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1) Heart-wrenching
moose death shows need for safe wildlife
crossings • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1) Heart-wrenching moose death shows need for safe wildlife crossings On Dec. 16, travelers along Highway 390 witnessed the sad sight of an orphaned moose calf trying to revive its mother after she was hit by a car and subsequently put out of her misery by a Jackson game warden. (Click here for the Dec. 21 Jackson Hole News&Guide story.) This grim incident and too many others like it exemplify the need for drivers to slow down, especially this time of year when snowfall has led more wildlife to move to the valley floor, increasing the risk of vehicles hitting them. It also highlights the need for safe wildlife crossings, something the Alliance and our community partners have been working hard for. Fortunately, our recent study conducted by the Western Transportation Institute, "Highway Mitigation Opportunities for Wildlife in Jackson Hole," is now available online – click here to download the 8.8 mb PDF, and click here for some background information about it. We’re now working with the Wyoming Department of Transportation and a coalition of citizens to ensure that the wildlife crossings recommended by this research are actually built. This will help preserve Jackson Hole’s wildlife and community character, while ensuring safety for motorists. Please contact us at (307) 733-9417 or info@jhalliance.org if you'd like to help. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 2) Protect wildlife – please Don't Poach the Powder! Winter’s a great time to enjoy the outdoors, but it’s not so great for wildlife. The deep snow, cold temperatures and scarce food make it tough for them, and having to avoid people and dogs makes it even tougher. Please help Jackson Hole’s moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep and other creatures survive by staying out of places that are closed to protect them. Click here for the "Don't Poach the Powder" maps and closure dates (or text "dontpoach" to 50500), and click here for information on winter travel restrictions on the National Elk Refuge Road. Remember, “poaching” wintertime closed areas can be as harmful to wildlife as poaching with a rifle. Please keep yourself safe, too – before venturing into the backcountry, be sure to check on avalanche conditions at www.jhavalanche.org or call the Avalanche Hotline at (307) 733-2664. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 3) Comments on wolf delisting due by Jan. 13 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is still seeking scientific information and comments from the public about its proposed delisting rule and state management plan for Wyoming wolves. The plan essentially creates a wolf trophy game zone in Wyoming's northwest corner (excluding Yellowstone National Park), but in the 88 percent of the state outside that zone, wolves would be considered predators and could be killed at any time, by any means, without a hunting license. (Click here to read the proposal.) Written comments regarding the rule may be sent via the federal “eRulemaking” portal at www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2011–0039. You can also submit comments by mail to: Comments must be received on or before Jan. 13, 2012. For background information on this issue, please click here. (WOLF UPDATE: Click here for the Jan. 11, 2012, Jackson Hole News&Guide article titled "State aims at park wolves," which reports on concerns that Wyoming's proposed wolf management plan may allow wolf hunting in Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk Refuge. Contact Alliance Program Director Louise Lasley at Louise@jhalliance.org or (307) 733-9417 with any questions. To read comments that the Alliance submitted on Jan. 13, click here.) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 4) Last chance to weigh in on future growth in your neighborhood Planners released the newest draft of the character district maps section of the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan on Dec. 5 (click here for a direct link to it), and public comments on it are due by Jan. 2. Titled “Draft Illustration of Our Vision (Character Districts),” this second half of the Comp Plan is important because it lays out which areas of Teton County are “suitable” for various kinds of future growth. Also, planners say it will form the basis for future Town of Jackson and Teton County zoning and land development regulations. Unlike our current Comp Plan from 1994, the already approved first half of the new plan is basically an outline of ambitious goals for our community, without a blueprint for how to carry them out. A key tenet of that “Vision” section of the new Comp Plan is that our community should direct new growth toward “suitable areas” that already have some development, in order to preserve the undeveloped areas that support wildlife. (Click here for a link to the "Vision" section, which the electeds approved in June 2011.) The “Illustration of Our Vision” section of the plan identifies where those suitable areas for growth are located. The newest character district maps do illustrate a vision of future growth, but it still isn’t clear how that vision will be realized. It also remains unclear how we’ll achieve permanent conservation of rural areas in return for allowing more development potential in other areas. Furthermore, we don't yet have details about what the real impacts on our community would be if this vision of growth becomes reality. The Alliance maintains that the planning team
and our elected representatives must work
out how, when and by whom the goals of the Comp
Plan will be met. We believe that the public should
not support the adoption of the Comp Plan until
it's clear how it will be implemented,
and not until there's a clearer understanding
of what impacts can be expected from the growth
that's laid out in the new draft. Otherwise, the
Comp Plan is unlikely to
uphold our community’s priorities of protecting
Jackson Hole’s wildlife and quality of life.
Here are links to our recent comments
that go into more depth: Encouragingly, the town and county elected officials have agreed that an implementation plan is an important next step, and we hope to soon see a road map that shows how the priorities outlined in the Comp Plan will be upheld, to include budgets, timelines and responsible parties. Beyond that, as it stands now, the Character District maps identify the location and types of development desired in various areas of every district. Click here for comments the Alliance submitted on Jan. 6 that explain why we think that determining the AMOUNT of new development to be expected in each district is also necessary. Planners are accepting comments on the latest iteration of the character district maps through Jan. 2, but you can still add your thoughts after that via www.jacksontetonplan.com/comments. You can also let the planners and your elected representatives know directly what you think; click here for their contact information, and for details about how you can send a copy of your comment letter to the editors of local newspapers. What's next? Planners say they'll compile the comments on Jan. 3, and present them to town and county planning commissioners and electeds for their consideration as they review and refine the draft at the following public meetings: (UPDATE: Although the Comp Plan is not on the agenda for the Jackson Town Council and Teton Board of County Commissioners' Jan. 9 joint information meeting, it may come up. The JIM is 3 to 5 p.m. at Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl.) Jan. 11: Town of Jackson Planning Commission and Jackson Town Council workshop, 5:30 to 9 p.m., in the Fireside Lounge of Grandview Lodge, Snow King Resort (Click here for the agenda.) Jan. 12: Teton County Planning Commission and Teton Board of County Commissioners workshop, 1 to 5 p.m., Fireside Lounge of Grandview Lodge, Snow King Resort (Click here for the agenda.) Jan. 26: Joint Town of Jackson and Teton County Planning Commission hearing, 5 to 9 p.m., Ballroom, Grandview Lodge, Snow King Resort. Planners say that this meeting will include a staff presentation, an opportunity for public comments, and the planning commissioners' discussion and vote on their joint recommendations regarding the character district maps. (Click here for the agenda.) During February, planners will revise the "Illustration of Our Vision (Character Districts)" section according to direction from the planning commissioners, and the joint elected officials will consider that draft on March 14, with a final hearing expected on April 18. As always, the Alliance believes that decisions about the location, type and amount of development should be informed by the best available science, as well as by meaningful community input, and we'll keep on working toward that end. For links to all of our comments about the Comp Plan revision to date, please click here. For help with your comments, contact Alliance Wildlands & Community Planning Associate Becky Tillson at (307) 733-9417 or Rebecca@jhalliance.org. Links to our ongoing "Comp Plan Uncomplicated" radio shows are available by clicking here, and please click here for background information on the plan. You can also refer to the official Comp Plan website, www.jacksontetonplan.com, for much more info. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 5) More community planning news In addition to the Comp Plan, the Alliance keeps track of any number of other town and county planning issues. Here’s a partial roundup, but please bear 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 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. Jan. 3: Teton Board of County Commissioners regular meeting, 9 a.m., County chambers, 200 S. Willow. Among other items, on Jan. 3 the commissioners are scheduled to discuss a text amendment to the land development regulations that would permit recreational park trailers in campgrounds countywide. On Nov. 28, the county planning commissioners voted to recommend new rules governing RPTs that would create a special approval process for campground owners looking to install and rent out the trailers. (Click here for a Nov. 30, 2011, Jackson Hole News&Guide article that gives details, and click here for the News&Guide's follow-up story that ran on Dec. 7.) Due to the potential impacts of allowing changes from what has primarily been seasonal campground use, the Alliance is monitoring the RPT issue closely; links to our comments are available via www.jhalliance.org/library.htm#comments. In brief, we maintain that because RPTs essentially function as permanent structures, they should be regulated as such. In a related matter, on Dec. 20 the county commissioners considered an application for 140 RPTs at Buffalo Valley RV Resort; that hearing was continued to an as-yet-undetermined date. (Click here for the News&Guide's Dec. 21 article about the hearing.) For the full agenda for the Jan. 3 meeting and links to staff reports, click here. (UPDATE: On Jan. 3, the commissioners decided to continue their discussion about RPTs to a Jan. 11 workshop at 9 a.m., County chambers, 200 S. Willow. Click here for the News&Guide's coverage of the Jan. 3 meeting.) Jan. 3: Jackson Town Council regular meeting, 6 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. Click here for the agenda. Jan. 9: Jackson Town Council and Teton Board of County Commissioners joint information meeting, 3 to 5 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. (Note: JIM meetings are held at Town Hall January through June.) The town and county elected officials are expected to discuss the Natural Resource Overlay with the Natural Resources Technical Advisory Board; click here for the full agenda. (UPDATE: Although it's not on the agenda, the electeds may also discuss some matters related to the Comp Plan during this meeting.) Jan. 11: Teton Board of County Commissioners workshop on recreational park trailers, 9 a.m., County chambers, 200 S. Willow. (Continued from Jan. 3; see above item on RPTs.) Jan. 11: Town of Jackson Planning Commission and Jackson Town Council workshop on Comp Plan character districts, 5:30 to 9 p.m., in the Fireside Lounge of Grandview Lodge, Snow King Resort (See Alliance Action Item #4 above, and for the agenda, click here.) Jan. 12: Teton County Planning Commission and Teton Board of County Commissioners workshop on Comp Plan character districts, 1 to 5 p.m., Fireside Lounge of Grandview Lodge, Snow King Resort (See Alliance Action Item #4 above, and click here for the agenda.) Jan. 17: Teton Board of County Commissioners regular meeting, 9 a.m., County chambers, 200 S. Willow. The agenda for this meeting will be posted later this month at www.tetonwyo.org/minutes. Jan. 25: Natural Resources Technical Advisory Board meeting, 9:30 to 11 a.m., County chambers, 200 S. Willow. (UPDATE: The starting time of this meeting has been changed to 9 a.m.) Morgan Graham will give a presentation on vegetation mapping, with discussion between the NRTAB members and Teton County Planning Department staff to follow. Jan. 26: Joint Town of Jackson and Teton County Planning Commission hearing on Comp Plan character districts, 5 to 9 p.m., Ballroom, Grandview Lodge, Snow King Resort (See Alliance Action Item #4 above.) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 6) Stay tuned for updates on wildlands issues expected in early 2012 We're still waiting to hear about several environmental studies and decisions expected this winter that will affect the public lands surrounding Jackson Hole. These include: • Sale of public land at base of Teton Pass, possible relocation of Bridger-Teton headquarters – As of the end of December, no decision had been announced about whether the Forest Service will pursue its plan to sell 40 acres of the Lee Administrative Site near Trail Creek Ranch in Wilson to help pay for rebuilding the Bridger-Teton's headquarters. There's also been no further word on whether the B-T supervisor's office will be moved out of Jackson. We'll keep you posted here on both counts, so please check back. (See LAND SALE UPDATE below.) Ever since it first came to light in 2007 that the Forest Service was planning to relocate the headquarters, the Alliance has worked to help our community find ways to keep it here, plus help the B-T figure out how to fund needed new facilities without selling off public lands. Please contact Alliance Program Director Louise Lasley at Louise@jhalliance.org or (307) 733-9417 if you’d like to get involved. You can also let the Forest Service know what you think about this issue by writing to Michael Schrotz, Bridger-Teton National Forest, P.O. Box 1888, Jackson, WY 83001, or emailing him at mschrotz@fs.fed.us. For links to background information, click here. (LAND SALE UPDATE: The Jan. 11, 2012, Jackson Hole News&Guide reported that the U.S. Forest Service has officially decided to sell about 9 acres on the north and east sides of the Bridger-Teton parcel on North Cache, but will keep roughly 6 acres adjoining the street. (Click here for the News&Guide's article, and here for the B-T's 56-page "preliminary project analysis" that gives details.) Money from the sale is expected to help pay for either renovating the existing headquarters in Jackson, or building new headquarters in Alpine. The analysis, dated Jan. 3, 2012, compares costs between the two options, stating that both "are viable and have equal advantages." It further states, "The final decision on a location will be made later. The final decision will depend on public support for selling land and developing new buildings." The public is invited to an informational meeting about recent developments related to this issue on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2 p.m. at the Alliance office, 685 S. Cache. Contact Alliance Program Director Louise Lasley at Louise@jhalliance.org or (307) 733-9417 for more information.) • Teton to Snake Fuels Management Project – Bridger-Teton officials expect to release their analysis in late January of this project intended to reduce the danger of forest fires next to residences from Teton Village south along the Fish/Fall Creek Road corridor all the way to the Snake River Canyon; please check back for updates. (Click here for scoping comments we submitted in 2011 regarding the project.) • Hoback Wells – In a welcome statement released in November, Bridger-Teton National Forest officials announced that they've agreed to conduct an additional environmental study of Hoback Wells, a proposal to drill 136 natural gas wells only 40 miles southeast of Jackson in the pristine Noble Basin area of the Wyoming Range. According to Dan Smitherman of Citizens for the Wyoming Range, none of the drilling alternatives in the prior Hoback Wells draft environmental impact statement adhered to requirements in the B-T’s forest plan, or to contractual terms in Plains Exploration’s oil and gas leases, so the Forest Service is considering a new, more protective alternative that will not violate road density standards and one that likely will restrict the number and location of well pads. Click here for Smitherman's Dec. 1 letter, and see last month's Alliance Action item for more details about the new study, which is due out sometime this spring. • Wild & Scenic Snake Headwaters – 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. Now, Bridger-Teton National Forest officials are working on plans to manage and protect the waterways covered by this legislation, and they’d like your help. Click here for a link to the B-T's January 2012 scoping document; comments on it are due by Feb. 3 to Attn. Sidney Woods, Bridger-Teton National Forest, P.O. Box 339, Afton, WY 83110, or email swoods@fs.fed.us. We'll post updates on these and other pending issues here as events occur, so please check back. Meanwhile, please contact Louise Lasley, Alliance public lands director, at (307) 733-9417 or Louise@jhalliance.org with any questions. In other wildlands news, managers of nearby Shoshone National Forest are planning to host a series of public open houses in January about their upcoming forest plan revision. The meeting closest to Jackson is Jan. 17, 5 p.m. at the Headwaters Art and Convention Center in Dubois; call Carrie Christman at (307) 578-5118 for details. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 7) Coming Events Tuesday, Jan. 10 Wednesday, Jan. 11 Thursday, Jan. 12 Wednesday, Jan. 18 Thursday, Jan. 19 Wednesday, Feb. 15 SAVE THE DATE! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 8) Valley Voices "The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." – William James • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 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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