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1) The
Comp Plan rollercoaster continues • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1) The Comp Plan rollercoaster continues Jackson and Teton County planning commissioners are continuing to review and make recommendations on the draft Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan in weekly public meetings, each Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., 200 S. Willow. November is an important month to speak up for wildlife because that’s when the planning commissioners will be making their final recommendations and taking final votes on Theme One (informally known as the wildlife theme) of the draft Comp Plan. Here are key dates: Oct. 30: The planning staff released its rewrite of Theme One, now titled “Practice Stewardship of Wildlife, Natural Resources, and Scenic Vistas.” (Links to this draft, to a list of the joint planning commissions’ recommendations to date, and to a place where you can submit comments online are all available at www.jacksontetonplan.com/blog/2009/08/planning-commission-review. You can also submit written comments via email to Jeff Noffsinger at jnoffsinger@ci.jackson.wy.us or Alex Norton at anorton@tetonwyo.org, or in person at the town or county planning offices.) Nov. 6: The Conservation Alliance has posted our preliminary analysis of this new draft of Theme One at www.jhalliance.org/library.htm#comments. Click here for a direct link. Nov. 12: If you want your written comments about the rewritten Theme One to be included in the staff report for the Nov. 19 public meeting, you must submit them by 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 12. Nov. 19: The joint planning commissions are scheduled to start discussing the rewritten Theme One on Thursday, Nov. 19, and will take verbal comments then. This hearing will be critical -- please attend and speak up for stronger protections for wildlife! Nov. 26: No hearing on this day, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, discussions on Theme Two, “Manage Growth Responsibly” continue. The Nov. 5 hearing may be the public’s final chance to make verbal comments on the planning commissions’ preliminary recommendations regarding growth management, since that’s when the planning commissioners are scheduled to complete their review of Theme Two and to clarify the votes they have taken so far, prior to planning staff’s rewrite of the theme. The past month has been a bit of a rollercoaster. It is still unclear whether the planning commissioners are willing to limit overall growth in the valley, and the Theme Two discussions have resulted in both encouraging and discouraging votes. A review of the hearings to date is available at www.jhalliance.org/Library/Alerts/2009/CompPlanMeetingsSummer09.pdf. The Alliance’s detailed written comments and summaries of our verbal comments are all available at www.jhalliance.org/library.htm#comments. The Conservation Alliance will continue to represent our 2,000-plus members at the weekly hearings to ensure that Jackson Hole ends up with a plan that will truly protect our wildlife, natural resources and quality of life. Also, as a member of taskforces that have been set up to provide accurate data (such as numbers on buildout, employee generation and effective population) for the planning commissioners, the Alliance is working to make sure that this data is the best available. We’re also holding weekly informal discussions on the Comp Plan for interested community members each Tuesday through the fall, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at our office, 685 S. Cache. Questions? Contact Alliance community planning director Kristy Bruner at (307) 733-9417 or Kristy@jhalliance.org. Background information on the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan is available at www.jhalliance.org/issuescompplan.htm.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 2) November offers grab bag of other community planning items In addition to the Comp Plan, the Alliance continues to monitor a plethora of other community planning matters. Here’s a 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 Kristy Bruner at Kristy@jhalliance.org or (307) 733-9417 for confirmation. If you’d like to comment on any of these issues, contact information for all local public officials is available at www.jhalliance.org/takeactioncontacts.htm. ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION: Jackson Town Council and Teton Board of County Commissioners joint information meeting, Nov. 2, 3 p.m., 200 S. Willow. During their preliminary review of Theme One of the draft Comp Plan, the town and county planning commissioners recommended that an environmental commission proposed in the plan be formed sooner rather than later. The councilors and county commissioners agreed, and on Nov. 2, they’ll hear the planning staff’s recommendations regarding this commission, whose tentative mission is to “develop and provide the public and local decision-makers with a comprehensive, science-based understanding of the health of the Teton region’s ecosystems.” The full staff report is available at www.tetonwyo.org/cc/docs/StaffReports/2009/110209jimitemF.pdf. WORKFORCE HOUSING: Jackson Town Council and Teton Board of County Commissioners joint information meeting, Nov. 2, 3 p.m., 200 S. Willow. In September, a seven-member appointed panel started meeting to try to figure out how our community can implement a goal in the draft Comp Plan to house 65 percent of Teton County’s workforce locally. They’re scheduled to give a progress report at the Nov. 2 JIM meeting. WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY FENCING: Teton Board of County Commissioners workshop, Nov. 9, 11:30 a.m., 200 S. Willow. Many Teton County residents would like the new Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan to include a requirement that any fencing be “wildlife-friendly,” and the county commissioners are tentatively scheduled to discuss this issue on Nov. 9. GRAVEL STUDY: Teton County Planning Commission, Nov. 9, 6 p.m., 200 S. Willow. In September, the Teton Board of County Commissioners decided that the Teton County Gravel Study 2009 Update should undergo public hearings, which have since been rescheduled several times, most recently to Nov. 9. The study identifies 13 specific parcels in the county as potential sites for long-term gravel extraction and processing, and reassesses supply vs. demand for gravel for construction projects in light of the recession. Due to the impacts of gravel extraction on wildlife, wildlife habitat and the quality of life of adjoining neighbors, the Alliance supports a full public review of this study. We’ll post our comments on the report online shortly; please check back. SEARCH AND RESCUE HELIPAD AT Y INTERSECTION: Teton County Planning Commission, Nov. 9, 6 p.m., 200 S. Willow. Teton County Search and Rescue is proposing to build a helicopter pad and training facility at the Y intersection of Hwy. 22 and Broadway. County planning commissioners were originally set to review the application on Oct. 26, but it was rescheduled to Nov. 9. ROAD ABOVE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART: Teton Board of County Commissioners, Nov. 17, 9 a.m., 200 S. Willow. On Oct. 12, county planning commissioners recommended denial of requests for two variances regarding property across Hwy. 89 from the National Elk Refuge, and now the county commissioners will consider this proposal on Nov. 17. The applicant, Volunteer Associates, is proposing to put a road up a steep slope to access building sites that are above and to the north of the National Museum of Wildlife Art. The applicant is also proposing an amendment to off-site mitigation regulations. The Conservation Alliance supports the Teton County planning department’s recommendations to deny these variances, particularly given the site’s location in the Natural Resources Overlay and at a character-defining gateway to Jackson. Click here for the Alliance's comments on this proposal. TOWN LDR AMENDMENTS: For the third time this fall, the Jackson Town Council has postponed workshops on various proposed changes to the town’s land development regulations. At an Oct. 5 workshop on the amendments, councilors scheduled another workshop for Oct. 19 to discuss two LDR-related items in more depth. One was the town's planned mixed-use development tool; the other was a proposal to allow more than one person to own different structures on single lots in the auto-urban residential zoning district. (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.) Then, during the week of Oct. 12, the town postponed the PMD discussion to Oct. 26, and the zone change discussion to Nov. 16, but both of these have since been postponed again, this time to Dec. 21. We’ll keep you posted, meanwhile, for background information on the planned mixed-use development tool, visit www.jhalliance.org/Library/Alerts/2009/TownDevelopment.3-09.pdf.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 3) Comments on sale of Forest Service parcel on North Cache due by Nov. 30 The environmental assessment regarding Forest Service land sale and employee housing plans for Jackson was released on Oct. 26. It’s available by clicking on the “conveyance” links at www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/projects. The EA offers four alternatives regarding how much and which parts of the Forest Service’s 15-acre administrative site on North Cache might be offered for sale, as well as various plans for putting more employee housing in an area called Cottonwood near the Snake River Canyon and at an 80-acre site off Nelson Drive in East Jackson at the popular Putt-Putt trailhead. Comments are due by 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, and can be mailed to Attn. Carole "Kniffy" Hamilton, Bridger-Teton National Forest Supervisor, P. O. Box 1888, Jackson, WY 83001, or emailed to comments-intermtn-bridger-teton@fs.fed.us (put "Conveyance Project" in the subject line). Bridger-Teton officials say that attempts to find alternative funding to replace old facilities and provide more housing for their employees have failed, and that they need to sell the land to raise the money. The Alliance believes that selling public lands to maintain agency operations is an appalling management practice. Using money from the sale of public lands to fund the operational needs of the agency responsible for those lands is shortsighted and wrong. Besides, the current market for property, even here in Jackson Hole, also indicates that this proposed sale is not the wisest step to take at this time. Due to our concerns about the intensity and types of development that could end up at Jackson’s north gateway, and the potential impacts on wildlife at the Nelson Drive and Cottonwood sites, the Alliance has advocated for the least amount of land to be sold on North Cache, with administrative offices and employee housing to be located on the remaining acreage, rather than at the east edge of Jackson and in the Snake River Canyon in prime wildlife habitat. We plan to analyze each alternative and post our comments at www.jhalliance.org/library.htm#comments by close of day, Nov. 10. Also, Michael Schrotz of the B-T will talk about the EA at the Alliance’s Nov. 18 noon info lunch, 685 S. Cache St. Visit www.ProtectThePuttPutt.com for more information regarding people’s concerns about the plans. Meanwhile, it may help to encourage Wyoming’s congressional delegation to find other ways to pay for replacing the Bridger-Teton’s old administrative buildings and help with employee housing. Their contact info is available at www.jhalliance.org/takeactioncontacts.htm. (Click here for a copy of the letter we sent U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi, and U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis.) In other Bridger-Teton news, we’re still waiting for amendments to the B-T’s 1990 long-range management plan, which were expected to be released in September. Please check back for updates.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 4) Other public lands news CONTESTED LEASES: We’re expecting a supplemental environmental impact statement regarding leases for energy development on about 20,000 acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest any day now, and will provide an update as soon as it’s released; please check back. Here’s some background information: During an August celebration to mark the passage of the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, which prohibits new leases for energy exploration and development on 1.2 million acres of the Bridger-Teton, Bureau of Land Management officials announced that they would not be issuing leases on 24,000 additional acres of the forest. The Interior Board of Land Appeals had ruled that the environmental studies done on these lands were inadequate and had to be supplemented. While the Forest Service was complying with this ruling, Congress passed the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, and the BLM decided to return money to the bidders for 23 leases that it had sold but not yet issued. Still in contention are an additional 20,000 acres on the Wyoming Range, where leases were both sold and issued; the supplemental EIS concerns them. PARK WINTER USE PLAN: In a positive move, the National Park Service has approved a two-year temporary plan to cut back the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone National Park from 720 to 318 a day. It also limits snowcoaches to 78 per day, requires snowmobilers to use guides and the cleanest-running machines available, and requires the park to develop a long-range plan regarding winter use within the next two years. The Conservation Alliance believes that excessive snowmobile use in Yellowstone is detrimental to the park’s wildlife and habitat, and to the experience of nature, so we commend the Service for this plan, which also provides long-term direction regarding winter use in Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. (Twenty-five snowmobiles a day will be allowed to travel on the Grassy Lake Road, with no best-available-technology (BAT) or guiding requirement. On Jackson Lake, an initial daily limit of 25 BAT snowmobiles will provide access to ice fishing for people with appropriate fishing gear and a valid State of Wyoming fishing license. The limit may be increased to 40 snowmobiles per day if monitoring of park resources indicates acceptable conditions. Grooming and motorized oversnow travel on the Continental Divide Snowmobile Trail between Moran Junction and Flagg Ranch will be discontinued.) Rules to implement the decision will be published in the Federal Register in coming weeks, to allow the parks to open for the winter season as scheduled on Dec. 15.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 5) Fish and Wildlife balks at grizzly relist order The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has filed a request for U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy to amend his Sept. 21 ruling returning Yellowstone-area grizzlies to protection under the Endangered Species Act. (In 2007, Fish and Wildlife removed federal protections for the area’s roughly 600 grizzlies, which had been classified as a threatened species for the previous 32 years. Judge Molloy said state laws were inadequate to protect the bears, which face threats including the decline of a key food source, whitebark pine nuts. For details, visit www.jhalliance.org/Library/PressReleases/2009/GrizzlyRelistPR.9-09.pdf; visit www.jhalliance.org/Library/Alerts/2009/WhitebarkPine.9-09.pdf for background information. Molloy’s decision was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition in Montana; a similar lawsuit filed by the Alliance and six other groups in Idaho is still pending.) We had hoped that Molloy’s Sept. 21 ruling would cause Fish and Wildlife to promptly remand its decision to delist Yellowstone grizzlies, and to reinstate protections to ensure the bears’ continued survival. However, the Service and some members of the Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee contend that their current adaptive management plan is sufficient to monitor and protect the bears, and that while grizzlies do rely heavily on whitebark pine, its decline does not determine the bears’ sustainability. If Molloy denies the request to amend his decision, Fish and Wildlife will likely file an appeal. We’ll keep you posted.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 6) Get involved in county volunteer boards, Alliance grassroots group Teton County is looking for citizens to serve on several of its community steering committees, including the housing authority and planning commission boards, for terms that will start Jan. 1. As evidenced by the Comp Plan deliberations now going on, members of these groups play a key role in determining the future of Jackson Hole. Interested? Download an application at www.tetonwyo.org by clicking on “Forms,” then scroll down to “Nomination Form for Board Membership.” Or pick one up at the county administration office, 200 S. Willow. For more information, call (307) 733-8094 or email sbirdyshaw@tetonwyo.org. The application deadline is 5 p.m., Nov. 17; interviews will take place the week of Nov. 30. Also, the Conservation Alliance Grassroots Group, designed to engage young citizens in local and regional environmental advocacy, activism and community outreach, will have a kickoff event on Dec. 9 -- watch for details as the date gets closer! Contact Becky Tillson at (307) 733-9417 or Rebecca@jhalliance.org with questions or to get involved.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 7) Coming Events Each Tuesday through the fall Saturday, Nov. 7 Wednesday, Nov. 18 Thursday, Nov. 19 Friday, Nov. 20 Wednesday, Dec. 2 Spring 2010 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 8) Valley Voices “When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out.” - David Weatherford
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 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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