Depending on who you talk to, the changes to WY 22 currently being explored by WYDOT will dramatically change the wildlife, character and ecosystem of Teton County.
The Conservation Alliance, through our “Jackson Hole Transportation Study – Considering Wyoming 22 Futures” study, commissioned a 2-year exploration into the current status, the challenges and multiple solution options for “Wyoming’s busiest and most congested highway,” according to WYDOT.
The Alliance continues to be concerned that a 4-5 lane highway from the “Y” to the Pass would cause remarkable and undesirable changes to the wildlife connectivity, permeability and coexistence of many species, and forever change the rural character of Teton County.
As we have learned from the widening of Highway 89 from the “Y” to Hoback, five lanes of traffic changes the character of not only the roadway itself, but the surrounding landscapes, and the destinations it serves.
In a breakthrough new book, “Crossings – How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of our Planet” conservation writer Ben Goldfarb chronicles how the natural world has changed through the growth and evolution from roads, to highways, to interstates and beyond, and how new ways of designing and building roads can dramatically improve the relationship between roads, wildlife and the wild places they share.
As such, it is a book that can help frame the challenges of Highway 22 and the conundrum of creating high-capacity roads in a place whose currency is based on a robust symbiotic community with nature.
Meet the author and hear him talk about his study of roads and road building at a book signing at the Spring Creek Ranch at 6:00 PM on September 26. Refreshments and thought-provoking conversation will be served.
