taxpayers work, live, and desire increased access to the natural areas program they fund.
CON STATEMENT: VOTE NO on 2H - Development of Hughes for a Large Mountain Bike Park & Multiple Buildings/Facilities for Private Interest Gain
There are several key issues of concern with this ballot measure, centered on the risk of high-impact development on one of the last large, city- owned open spaces along the foothills. The proposal also contradicts the intent of a 2021 voter-approved measure which called for the land to be preserved for natural areas, open space, and low-impact recreation.
Conflicting Goals: The measure allows for a bike park, wildlife rehabilitation facility, and other developments that would occupy more than 75% of the 165-acre site. There are no guarantees on minimum acreage for any use, meaning as little as one acre could be dedicated to natural areas while the rest remains open for unrestricted development. The City has not disclosed details of potential private partnerships or whether public land could shift into private hands, which has been proposed by the private wildlife groups. A large bike park is not a use that serves all ages, incomes, or abilities, leaving out older adults, people with mobility challenges, and those unable to afford participation. This directly contradicts the original voter mandate for low-impact, publicly accessible recreation.
Environmental Impact: The Hughes site lies in a critical ecological corridor that supports deer, elk, moose, coyotes, other mammals, amphibians and reptiles, and numerous bird species. Development would fragment habitat, reduce biodiversity, be destructive to the ecological integrity in the Foothills to Plains ecotone and disrupt wildlife migration. Adding roads, parking lots, and buildings would also increase the urban heat island effect and the City’s overall carbon footprint.
Traffic and Accessibility: The site is poorly located for regional users. It is not easily accessed from I-25 or nearby communities such as Loveland, Windsor, and Wellington. A more central, accessible location would better serve regional users while supporting local businesses.
Lack of Transparency and Planning: There are concerns over the transparency of the selection process for the development's "Private Opportunity" component. The Civic Assembly process used to shape this plan did not reflect the Assembly’s highest-ranked options, raising further concerns about transparency. The City has not released the feasibility study for the bike park, leaving voters in the dark on costs, alternatives, and impacts.
Unclear Future Ownership and Control: The wildlife nonprofit enterprises for whom 2H has been placed on the ballot have indicated they will only invest their own funds in restoration or permanent building construction at Hughes if they can own their carved out section of the Hughes land. They have also indicated that talks about such a transfer of Hughes from the public interest and public lands to private interest ownership and control has been discussed with the City’s real estate group. We are concerned that Hughes will be transferred to private organizations as a very lucrative land asset, which could then be sold to a private buyer in the future for any reason. The public that worked to save the land as a public interest asset would have no say in the matter or in the future of that substantial portion of the Hughes land.
Climate and Ecological Considerations: At a time when preserving open space and reducing emissions are essential to meeting the City’s climate goals, this measure moves in the opposite direction. Paving over open land would accelerate biodiversity loss, increase heat, add to the City’s carbon footprint and would conflict with the City’s climate action goals.
Potential for Incomplete Implementation: With no defined funding sources, timeline, or development plan—and in the context of the City’s current budget shortfalls—there is no assurance this project can be funded or maintained.
Summary: This proposal for the Hughes site development leaves the voters with many unresolved questions about land use, environmental impact, financial transparency, equity and alignment with voter intentions. The measure lacks sufficient clarity, raising concerns about its potential to undermine ecological preservation. With a lack of a specific site plan, the lack of specified funding sources and the fiscal impacts unknown, this measure threatens to impose serious financial burdens on taxpayers now and well into the future.
Congressman Joe Neguse, Public Lands Champion, Discusses a 100% Hughes Natural Area for ALL & Hikes Maxwell Trail with the Poudre Canyon Group of the Sierra Club
Sierra Club Poudre Canyon Group on a 100% Hughes Natural Area, 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.”
Vote NO on Measure 2H: Greenwashing, Gaslighting & Intentionally Confusing Fort Collins Voters about the Future of Hughes
If 2H pass, Hughes Will NOT be for Everyone. Instead, Hughes will be for favored special interests, and the privileged few who can afford high-end mountain bikes for use at a high-end bike skills park.
This (misleading) logo and committee name belongs to the pro-development special interests for whom ballot measure 2H was written.
Measure 2H is City Council’s risky, unfunded slice-dice-and-develop plan for Hughes that will see Hughes commercialized by a vocal and aggressive recreation lobby and their cronies.
The logo above appears downright idyllic, like an advertisement for country-side living. But, Hughes will NOT look anything like that in reality if measure 2H passes. This misrepresentation of reality is meant to greenwash, gaslight, and confuse you, the Fort Collins voter, and according to recent questions and comments, their plan is working.
Don’t let their scare and confusion tactics work. Learn more now.
Setting the Record Straight on Natural Areas Funding
You may have heard a misleading claim about Hughes funding. Let's separate fact from fiction.
This post is in response to the interview that aired on May 13, 2025 with Natural Areas Director, Katie Donahue, in which the claim was made that Natural Area Department’s (NAD) acquisition budget is $5 million annually, and the eventual transfer of Hughes to the Natural Areas portfolio would prohibit other acquisitions for 3 years. Notably, the City requiring the NAD to reimburse costs to the General Fund is highly unlikely once Hughes is fully paid off via a favorable low-interest loan in 10 years.
Here are some facts:
In 2022, over $16.5 million in revenue was generated for the NAD from dedicated City and County sales taxes and earnings on investments.
In 2023, that figure was nearly $19.6 million.
The Natural Areas Program is more than sufficiently solvent with over $23 million in the bank as of the City’s 12/31/2023 audit report.
More than 71% of the Tax-payer Funded Acreage Protected by the Fort Collins Natural Areas Program Exists Outside of City Limits. How Would Hughes Help?
Hughes would conserve an additional 165 acres of taxpayer-funded City Natural Areas within city limits where residents actually live, work, and play. Let’s prioritize land conservation within the City, not just outside of the City.
According to this map, more than 71% of City Fort Collins Natural Areas acres exist outside of the Fort Collins city limits and generally require a car to visit. Only 29% of Natural Areas conserved acres exist within city limits near where Fort Collins residents and taxpayers live, work, and play.
The purchase of Hughes is already funded. In fact, a 100% Hughes Natural Area is the ONLY proposal for Hughes that is already funded.
Hughes would add a new 165-acre parcel to the Natural Areas portfolio that is actually within the city limits, not many miles away. Hughes is easy to access for all members of our community, and Hughes would serve as a contiguous buffer with existing Foothills Natural Areas that would relieve pressure on Maxwell and Pineridge, two natural areas that are impacted daily with ever-increasing visitation rates.
Opportunity Cost: Land within the city will never be as affordable or available as it is today. And, if Hughes is developed with land-consuming, high-impact uses, there’s no getting it back. It’s gone forever.
On November 4, 2025, Vote YES on the Third and Final Step to Save Hughes for ALL
Against all odds, the Fort Collins community and voters accomplished two of three steps to protect Hughes in perpetuity.
First, voters ZONED Hughes as ‘Public Open Lands’ (2021 election), AND second, voters directed the City to ACQUIRE Hughes so that it is now truly publicly-owned land (publicly-owned as of 2023).
The THIRD and final step in the community-driven Hughes conservation effort is to PROTECT and PRESERVE Hughes in perpetuity for future generations and for the local wildlife that inhabit and are returning to Hughes open space.
Sadly, the City continues to refuse to PROTECT Hughes in a public trust as a conserved open space for ALL, even at a time when the very survival of our federal public lands are being threatened.
In coordination with 6 of 7 of City Council that has occurred behind the scenes and out of the public eye, monied special interests are exploiting the 2021 community-driven initiative to grab the Hughes land for their pet projects and to develop their own HIGH-IMPACT consumptive uses at Hughes, which are vastly different than the first voter-driven initiative intended. These high-impact uses are not conservation oriented, but instead, would devastate the fragile ecotone and wildlife migration routes along the base of the foothills.
Therefore, the ONLY truly fair, equitable, protective and FUNDED future for Hughes is for the voters to designate Hughes an official 100% City Natural Area, contiguous with the protected Natural Areas (Maxwell and Pineridge), for the benefit of ALL members of our community, of all backgrounds, ages, and physical abilities, and for the conservation of our local wildlife and future generations to come.
Please join us in this unifying effort to preserve and protect Hughes for the broader Fort Collins community and for our local wildlife returning to the land.
Vote YES on November 4, 2025 to Make Hughes A Natural Area for ALL! Thank you!
Community-driven preservation of Hughes for the public, not private interests:
1. ZONE (2021) ✅
2. ACQUIRE (2023)✅
3. PROTECT (2025)!
VOTE YES ON 303 ! *AND* NO on 2H !
