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1) Devil’s
in the details as electeds continue Comp Plan
discussions • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1) Devil’s in the details as electeds continue Comp Plan discussions Your town and county elected officials are several meetings into their discussions about the revised Comp Plan, and the jury is still out on whether we’ll end up with one that does what the community wants it to do: protect wildlife and manage growth responsibly. On the plus side, the electeds have reaffirmed that the plan should work toward these goals. So there seems to be agreement on what the plan should do, but questions remain about how best to do it. For instance, for the past four years, the Alliance and many citizens who’ve submitted comments have asked decision makers to commit to a plan that works within the limits of the valley’s existing development potential. Specifically, the community has asked for a plan that will not add any more development capacity or “buildout” beyond the baseline of what’s allowed under our current Comp Plan. These existing entitlements essentially allow twice as much residential and commercial development as what’s on the ground today, and without a commitment to stay within them, we don’t believe other strategies for smart growth and wildlife protection will have a chance to work. At their March 25 meeting, a majority of the town and county electeds decided to take a different approach. Although the upshot of their discussions was somewhat unclear during the meeting, a summary published afterward stated that “a buildout number will be calculated following discussions and decisions about the appropriate character throughout the community in order to analyze future development patterns.” Along with this decision to determine buildout
numbers at the end of the plan rewrite process
instead of the beginning, the electeds also decided
to: More encouragingly, officials also noted that the Alliance’s vegetation mapping project and other studies that we’ve provided are helpful, and we intend to continue this role by next giving them concrete proposals for how the plan CAN incorporate cumulative impact studies to inform policy decisions that will protect the valley’s wildlife and quality of life. We’ll also continue our ongoing additional efforts for a plan that will uphold these and other community priorities. Meanwhile, here’s how you can help: Before April 27, talk with or write your elected representatives to let them know what you think about how their review is going, and send a copy of your letter to the local papers. Click here for all the contact info. You can also make written comments at any time via www.jacksontetonplan.com -- just click on "Submit a comment" on the left side of that page. Here are some key points to raise: If you’d like more information, links to the Alliance’s detailed comments are available by clicking here. Visit www.jhalliance.org/issuescompplan.htm and www.jacksontetonplan.com for additional info. Also, click here to listen to "Comp Plan Uncomplicated," our 30-minute radio show overviewing the Comp Plan that recently aired on KHOL. Click here for the next segment that aired on April 13 -- an 8-minute interview on community character with Tim O'Donoghue of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce -- click here for our April 20 interview with Christine Walker of the Teton County Housing Authority, and here for the April 27 interview with April Hankey on getting involved. We also urge you to attend the following Comp Plan meetings set for this month, especially the evening session on April 27, which is the only one at which verbal public comment will be taken. (Click here, here and here for the Alliance's written comments prepared for these meetings.) April 20, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Comprehensive Plan
Joint Information Meeting #6 April 22, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Comprehensive Plan
JIM #7 April 27, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Comprehensive Plan
JIM #8 April 27, 4 to 7 p.m., Evening session to allow
verbal public comments April 27, 7 to 9 p.m., Final discussion and direction
from the electeds to the planning staff prior to
the rewriting of the draft Comp Plan (UPDATE: This
meeting was continued to Thursday, April 28, 8
to 10 a.m., same location.) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 2) Other town and county planning news In addition to the Comp Plan hearings noted above, here’s a partial roundup of more community planning matters, but please keep in mind that all meetings are subject to change. Call the Town of Jackson at (307) 733-3932, Teton County at (307) 733-8094, or reach Becky Tillson at Rebecca@jhalliance.org or (307) 733-9417 for confirmation. Also, this list isn’t exhaustive, since many meeting agendas aren’t finalized until shortly before the meetings take place. Check back here or visit www.ci.jackson.wy.us and www.tetonwyo.org for updates. If you’d like to comment on any of these items, contact information for all local public officials is available at www.jhalliance.org/takeactioncontacts.htm. NO REGULAR JOINT INFORMATION MEETING THIS MONTH: Due to Spring Break, the April 4 town and county elected officials’ joint information meeting has been cancelled. The next regular JIM is set for May 2 at Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. TOWN PROCEEDS WITH ZONE CHANGE PLANS: Jackson Planning Commission hearing, April 6, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. (UPDATE: This hearing has been postponed to April 20, same time and place.) On Jan. 19, the town planning commissioners directed staff to go ahead and start drafting new guidelines for changes to the AR (auto-urban residential), BC (business conservation), AC/LO (auto-urban commercial within the lodging overlay) and NC-MHP (neighborhood conservation - mobile home park) zones in town. On April 6, they’re scheduled to continue discussing this topic. Click here for background information and our concerns regarding the proposed changes. We’ll keep you posted as this progresses. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO WEIGH LEGAL FINDINGS RE WILSON MIXED-USE PROJECT: Teton Board of County Commissioners meeting, April 11, 9 a.m., County chambers, 200 S. Willow. On March 15, the county commissioners approved a 12,790-square-foot mixed-use development slated for a 2-acre property just west of Nora's in Wilson, with a number of conditions and pending “findings of facts and conclusions of law.” This was the first project to come in under the county's relatively new Wilson Commercial Zoning District, and in response to concerns the Alliance raised, the commissioners also directed staff to plan a workshop to discuss how regulations for the district might be changed to avert similar concerns for future projects. (For details, click here.) Meanwhile, several Wilson residents have engaged a lawyer to challenge the county’s approval of this initial project. On April 11, the county’s attorney is scheduled to present his findings to the commissioners, who will then make their final call. PROPOSALS TO PUT YEAR-ROUND TRAILERS ON PRIVATE CAMPGROUNDS RAISE CONCERNS: Teton County Planning Commission, April 11 and 25, 6 p.m., County chambers, 200 S. Willow. On April 11 and 25, two different applications for conditional use permits to allow year-round recreational park trailers (RPTs) in existing private campgrounds will go before the county planning commission. First, on April 11, commissioners will consider a proposal to put 71 of the 400-square-foot trailers at the approximately 9-acre Jackson Hole Campground on the Moose-Wilson Road. (Click here for a link to the staff report for this application, and click here for verbal comments the Alliance presented during the April 11 hearing.) On April 25, commissioners will review a similar application seeking approval for at least 112 recreational park trailers at a campground near Moran. The potential impacts of allowing such changes from seasonal campground use are concerning, and the Alliance will be monitoring both proposals closely. (UPDATE: At the April 11 hearing, planning commissioners Tony Wall and Mark Newcomb voted against the RPT proposal for Jackson Hole Campground, and Paul Duncker and Mike Hammer voted for it. (Peter Stewart was absent.) Due to the tie vote, this proposal will head to the county commissioners with a recommendation from the county planning commission that it be denied. We'll keep you posted as this matter proceeds.) NRTAB TO DISCUSS VEGETATION MAPPING APRIL 29: The Natural Resources Technical Advisory Board (NRTAB) has scheduled their next meeting for Friday, April 29, 1 p.m. at the Teton Science Schools Jackson Campus, 700 Coyote Canyon Rd. (off Hwy. 22). This meeting is open to the public; the NRTAB is scheduled to discuss the selection of vegetation mapping methods and classification data sets for Teton County. If you have any questions or comments regarding the meeting, contact Rachel Daluge at Rachel@tetonconservation.org or (307) 733-2110. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 3) Bridger-Teton gets deluge of Hoback Wells comments Thanks to all of you, and tens of thousands of others from across Wyoming and the nation, Forest Service officials received more than 50,000 public comments by the March 11 deadline on Plains Exploration and Production Company’s proposal to drill 136 natural gas wells in the pristine Noble Basin area of Bridger-Teton. Citizens for the Wyoming Range has posted excerpts from a sampling of the submitted comments at www.wyomingrange.org, and you’re invited to check them out for an idea of what people including Gov. Matt Mead think about PXP’s plan to transform this area of prime wildlife habitat -- just 40 miles southeast of Jackson -- into an industrial web of roads and well pads. Please help keep the positive momentum going by writing a thank you note to Gov. Mead. His call for more baseline monitoring data and a more careful approach to any future development in the Upper Hoback is a remarkable step in the right direction, and well worth letting him know how much his gesture means to you and others who cherish Wyoming’s clean water, clear skies and abundant wildlife. Here’s a link to where you can send the
governor a personalized email: Or write to him at: State Capitol, 200 West 24th St., Cheyenne, WY 82002-0010 We’ll keep you posted as the Bridger-Teton’s environmental review of Hoback Wells continues. Click here for background info.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 4) Forest Service wants help with Snake Headwaters management plan In March 2009, passage of the Craig Thomas Snake River Headwaters Legacy Act brought some 400 miles of the Snake and its tributaries under the protection of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Since then, officials with the National Park Service and Bridger-Teton National Forest have been working (and coordinating) on separate but concurrent plans to manage the waterways covered by this legislation. The B-T has reached a stage where they’re looking for more public input; click here for details about how you can help. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 5) Conservationists, Feds reach settlement on Rockies wolf recovery On March 18, ten conservation groups including the Alliance reached a legal settlement with the U.S. Department of the Interior regarding wolf recovery and management in the Northern Rockies. The settlement was filed for approval with a U.S. Federal District Court in Montana. If approved by the court, the agreement would remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Idaho and Montana and return management authority to those states, while retaining full protection in Washington, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah. It will also require the Department of the Interior to withdraw a controversial policy memo used to justify not protecting imperiled species throughout their entire range. The following is a joint statement from the ten conservation groups: “We hope this agreement will mark the beginning of a new era of wolf conservation in the Northern Rockies, as well as confirm the success of the Endangered Species Act and this country’s boldest wildlife reintroduction effort in history. The proposed settlement maintains protections in Oregon and Washington where wolves have not yet fully recovered, while allowing for responsible state management in Idaho and Montana. “In return for allowing the states of Montana and Idaho to manage wolves according to approved conservation plans, the Department of the Interior agrees to conduct rigorous scientific monitoring of wolf populations across the region and an independent scientific review by an expert advisory board after three years. This is a critical safety net to ensure a sustainable wolf population in the region over the long run. The settlement offers a workable solution to the increasingly polarized debate over wolves. “Wolves are a keystone species that allow many other plants and animals -- from beaver and trout, to willows and migratory birds -- to thrive in a way that will fascinate and benefit Americans for generations to come. Wolves have a place on the landscape, and continued conflict doesn't benefit anyone.” The ten conservation groups that agreed to the settlement are Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oregon Wild, Sierra Club and Wildlands Network. To read the Department of the Interior’s press release regarding the settlement, click here. For background information about the wolf issue, click here. (UPDATE: On April 9, 2011, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy rejected the above settlement. On the same day, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho announced that House and Senate appropriators have agreed to include their proposal to remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves as part of a compromise to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. Click here for an April 10 Associated Press story that explains what these two news items could mean for wolves in the Northern Rockies.) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 6) Winter-weary wildlife not out of the woods yet Even though it’s technically Spring, many areas still remain off limits to humans to protect wildlife as they’re recovering from a long winter. Months of deep snow, scarce food and cold temperatures means their reserves are now at their lowest point, and wasting energy to avoid people and dogs can kill them. Please help our elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep and other creatures survive by staying out of closed areas. Visit www.jhalliance.org/dontpoach.pdf for the maps. For information about the North Highway 89 pathway closure in effect through April, click here. (UPDATE: On April 25, Bridger-Teton officials announced that due to heavy snows, they have extended winter closures on the forest through May 15, 2011. Click here for more info.) This year’s heavy snows have also led more wildlife to move to the valley floor, increasing the risk of drivers hitting them. For your safety and theirs, please slow down and keep a sharp eye out, especially if you’re traveling two of the worst stretches: Broadway along Karns Meadow and Saddle Butte, and Jackson South Highway 89 from High School Road to Game Creek.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 7) Alliance’s new executive director hits the ground running In case you haven’t yet heard the news, the Alliance is very pleased to announce that we've hired Trevor Stevenson, a 33-year-old conservationist with local roots and global experience, to lead us into our fourth decade of keeping Jackson Hole wild and beautiful. Please click here to read the story about how this Jackson Hole High School graduate has returned to the valley to "make a difference in my own hometown."• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 8) Coming Events Friday, April 1 Friday, April 7 Wednesday, April 20 Friday, April 22 Saturday, April 23 Tuesday, April 26 Wednesday, April 27 Thursday, April 28 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 9) Valley Voices “[The Comp Plan] will set in motion development patterns that will leave a legacy for the rest of our lives and the rest of our kids’ lives. And I think it’s important to do the planning within the entitlements and implications that are on the ground today.... Without designing within the potential as listed in Appendix I, or with a percentage less than that so that we have the ability to move forward, I think that we would be making a grave mistake.... I think we would be ignoring what is a strong comment by the community that predictabilty is tied to this concept. And I think we would not be planning as well as we could by using Appendix I, which is again essentially the entitled development rights today, for our discussion.” - Comments made during the March 25 Comp Plan hearing
Note: Appendix I in the current draft Comp
Plan spells out how the valley's current entitlements
essentially allow • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Alliance Action is a publication of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. The Conservation Alliance is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to responsible land stewardship in Jackson Hole to ensure that human activities are in harmony with the area’s irreplaceable wildlife, scenic, and other natural resources. We’re located at 685 South Cache Street in Jackson, Wyoming. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 2728, Jackson, WY 83001-2728 and our phone number is (307) 733-9417. If you'd like to sign up to receive our monthly Alliance Action via email, please click here. |
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