|
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
1) New
Targhee Proposal Still Too Grand • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1) New Targhee Proposal Still Too Grand At the June 12 Board of County Commissioners meeting in Jackson, the owners of Grand Targhee Resort presented a slightly smaller resort plan. Instead of a total of 725 residential units they are now proposing 592 units. However, this lower number does not include housing for at least 60 employees on site, which at two employees per unit would add an additional 30 units, resulting in 622 total units. The new average peak occupancy is estimated at build-out to be 3,078, down from the former 3,500. We estimate that the number of employees will be in the mid-400 range, down from 500. The revised application includes an increase in the number of single-family dwellings from 50 to no more than 59, and it appears there’s been no change in the 1,561,000 sq. ft. of commercial and maximum habitable space requested. All of this will occur on about 99 acres of Grand Targhee’s 120-acre property. The Conservation Alliance maintains that Targhee’s revised proposal is still too large for its fragile site at 8,000 feet completely surrounded by wilderness and wildlands. For more information, please visit http://www.jhalliance.org/Library/PressReleases/GrandTarghee.6-07.htm. The next opportunity for the public to comment will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, August 8, at the County Commissioners' Chambers at 200 S. Willow St., Jackson. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 2) Local Development Issues Abound In addition to Targhee, the Conservation Alliance is monitoring a number of town and county private lands matters. Here is a brief roundup, in order of next hearing date: Flat
Creek Restoration -- July 16, 3 p.m.,
Town Council Chambers, 150 E. Pearl, Jackson Osprey
Creek (old Teton Village Road KOA) Development
Proposal -- July 17 at 9 a.m. AND
July 31 at 6 p.m. Amendment
to Double Lodging Square Footage --
July 18, 5:30 p.m., Town Council Chambers,
150 E. Pearl, Jackson Comp
Plan Kickoff -- July 19, 3 to 5 p.m.
and 6 to 8 p.m., County Commissioners' Chambers,
200 S. Willow St., Jackson Snake
River Canyon Ranch -- July 23, 6 p.m.,
County Commissioners’ Chambers, 200 S.
Willow St., Jackson North
Cache Corridor Rezoning -- July 30,
3 p.m., Town Council Chambers, 150 E. Pearl,
Jackson Please contact Kristy Bruner at the Conservation Alliance for more information on the above items at kristy@jhalliance.org or (307) 733-9417. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 3) Uphold U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas’ Legacy The death of U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas from leukemia on June 4 was a huge loss not just for the people of Wyoming, but for two of the senator’s latest efforts: the Snake Headwaters Legacy Act of 2007 (S. 1281), a bill to protect 443 miles of 14 rivers and creeks in northwest Wyoming from degradation and dam building; and legislation Thomas had planned to introduce in June that would have limited oil and gas drilling in the Wyoming Range. On June 22, Gov. Dave Freudenthal appointed John Barrasso, a state senator and orthopedic surgeon, to serve as Wyoming’s interim junior senator until voters choose Sen. Thomas’ successor in a 2008 special election. Barrasso has said he wants to continue in Sen. Thomas’ footsteps -- please encourage him to do so by emailing him care of www.thomas.senate.gov and asking him to support these two measures. Please also consider urging the other two members of Wyoming’s congressional delegation to likewise honor Sen. Thomas’ legacy: Sen. Mike Enzi: 379 Russell
Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Rep. Barbara Cubin: 1114 Longworth,
HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 4) Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act Considered A federal bill that would designate 5 million acres as wilderness in Wyoming is still being considered in the U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. Introduced on April 20, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 1975) would extend wilderness protection to about 23 million acres of Forest Service and national park lands in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon, including about 4 million acres in Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. Although passage of the act is considered a long shot, you may wish to include a plug for it in any communications you have with members of Wyoming’s congressional delegation (please see contact information above). • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 5) Regional Energy Development Update Here’s a partial roundup of oil and gas proposals and public lands management plan revisions now underway in the Greater Yellowstone region: Bridger-Teton National Forest Management Plan Revision: More than half of the 3.4-million-acre Bridger-Teton National Forest -- including much of its best wildlife habitat -- is currently designated “suitable and available” for oil and gas leasing. For the past two years, forest officials have been working on a new plan originally due out in 2008 that would guide energy development and other management decisions for the next two decades. But in the wake of a court ruling in March that reinstated detailed environmental reviews during revision of forest management plans, officials put the public process on hold while they figure out how to comply with the court order. A notice in the May 11 Federal Register indicates that a draft environmental impact statement about the planning process itself will be out in July, with a final EIS expected in December. Please stay tuned for information on opportunities to comment on the draft EIS once it’s out. Meanwhile, Bridger-Teton’s website (www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/news/forest_plan_revision) reports that public workshops will be rescheduled “as soon as legal circumstances permit,” and that the Plan Revision team is still working on “rule-neutral” tasks such as analyzing conditions and trends, identifying need for change and developing methods for evaluation. Eagle Prospect Exploratory Wells (aka Hoback Wells) Project:The energy company that planned to drill three exploratory gas wells near Bondurant in Bridger-Teton National Forest has asked the Forest Service to analyze and permit development on all the leases they own in the area instead. Plains Exploration and Production Company’s June 11 letter to forest officials “requests the Forest Service to take the unprecedented step to expand its current National Environmental Policy Act review to include an evaluation of impacts associated with development/production from PXP leases in the area of the Eagle Unit.” The Forest Service received about 19,000 comments by the April 30 deadline on Plains’ original proposal to drill up to three exploratory wells within two miles of Hoback Ranches subdivision. Almost all were opposed to drilling in the forest, which apparently influenced the company’s decision to postpone development until more environmental impact studies are prepared. However, no matter how thorough the environmental analysis is, the Conservation Alliance believes allowing any part of Bridger-Teton National Forest to become an industrialized gas field is unacceptable. Public opposition to energy development on the forest highlights the need for federal legislation to protect it from future leasing, and to begin a process by which existing leases like Plains’ could be bought out or retired. Pinedale BLM Draft Resource Management Plan:The Pinedale Bureau of Land Management received about 100,000 letters commenting by the June 18 deadline on its draft plan to manage more than a million acres of public land in the Upper Green River Valley. Plan team leader Kellie Roadifer said most of the comments favored the “environmentally preferred” Alternative 3, while many said even it did not go far enough to protect wildlife and habitat. The BLM’s preferred Alternative 4 limits some environmental protections, while another alternative would allow the most development of oil and gas resources in this critical area where many of Jackson Hole’s wildlife spend the winter. Roadifer said the BLM will analyze the comment letters and expects to issue a final environmental impact statement for the plan in December. Wyoming Range Day Hike: The Wyoming Outdoor Council is inviting everyone to join their five-mile hike into the Wyoming Range on Saturday, July 7. This day hike to the summit of Mount McDougal will offer views of areas of the Bridger-Teton National Forest that have been leased for oil and gas development and will give hikers an opportunity to see firsthand what’s at stake. For details and to register, contact Bonnie Hofbauer at bonnie@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org or (307) 332-7031, ext. 17. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 6) Forest Still Taking Comments on Motorized Travel Plan Unrestricted motorized use is currently allowed on more than 250,000 acres of the northern part of the Bridger-Teton National Forest during the summer and fall. That use has resulted in miles of user-created trails, disturbed wildlife, habitat degradation, the spread of noxious weeds and increased soil sedimentation in trout streams. Forest officials are working on a travel plan to address these issues and would like the public to provide feedback on where motorized uses are and are not appropriate. Visit www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf and click on “North Zone Travel Plan Revision” for details. Although the website states that comments were due Feb. 5, forest officials say they’re actually accepting them throughout the planning process at dwilkinson@fs.fed.us, or Attn. David Wilkinson, BTNF Travel Plan Process, P.O. Box 1689, Jackson, WY 83001. According to Wilkinson, the nearly 2,000 comments received so far have helped give direction to the planning team as they develop alternatives for a draft Environmental Impact Statement due out in January 2008. Forest officials also said they plan to host “Off-Highway Vehicle Route Project” field trips later this summer and fall to further involve the public. We hope to include a schedule of those in next month’s Alliance Action. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 7) Comment on Snowmobiling in National Parks You have until July 16 to comment on a proposed rule that would translate the draft environmental impact statement and long-term plan for managing winter recreation in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and on the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway into action. This rule and an electronic form for submitting comments are available at www.regulations.gov (search “Documents Open for Public Comment” and select the National Park Service as the agency). Comments may also be mailed to: Winter Use Planning Team, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. Additional information on winter use in the parks is available at www.nps.gov/yel/winteruse.htm. If you cherish clean air and quiet solitude in our national parks, please ask that winter access to Yellowstone be by muscle power or snowcoach only, and that the Continental Divide Snowmobile Trail within Grand Teton National Park be closed for lack of use (only 28 snowmobiles used the trail in 2004-05 and 2005-06). Within the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, only snowmobiles utilizing either four-stroke engines or best available technology should be allowed. For more information please visit www.greateryellowstone.org/issues/issue.php?threatID=6. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 8) Conservationists Sue to Protect Grizzlies In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the “threatened” status from the Northern Rocky Mountain grizzly bear population -- the key step in turning grizzly bear management over to the individual states. The Conservation Alliance, along with six other conservation organizations, filed a lawsuit on June 4 in U.S. District Court in Idaho asking that the decision be reversed. The group is being represented by attorneys from the Bozeman, Mont., office of EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund, a not-for profit conservation law firm. The suit claims that too many threats remain and that delisting is premature. Our concerns include grossly inadequate protection of occupied grizzly habitat; threats facing prime food sources such as white-bark pine nuts, cutthroat trout and army cutworm moths; and Wyoming Game and Fish’s statement that an objective of 500 bears would be reasonable, when the current estimated population is 600. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 9) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Reopens Wolf Delisting Proposals for Comment In light of its tentative acceptance of Wyoming's wolf management plan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking people to comment by August 6 on adding Wyoming to its proposal to take the gray wolf in the northern Rocky Mountain states off the Endangered Species list. Since Wyoming's plan is to manage wolves by killing all but about 15 breeding pairs, and to classify them as "predatory animals" subject to being shot on sight or worse by anyone at any time in all but the very northwest corner of the state, your comments are critical. Fish and Wildlife also wants public comments on its proposal to give states the right to kill wolves before they're delisted in areas where elk herd numbers are below management objectives. (This proposal is also referred to as "modification of the 10(j) rule.") The agency plans to hold open
houses and hearings on both proposals -- for
a schedule, additional information on both proposals
and details on how you can comment, please go
to: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 10) Alliance Events WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 FRIDAY, JULY 20 SUNDAY, JULY 29 AUGUST 2, 3 & 4 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (Back to top) 11) Valley Echoes “Rest is not idleness,
and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer
day listening to the murmur of water, or watching
the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a
waste of time.” • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Alliance Action is a publication of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance is dedicated to responsible land stewardship in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to ensure that human activities are in harmony with the area’s irreplaceable wildlife, scenic, and other natural resources. The Alliance is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization. |
|
Home | About
Us | Take
Action | Issues | Monthly
Agenda | Events | Success
Stories | Library | Maps | Join
and Donate |