JACKSON, Wyo. — At the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 19, members voted to send a formal letter to the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) as a comment response to the draft assessment for the forest plan.
In the letter, the BCC reaffirmed its priorities listed in a February letter to BTNF, including its “dedication to ecosystem health, community resilience and coordinated public lands management.”
The four main priorities included in the new letter are a request to include full migration data of ungulates; a request to include information on wildlife disease and elk feedgrounds permitting; reaffirmation of the 2018 Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) Resolution; and a request to enhance management of wild and scenic rivers.
The BCC urged BTNF to provide complete ungulate migration data in the draft assessment. “The current draft supplemental section on ungulate migrations (pg. 45) omits a key map and data, present in earlier versions, that depicted migration corridors beyond those designated under the State Executive Order.” The letter goes on to say that the maps excluded critical data on elk, moose and bighorn sheep, as well as decades of data collected on pronghorn and mule deer.
The section of the letter regarding disease and elk feedgrounds states that since last winter, several developments have occurred that heighten concern over the use of elk feedgrounds near BTNF. The discovery of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on multiple feedgrounds has indicated to the County the need for management planning to address the risks of transmission, habitat protections and long-term impacts.
“The Draft Forest Plan Assessment and its supplemental materials include minimal discussion of the ecological implications of feedgrounds, the spread of wildlife diseases or the status of federal permitting,” the letter states.
The BCC reaffirmed its commitment to the 2018 WPLI Resolution, which was the result of a multi-year, stakeholder-driven process. The committee members agreed on “core principles emphasizing wildlife habitat protection, no new roads, timber harvest limited to forest health needs, no mineral extraction aside from gravel for local use, and no oil and gas development.” There has been recent chatter at the federal level about making changes to the Roadless Rule.
At Monday’s BCC voucher meeting, the commissioners agreed to add a paragraph to the letter highlighting the Munger Mountain roadless area. In 2024, voter-approved SPET funding was used for a 35-year recreational and conservation lease of the 640-acre parcel. “The public now benefits from expanded multi-use trail systems tied to BTNF and a contiguous block of protected wildlife habitat that will provide roadless benefits to our community for the next 35 years,” the letter states.
The BCC thanked BTNF for stewarding 315 miles of river designated under the National Wild and Scenic River Act of 1968, and requested more specificity relating to the management of certain eligible river segments. The BCC urged BTNF to include water quality data for streams designated under the Snake River Headwaters Legacy Act of 2009.
The letter concluded: “We encourage the Forest to build upon these commonalities among Cooperating Agencies, as such consensus offers a solid foundation for a durable, forward-looking Forest Plan.”
Read the entire letter from the BCC here. Submit public comment on the Draft Assessment here.
