To celebrate a recent bill that gives tribal members free access to state parks, Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute leaders stood alongside Colorado officials Wednesday at a celebratory event, according to a news release shared by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The act, signed into law in May 2025, waives state park entry fees for enrolled members of the two tribes. The bill took effect Aug. 6.
Tribal members need only present a current tribal ID card to gain free access one of the state’s 43 parks.
Tribal and state officials met at Mancos State Park to honor the bill, share a meal and try out some of the park’s amenities – from trails and a volleyball pit to fishing, the news release said.
“This law is more than free entry to our state parks,” said Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera. “It’s about honoring the tribes’ deep connection to these ancestral lands and ensuring future generations can continue to strengthen that bond.”
In addition to Primavera, those present included Southern Ute Indian Tribe Vice Chairman Marvin Pinnecoose, Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart and Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs Executive Director Kathryn Redhorse.
The gathering opened with an invocation by Chairman Heart before attendees offered remarks.
Colorado elected officials, Rep. Katie Stewart, D-Durango, and Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, also attended the event.
“Long before Colorado was a state, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe were stewards of the land now known as our state parks,” Rep. Stewart said.
Others in attendance included Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Dan Gibbs and DNR Assistant Director for Tribal Affairs Stacy Coleman.
“The legislation and the ceremony today are a first step in advancing a reparative action by waiving the entrance fee to all Colorado state parks for enrolled tribal members of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes,” said Gibbs.
Other initiatives tied to the bill also create an outlet for engagement.
“Ahead of the legislative session, we also created an EngageCPW page to listen to and learn from the broader American Indian and Indigenous community about state park matters,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis.
Under the Brunot Agreement of 1874, both the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Tribes continue to have fishing, hunting and gathering rights in areas outside their reservations, including lands that are now state parks.
