CPW seeks input from indigenous communities on state parks
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has published a new Engage CPW page to gather feedback related to upcoming legislation concerning state park access and future engagement opportunities with Tribal Governments, and greater American Indian and Indigenous communities on Colorado state park issues and needs.
For the 2025 General Assembly session, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and CPW are advancing legislation to waive state park entry fees for enrolled Tribal members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the two Tribal Nations with jurisdiction and reserved treaty rights in Colorado. The legislation is responsive to historical requests made by the Tribal governments to DNR and CPW and recent formal government-to-government consultation efforts. The legislation also recognizes and honors the Tribal Nations’ ancestral ties to the lands that now make up many of Colorado’s state parks.
Concurrently with the legislation, CPW is also advancing greater stakeholder and community outreach and engagement efforts through its online platform, Engage CPW. Engage CPW is a resource for members of the public to explore current and upcoming CPW projects, share ideas and feedback, and learn more about the many opportunities to engage with CPW.
Colorado is home to over 200,000 residents that have connections to at least 200 Tribal Nations and at least 48 Tribal Nations that specifically have historic ancestral ties to Colorado. The purpose of this dedicated outreach and engagement is to seek public input on CPW’s state parks access legislation and to help CPW gather initial information to better understand the experiences and needs of all visitors to Colorado state parks, but especially Tribal government representatives and greater American Indian and Indigenous communities.
Please utilize Engage CPW to access the “State Parks Engagement with American Indian and Indigenous Communities” page and the specific feedback form to provide comments and further input on these important state park issues. The responses gathered through the feedback form on Engage CPW will help inform CPW’s planning of future discussions in this space. The feedback form will remain open to the public through April 2025
