Strong Community Engagement Shapes Fishers Peak State Park
Extensive input from community members and Tribes guided the new park’s vision.
In 2018, a coalition of partners came together to purchase the land that would become Fishers Peak State Park, home to the iconic 9,633-foot mesa rising above the city of Trinidad in southern Colorado. From the start, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and its partners prioritized meaningful engagement with local residents and Tribal Nations with ancestral ties to the area. The result is a welcoming state park where communities enjoy outdoor recreation and Tribal members reconnect with cultural traditions.
This united approach reflects a key strategy in the CTO’s Statewide Destination Stewardship Strategic Plan: prioritizing local community involvement in tourism planning. It also fulfills a goal from the CTO’s Canyons and Plains Regional Destination Stewardship Strategic Plan to safeguard and promote cultural heritage through collaboration.
Two Years of Thoughtful Conversations and Hands-on Projects
The area that is now Fishers Peak State Park had been privately owned for many years. When the landowner decided to sell, a partnership among The Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, CPW, Great Outdoors Colorado and the City of Trinidad facilitated the property’s purchase, setting in motion the creation of Colorado’s 42nd state park in 2020.
To craft the Fishers Peak State Park Master Plan, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and its partners planned an early and extensive stakeholder engagement process. Over two years, touchpoints with residents included four community engagement sessions, a community survey and a comment form to encourage feedback. The master plan project team formed 15 interest groups of over 100 governmental and non-governmental organizations and businesses—such as equestrians, mountain bikers, hunters, emergency services personnel and ranchers—to hear what these stakeholders wanted to see. Ultimately, the combined inputs helped shape an inspiring community vision.
In collaboration with the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, the project team identified Tribes with cultural and historical connections to the area. As many Tribes did not have access to the land when it was privately owned, the park’s creation opened the area to new generations.
With a focus on preserving cultural resources, the project team asked Tribal members to share what kind of engagement would be meaningful to them. Ultimately, 16 Tribes indicated interest in collaborating and co-stewarding the park.
Since then, Tribal members continue to offer traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to the management of natural resources, conducting field surveys for plants important to the participating Tribes, helping design the park’s public buildings and spaces, providing unique and invaluable input on archaeological surveys, and participating in numerous Tribal gatherings within the park.
Tribal members also visit known cultural sites to connect more closely with their own traditions and stories. “The healing comes from being on the land,” said Crystal Dreiling, park manager at Fishers Peak State Park. “It’s so important to provide that space.” For example, there are many plants and trees that grow in abundance at Fishers Peak State Park, which are important to the recipes, medicines and traditions of participating Tribes that were relocated to Oklahoma, where these plants and trees do not necessarily grow. In Fishers Peak State Park, Tribal members can physically experience the plants, trees, geological features, and wildlife that are a part of their traditions and culture.
To make this opportunity for connection more accessible, when Tribal representatives offer their cultural expertise, CPW pays for their travel and professional fees to nurture an equal partnership and to honor Tribes’ limited capacity to provide this invaluable knowledge. Other topics of engagement between the Tribes and Fishers Peak State Park include potential educational and career pathways, public-facing programming and interpretation provided by the Tribes, and various co-stewardship projects.
Engagement Learnings
Two key elements made the Fishers Peak State Park master planning process a success: Early outreach and dedication to hearing stakeholders’ feedback.
To engage Tribes, the project team began by reaching out to Tribal historic preservation officers, respecting that every Tribe is different and building relationships slowly. “Partners need to offer something that benefits the Tribes and gives them space to tell their story,” said Dreiling. “We started by asking, ‘What are your interests, and how can we serve you?’”
Likewise, involving community members from the start of the master planning process ensured the park met community needs—and built goodwill that endures today.
“Early touchpoints are so important for the palatability of a project,” said Dreiling. “Doing a good job of engagement creates a sense of ownership, giving community members a stake in what happens at the park and what decisions are made,” said Dreiling. “When you create a well-supported and exciting project for the community, it goes a long way for the life of the project.”
Share Your Success Story
What destination stewardship successes make your community proud? Please share your story with the CTO
