JACKSON HOLE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE

P.O. Box 2728

Jackson, WY 83001

(307) 733-9417

www.jhalliance.org

10/10/07 Jackson Hole News&Guide

Protect Public Treasures Surrounding Targhee

By Franz Camenzind, Executive Director
Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance

Is this really the end?  Will the future of Grand Targhee Resort finally be determined next Tuesday?  After more than two decades of involvement with this issue, I have new respect for the tenacity of the forces of development.  As the saying in the conservation business goes:  “They have to win only once but we have to win every time.”

The owners of Grand Targhee are requesting a change of zoning for their 120 acres of land at the base of Fred’s Mountain -- land that was public up until a short time ago.  They want it changed from rural to resort, opening the door for tremendous up-zoning.  They are asking to grow from 96 lodging units and 32,000 square feet of commercial space to 496 new units (plus 40 to 60 employee units) and about 165,000 square feet of new commercial space.  They hope to have more than 3,000 people living on the site at any one time.

This is a huge increase in density, which the surrounding public land cannot absorb.  There will be serious impacts to wildlife and wildlands, and to the very quality of life people seek when entering the backcountry.

The Teton County Commissioners have consistently said (as did the County Planning Commission) that this proposal is too big for the location. On Sept. 5, they set 11 conditions of approval to reduce the scope of proposed development at Targhee. Major items included: limiting the number of lodging and employee units to 450; restricting commercial and resort services to 120,000 square feet; and placing a conservation easement on a strip of land at the boundary of the 120 acres to prohibit any future land exchange or purchase that could otherwise permit the resort to grow. The commissioners failed to address concerns about air pollution from wood-burning stoves and the lack of a density cap, meaning that resort owners could be asking for even more development rights within a few years.

The owners’ response to these conditions was disappointing.  They called the conditions extreme and financially untenable, and threatened to reduce or remove previous offers of mitigation, such as open space and a privately funded transportation system, if commissioners don’t back down.

The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance believes the commissioners’ conditions are moderate, necessary, and no more than what’s been required of other developments of this magnitude.  But most of all, we believe that a resort as proposed by Grand Targhee’s owners would cause extreme harm to the surrounding public land and its wildlife, treasures belonging to every citizen today and in the future.

Please support the County Commissioners in their efforts to enforce an acceptable compromise by emailing them at commissioners@tetonwyo.org, or speaking up at the public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 9 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Chambers at 200 S. Willow St., Jackson.

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The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to responsible land stewardship to ensure that human activities are in harmony with the area’s irreplaceable wildlife, scenic and other natural resources. The organization has 2,000 members from Jackson Hole and across the nation.