GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK — There was not a cloud in the sky on Thursday morning as Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), the GTNP Foundation and community members celebrated the completion of the Snake River Gateways project.
GTNP Superintendent Chip Jenkins thanked the many partners and sponsors of the project, including the GTNP Foundation, which raised $7.5 million in donations of all sizes to support the renewal efforts, per the park. An additional $5.7 million came from the National Park Service.
“This project exemplifies what it means to care, not only for the Snake, not only for the park, but for the entire Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” Jenkins told the audience. “We at the park cannot do it alone.”
The crowd of around 100 also heard from GTNP Foundation President Leslie Mattson, who described other current and future projects in the park. She highlighted accessibility features that have become nonnegotiable in GTNP’s undertakings, such as the fishing platform at the Jackson Lake Dam.
The final speaker was longtime river guide and former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director John Turner. His stories of boisterous times on the Snake with former Vice President Dick Cheney, as well as with Jackson Hole rafting legend Dick Barker, gave a glimpse into another era of the river’s through line.
Jenkins told Buckrail that projects like the Snake River Gateways allow the park to support increased visitation and enable more tourists to connect with the river, whether it be with a fishing guide, on a commercial rafting trip or on their own stand-up paddleboard. Parking and restroom amenities, clear signage and information about the river help visitors to have a smooth trip.
“It really is helping people to have a bucket list experience, so that when they go back home, they think fondly of this place,” Jenkins said. “And that ultimately leads to them wanting to help conserve this place.”
The initiative, which took five years to complete, has renovated and rehabilitated three of the park’s most popular boat launch sites: Jackson Lake Dam, Pacific Creek Landing and Moose Landing. The project was introduced in 2018, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Crews broke ground at Pacific Creek Landing in 2020.
“The Snake River is the artery, it is the lifeblood, of Jackson Hole,” Jenkins said. “It is important for all of us to be working together to conserve the Snake River for its ecological value, its spiritual value and for its economic value.”
