Too Much Development for Wildlife (and Us!)
Proposed development of Stilson by Jackson Hole Mountain Resort threatens the functionality of the underpasses you voted for with SPET funds. Local research has shown elk need a minimum corridor of 200 meters (600ft) wide to navigate through and past development. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Master Plan Option 1 (below) would leave wildlife a fraction of the space required to enter and exit the wildlife tunnels, functionally cutting off the migration path and rendering two of our celebrated multimillion dollar wildlife tunnels useless.
The current mostly open parcel with a sizable gravel parking lot – will soon be a state of the art transit center and paved lot funded by a Federal BUILD grant. We hope this development will be successful in alleviating congestion and transportation needs of our community. However, we must stop further changes to this vital migration corridor and critical winter moose habitat, for them and us.
In addition to the transit center, other developments being considered include rental / retail, daycare, a playground, recreation fields, restrooms and much needed housing, but this is not the location our community needs this development. As laid out by the Comprehensive Plan, we need and our workforce deserves complete neighborhoods, not the beginnings of sprawl. These features will not only erect barriers to animal movement, but will fill Stilson with additional people, commerce, and traffic – just what the transit center aims to alleviate. If these additional developments are allowed by the County, “…a critical north-south migration route could be compromised” (WGFD comment letter June 25, 2023).
The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance is closely monitoring this proposed development. The impact to the viability of the historic Snake River wildlife corridor and the multimillion dollar underpasses is just the beginning. This proposal also:
- Threatens our community’s 26.52 acre Teton County Scenic Preserve Trust (TCSPT) Easement
- Disregards our community’s Comprehensive Plan
- Will likely erase any traffic-reducing impacts of the transit center and create more activity and noise deterring wildlife
- Negates millions of dollars in taxpayer investments dedicated to wildlife by our community at the benefit of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
- Ruins an important County-wide scenic resource that provides us broad open meadows and unobstructed views of surrounding mountains in this scenic corridor
More to come soon about this critical change facing our community!
Image Description: One initial development concept, which creates insufficient corridors for wildlife movement to and from the underpasses – among many other issues.
