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1) Check
out our Spring Alliance News magazine! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1) Check out our Spring Alliance News magazine! The Spring 2010 Alliance News magazine is now available online at www.jhalliance.org/library.htm. (Just click on the cover photo of the pika.) Along with updates on many issues, it includes a special section on how Jackson Hole can build a better economy without growing bigger. You’re also welcome to stop by and pick up a free printed copy at the Alliance office, 685 S. Cache. (A map to our office is available at www.jhalliance.org/contact.htm.) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 2) Next Comp Plan hearings to tackle Jackson Hole’s economy The joint planning commissions are set to begin discussing Theme Five of the draft plan, “Provide for a Diverse and Balanced Economy,” on Thursday, March 4, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the county commissioners’ chambers, 200 S. Willow. Encouragingly, the staff report for this hearing asks the planning commissioners to consider reinstating the concept from our 1994 Comp Plan that our economy should not be dependent on growth. (For reasons why this is a good idea, click here. The Alliance’s comments on this theme are available by clicking here.) Also encouraging -- the planning commissioners recently moved forward with an improved version of Theme Two, “Managing Growth Responsibly,” that acknowledges that the overall amount of growth in Teton County matters. However, at the Feb. 18 hearing, they also recognized that there are conflicts inherent in some of their previous votes, and decided they would treat each theme individually without addressing conflicts until the very end of the overall review. This step may prove problematic, since it means that all the votes taken and recommendations made throughout the planning commissioners’ initial review could essentially be reopened for debate at that time. On a more positive note, they recently asked for the Alliance’s and the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce’s help in estimating effective population, so that the plan can take into account not just residents but visitors, commuters and others who are here at different times of the year. Throughout the Comp Plan revision process, the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance will continue to work for a plan that will preserve and protect our ecosystem, wildlife, natural resources, quality of life and community character in a sustainable and predictable manner. We urge you to click here for our recent report on the Comp Plan revision process, and to stay posted at www.jhalliance.org/Library/Alerts/2010/CompPlanMeetings.2010.pdf. As always, public comment on the draft Comp Plan is welcome and encouraged. To view plan documents and planning commission votes, and to submit comments, visit the plan website, www.jacksontetonplan.com, or email comments to Jeff Noffsinger at jnoffsinger@ci.jackson.wy.us or Alex Norton at anorton@tetonwyo.org, or deliver them in person at the town or county planning offices.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 3) Transportation discussions, decisions just around the bend On Tuesday, March 23, transportation consultants Carlos Hernandez and Rob Bernstein will kick off the joint planning commissions’ first hearing on Theme Six of the draft Comp Plan, “Develop a Multi-Modal Transportation Strategy.” This hearing will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at 200 S. Willow. We anticipate that discussions regarding transportation will lead to the crux of many issues in the draft plan and will keep you posted at www.jhalliance.org/Library/Alerts/2010/CompPlanMeetings.2010.pdf as they progress. (See the March 8 and March 16 items under “Coming Events” below for info on two other transportation-related meetings being hosted by the Alliance.) Also relevant to these discussions -- particularly as our community identifies and commits to future transportation-related goals -- is the extent to which local input is or isn’t being factored into Wyoming Department of Transportation projects. A recent case is “Jackson South,” where WYDOT has proposed two disappointing alternatives for road expansion in the 7-mile section of Hwy. 26/89/289/191 from southern South Park Loop Road to Hoback Junction. From the time this project was first proposed many years ago, the Alliance has opposed making the highway five lanes wide, given the impacts it would have on wildlife and community character. (We have supported a modified 3-lane alternative.) A final environmental impact statement is due out in May, and the odds aren’t looking good that it will include acceptable alternatives. Moving forward, the Alliance will work to ensure that the best possible wildlife mitigation measures are incorporated into this project’s design. We’ll also continue to question the need for a five-lane highway throughout this section and to explore other options. Importantly, the impacts from this proposed reconstruction won’t be restricted to Jackson South alone; the project stands to set a bad precedent for many future road “improvements” and expansions in the county.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 4) Other community planning updates The Alliance continues to monitor many other community planning matters in addition to the items above. Here’s a partial roundup, 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 Kristy Bruner at Kristy@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 meeting takes place. Check www.ci.jackson.wy.us, www.tetonwyo.org and www.jhalliance.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. HELI-LOGGING, HOUSING MITIGATION: Teton Board of County Commissioners workshop, March 1, 10:30 a.m., 200 S. Willow. The county commissioners are scheduled to discuss a proposal that would allow applications for short-term helicopter tree-removal projects to move more quickly through the permitting process. Also scheduled is a discussion regarding off-site affordable housing mitigation. ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION: Jackson Town Council and Teton Board of County Commissioners joint information meeting, March 1, 3 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. For the seventh month in a row, the proposed Environment Commission is on the JIM agenda. Since this appointed volunteer board could provide the public and officials with a comprehensive, science-based understanding of the health of the Teton region’s ecosystems -- and facilitate the incorporation of that data into public policy -- we hope that the electeds will soon make it a reality. Please visit www.jhalliance.org/library.htm#comments for a link to our full comments. DRAFT COMP PLAN FLUP MAPS: Jackson Town Council and Teton Board of County Commissioners joint information meeting, March 1, 3 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. Also on the agenda for the March 1 meeting is a discussion regarding the draft Comp Plan. The planning staff will ask the electeds if they would like to review the draft (including recommendations from the planning commissions) before or after the planning commissions review the draft’s Future Land Use Plan maps section. Planners will also ask the electeds to either approve or deny the planning commissioners’ recommendation to add a theme to the plan regarding energy sustainability. PUD-AFFORDABLE HOUSING & PUD-PLANNED RESORT TOOLS: Teton Board of County Commissioners, March 2, 9 a.m., 200 S. Willow. On March 2, the county commissioners will consider an amendment to get rid of two unpredictable planning tools during the Comp Plan revision process. The county planning commissioners voted 4-0 on Jan. 25 to approve this text amendment to remove the Planned Unit Development-Affordable Housing and Planned Unit Development-Planned Resort tools from existing regulations. (A moratorium on the tools is set to expire April 1.) This is a great step, which the Conservation Alliance fully supports. However, as part of this amendment, commissioners also recommended approval of new regulations that would allow increased densities in resorts if those units were to “pertain to” affordable and employee housing. The Conservation Alliance questions the addition of this new section, particularly given the level of unpredictability it represents. Planning commissioners are currently discussing these types of issues as part of the Comp Plan review. We believe that adding an amendment that sets no cap or criteria for appropriate levels of density in resort areas is not appropriate at this time. A link to our full comments is available at www.jhalliance.org/library.htm#comments. Please let county commissioners Hank Phibbs, Leland Christensen, Ben Ellis, Andy Schwartz and Paul Vogelheim know what you think by emailing them at commissioners@tetonwyo.org. Contact Kristy Bruner at Kristy@jhalliance.org or (307) 733-9417 if you have questions. JACKSON PLANNING COMMISSIONER SOUGHT: The Town of Jackson has extended the deadline for applicants for Lisa daCosta’s seat on the town planning commission to 5 p.m., March 5. (Commissioners Lisa daCosta and Jessica Rutzick submitted their resignations in January, and only one person -- Dana Buchwald, a civil engineer with Jorgensen Associates -- applied by the original Feb. 1 deadline to replace them. She was appointed to fill Jessica Rutzick's seat on Feb. 8.) Contact Roxanne DeVries Robinson, town clerk, at rrobinson@ci.jackson.wy.us or (307) 733-3932, ext. 1107, for details on how you can apply. WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY FENCING: Teton Board of County Commissioners workshop, March 15, 11 to 11:30 a.m., 200 S. Willow. As a follow up to a Dec. 2 workshop, on March 15 the commissioners are expected to further discuss possible changes to current regulations that could make fencing in the county less harmful to wildlife. For a PDF of the current rules, visit www.jhalliance.org/Library/Alerts/2009/WildlifeFriendlyFencing.11-09.pdf. “IDLE-FREE” JACKSON: Jackson Town Council workshop, March 15, 3 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. A coalition of community members has been trying to get an anti-idling ordinance passed in town, and councilors are tentatively scheduled to discuss the idea further on March 15. TOWN LDR AMENDMENT: Jackson Town Council workshop, March 15, 3 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. Also at the March 15 workshop, the councilors are tentatively expected to again discuss a proposal that would allow accessory units within the auto-urban residential zoning district to be sold separately to independent owners. (One single-family residence and two accessory-residential units are allowed on single lots in this district, but current regulations stipulate that all three structures must be owned by one owner.) KARNS MEADOW STORMWATER WETLAND OPEN HOUSE: March 25, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. The Town of Jackson, Teton Conservation District, Jackson Hole Land Trust and Intermountain Aquatics will host an open house to present the final plans for this project to create a “stormwater wetland” in Karns Meadow. The project is intended to reduce the amount of sediment entering Flat Creek, and construction is expected to begin late this summer.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 5) “Contested leases” comments due March 22 Nearly 45,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat in the Wyoming Range may soon be free from the threat of energy development. In late January, Bridger-Teton officials released a long-awaited draft supplemental analysis of leasing proposed on 47,720 acres in the Wyoming Range west of Merna. This study was done because in 2006, after the Bureau of Land Management had already begun leasing parcels in the area, the federal Interior Board of Land Appeals ruled that an earlier National Environmental Policy Act analysis didn’t adequately consider the potential impacts of development on air quality and Canada lynx. In effect, the leases in these areas and any accompanying exploratory development have been on hold pending the results of this latest study of their potential impacts. The good news is that the B-T’s preferred alternative “would provide for no leasing” and “no opportunity for exploration and/or development in the areas covered by the 44,720 acre parcels.” This “No Action” alternative further states that the contested “leases under suspension would be cancelled and leases under protest not awarded.” Even better, since this area was included in the Wyoming Range Legacy Act’s lease withdrawal area, if the preferred alternative ends up being final, then no wells will ever be allowed there. Wyoming is one of the nation’s major oil and gas producers, but some places are just too important for wildlife and too valuable for other uses -- like outfitting and recreation -- to risk losing. Please urge the Forest Service to ensure that
none of the 44,720 acres of contested leases are
issued or validated, and show your support of the
B-T’s “No Action” alternative
by mailing your comments by March 22 to: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 6) Comment on snowmobiles in Yellowstone by March 30 This past fall, the National Park Service instituted a temporary plan regulating the use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches in Yellowstone National Park through the 2010-2011 winter season. Now the NPS has two years to come up with a permanent plan, and they want your help. In the decade since its first environmental study on winter use in the park in 2000, the NPS has received some 647,000 public comments on several proposed plans, which have run the gamut from completely banning snowmobiles to allowing up to 950 of them a day. Legal challenges mired most of them. The current temporary plan allows up to 318 best-available-technology guided snowmobiles and 78 snowcoaches per day. It also allows motorized oversnow travel on Sylvan Pass unless weather conditions make that unsafe. Meanwhile, the Park Service is asking for comments to determine the scope of studies for the new winter use plan that will take effect when the temporary one ends. Given that Yellowstone’s own biologists have determined that excessive snowmobile use is detrimental to the park’s wildlife and habitat, this is yet another chance for people to tell the NPS what they think should be studied in the new environmental analysis and to share their concerns. Scoping comments are due by March 30. Visit www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/participate.htm for details on how you can comment. Questions? Contact Louise Lasley, Alliance public lands director, at (307) 733-9417 or Louise@jhalliance.org.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 7) Coming Events Wednesday, March 3 Friday, March 5 Monday, March 8 Tuesday, March 9 Wednesday, March 10 Tuesday, March 16 Wednesday, March 17 Thursday, March 18 Saturday, March 20 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 8) Valley Voices “They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” - Andy Warhol
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 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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