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1) Positive
Theme Two revisions brighten Comp Plan review • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1) Positive Theme Two revisions brighten Comp Plan review The joint town and county planning commissions are continuing to slog their way through the draft Comp Plan in weekly meetings each Thursday, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the county commissioners’ chambers at 200 S. Willow. Click here for a link to the list of their recommendations to date. Although the review process at times strikes us as “one step forward, two steps back,” one bright spot was the Jan. 22 release of the planning staff’s rewrite of Theme Two, “Manage Growth Responsibly.” At first glance, this redline draft (available by clicking here) is very encouraging. For instance, the chapter’s statement of ideal has been changed from “Meet the human needs of the community in locations identified for development” to “Limit growth to established development allowances while encouraging preservation of existing neighborhoods and open spaces.” This is quite a switch, and one that’s much more in line with what our community has said it wants from this theme. Please speak up in support of the revised theme. Written comments are due by Feb. 11 (UPDATE: This deadline has been extended to 8 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 16); you can submit them via www.jacksontetonplan.com, by 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. Verbal comments will be taken at the joint planning commissions hearing scheduled for Feb. 18. The Alliance’s comments on the revised theme are available at www.jhalliance.org/library.htm#comments. Meanwhile, as the planning commissioners wrap up their preliminary discussions on Theme Four, “Meet Our Community’s Housing Needs,” this month and proceed on to Theme Five, “Provide for a Diverse and Balanced Economy,” the 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 actually protect our wildlife, natural resources and quality of life. Background information on the Comp Plan is available at www.jhalliance.org/issuescompplan.htm.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 2) Other community planning updates The Alliance continues to monitor many other community planning matters in addition to the Comp Plan. 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 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. ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION: Jackson Town Council and Teton Board of County Commissioners joint information meeting, Feb. 1, 3 p.m., Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl. The draft Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan, released in April 2009, listed the creation of an environment commission as a strategy, and this past fall, planning commissioners and elected officials agreed that one should be set up in time to help with the Comp Plan review. Its mission would be to “provide the public and local decision-makers with a comprehensive, science-based understanding of the health of the Teton region’s ecosystems.” Six months later, county commission chair Hank Phibbs is scheduled to present the conclusions of a taskforce regarding the commission at the Feb. 1 JIM meeting. Why is the environment commission a good idea? Read the Jackson Hole News&Guide’s excellent editorial on the subject by clicking here. NEW JACKSON PLANNING COMMISSIONERS SOUGHT: Town planning commissioners Lisa daCosta and Jessica Rutzick submitted their resignations in January. Applications for their two seats, which both expire this July, are due to Roxanne DeVries Robinson, town clerk, by 5 p.m. on Feb. 1; contact her at rrobinson@ci.jackson.wy.us or (307) 733-3932, ext. 1107, for details. The Jackson Town Council is expected to appoint the new commissioners in early February. (UPDATE: Only one person -- Dana Buchwald, a civil engineer with Jorgensen Associates -- applied for these positions. She was appointed to fill Jessica Rutzick's seat on Feb. 8. The town has extended the deadline for the other seat to 5 p.m., March 5.) TETON BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING: Feb. 2, 9 a.m., 200 S. Willow. A text amendment that would add heli-logging to the county’s list of permitted temporary uses, and the belated final plat approval of the affordable housing project at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club, are two of several items slated for this meeting. For the full agenda, visit http://www.tetonwyo.org/minutes/meeting.asp?min_id=4548. PAWS DOG PARK PROPOSAL: Jackson Town Council workshop, Feb. 16, 3 p.m., 150 E. Pearl. PAWS of Jackson Hole has long been searching for a public site for a dog park, and on Feb. 16, they’re scheduled to present plans for putting one at Karns Meadow. (UPDATE: This workshop was cancelled at the last minute and has not been rescheduled.) Since the meadow is so important as wildlife habitat and as a corridor allowing wildlife to move across town, the Alliance believes it’s not a good place for this project. We hope to work with PAWS and the Town of Jackson to help them come up with an alternative site. Click here for our detailed comments. PUD-AH AND PUD-PLANNED RESORT: 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.) But they also recommended approval of new regulations that would allow increased densities in resorts if those units were to be for affordable and employee housing, which is something that could lead to more unpredictablilty, not less. Please let county commissioners Hank Phibbs, Ben Ellis, Leland Christensen, 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. TOWN LDR AMENDMENTS UPDATE: The Jackson Town Council held a workshop on Jan. 25 to consider revisions to the flawed planned mixed-use development tool, but aside from conceding that it is “not working as envisioned,” as one councilor put it, they didn’t make any decisions, nor did they schedule another workshop. (For background information on the PMD, visit www.jhalliance.org/Library/Alerts/2009/TownDevelopment.3-09.pdf.) The town councilors also discussed 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.) They decided to wait for a report from the Blue Ribbon Panel on Affordable Housing (due out in March) before making any changes regarding this proposal. UPDATE ON SEARCH AND RESCUE HELIPAD AT Y INTERSECTION: On Jan. 5, the Teton Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved Teton County Search and Rescue’s proposal to build a helicopter pad and training facility at the Y intersection of Hwy. 22 and Broadway. Given the location of the project at a major gateway to Jackson -- and within both the Natural Resources and Scenic Resources overlays -- the Conservation Alliance and others had voiced concerns about whether alternative locations had been fully explored. (The commissioners did add a condition requiring Search and Rescue to monitor the reactions of deer to helicopter takeoffs and landings.) STAGE STOP UPDATE: On Jan. 19, the Jackson Town Council approved sketch plans for a three-story, 32,800-square-foot project one block from the Town Square that will stretch from North Cache Street to Glenwood Street. This by-right development includes a hotel and retail space.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 3) Bridger-Teton news HOPEFUL NEWS ON CONTESTED LEASES: Bridger-Teton officials are proposing prohibiting new leasing for energy development on nearly 45,000 acres in the Wyoming Range west of Merna. On Jan. 28, the B-T released a long-awaited draft supplemental analysis, which states that its 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.” The preferred alternative further states that “leases under suspension would be cancelled and leases under protest not awarded.” (Some background -- 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, and so a supplemental analysis was begun. Protests against leasing in this area helped spur the Wyoming Range Legacy Act of 2009, which protects 1.2 million acres of the Wyoming Range from new leasing for energy development. However, valid existing leases were not affected by this legislation, which also made it clear that although the 44,720 acres were included in the area withdrawn from future leasing, any decisions regarding the contested leases remained with the agencies involved. If the record of decision ends up reflecting the preferred alternative of no leasing, then the 44,720 acres will not be able to be leased again.) Some places are too special to drill -- please show your support of this “No Action” alternative by mailing your written comments by March 22 to: Bridger-Teton National Forest, Attn: Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton, P.O. Box 1888, Jackson, WY 83001, or email them to comments-intermtn-bridger-teton@fs.fed.us. The draft supplemental environmental impact statement is available by clicking here. For more information, please click here. NORTH CACHE LAND SALE UPDATE: A decision regarding selling public lands on the Bridger-Teton to pay for employee housing and replacing old administrative facilities is now expected sometime in March. The Alliance has been working with B-T officials and many citizens and groups to try to figure out how to raise the needed money without sacrificing our public lands. If you’d like to be included in these discussions, please contact Louise Lasley at (307) 733-9417 or Louise@jhalliance.org. (For background information on this issue, please click here.) SCOPING COMMENTS FOR NEW NATIONAL FOREST PLANNING RULE DUE FEB. 16: For several years now, court battles have raged over federal rules governing revisions of national forest management plans. However, in December, the National Forest Service published a notice of its intent to begin analyzing environmental consequences associated with a new land management planning rule. Hopefully, this process will result in a new plan that will remove uncertainties about how to approach forest planning -- uncertainties that have stalled revisions to the Bridger-Teton’s 20-year-old management plan (see next item). People have until Feb. 16 to share what they think should be part of the new analysis. The notice of intent and details on how you can comment are available at http://fs.usda.gov/planningrule. The Alliance's scoping comments are available by clicking here. BRIDGER-TETON RELEASES FIVE-YEAR MONITORING REPORT: A document that should prove useful if and when the Bridger-Teton ever resumes its long-range management plan revision process was recently posted at www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/news/forest_plan_revision/5yr.shtml. The result of years of research as well as extensive public input, the report describes “current conditions” on the B-T and assesses tons of ecological, social and economic information pertaining to the forest. Check it out when you get a chance.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 4) Shoshone National Forest officials try to fast-track oil well Shoshone National Forest officials have announced plans to permit what will be the first oil well drilled in more than 20 years on America's first national forest. A prime wildlife habitat area north of Dubois with no current energy development that's also an elk migration corridor and home to threatened Canada lynx and grizzlies has the potential to grow into a full-fledged industrial zone. The Forest Service is proposing to permit the project under the categorical exclusion rule, which means it would be exempt from a thorough review of its environmental impacts. For details, click here. Hilary Eisen of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition will speak about this project and what you can do to help stop it on Feb. 3, 6 p.m. at the Conservation Alliance, 685 S. Cache. There’s also a meeting for interested citizens on Feb. 2, 6 p.m. at the Forest Service office in Dubois, 516 Marciana. Contact Louise Lasley at (307) 733-9417 or Louise@jhalliance.org for more information. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 5) Comment by Feb. 9 on rehab of Teton Park headquarters Grand Teton National Park officials are looking for comments by Feb. 9 on their plan to renovate the park’s headquarters campus in Moose. The plans can be viewed at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Moose, at the Teton County Library reference desk, or online by clicking here. Comments are due by Feb. 8 and can be mailed to: Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott, Attn: Moose Headquarters Rehabilitation Site Work Environmental Assessment, Grand Teton National Park, P.O. Drawer 170, Moose, WY 83012, or made online by clicking here. For the Alliance's comments, please click here. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 6) Park Service takes another stab at park winter use plan This past fall, the National Park Service instituted a temporary plan regulating the use of snowmobliles 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 has begun the National Environmental Policy Act process of 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, or find out more at a public meeting scheduled in Idaho Falls from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 16 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 700 Lindsay Blvd. Questions? Contact Louise Lasley, Alliance public lands director, at (307) 733-9417 or Louise@jhalliance.org.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 7) Buy it now -- Alliance’s 30th Anniversary film! DVDs of Charlie Craighead’s gorgeous film commemorating the first 30 years of the Alliance have arrived at our office and may be purchased for only $15 in person at 685 S. Cache or via our website. (Please click here for details). Get a free taste of the film by clicking here for a 3-minute teaser. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 8) Coming Events Tuesday, Feb. 9 Wednesday, Feb. 3 Wednesday, Feb. 10 Saturday, Feb. 13 Tuesday, Feb. 16 Wednesday, Feb. 17 Saturday, Feb. 20 Tuesday, Feb. 23 Saturday, Feb. 27 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 9) Valley Voices “Just remember in the winter far beneath
the bitter snows - Amanda McBroom
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 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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