JACKSON, Wyo. — In the April 20 Town Council workshop, Town Council unanimously passed a motion to expand the boundary of the Bear Conflict Zone in Jackson by Aug. 1 of this summer and to further expand the zone by the end of July 2027. In these zones, ordinances are in effect to require bear-resistant trash containers for both residential and commercial properties.

Ecosystem Stewardship Administrator Tanya Anderson shared that compliance with the Bear Resistant Trash ordinances related to these zones has increased slowly and steadily. Compliance has increased from 70% in Jan. 2024, to 73% in 2025 and now 77% in 2026.

The phase 1 expansion of the Bear Conflict Zone which is set to be implemented on Aug. 1 this summer. The pink represents the new area, and red represents the existing Bear Conflict Zone. Image: Staff Report
The proposed phase 2 expansion of the Bear Conflict Zone which is set to be implemented in 2027. Image: Staff Report

The motion will expand the Bear Conflict Zones in three phases, starting with the first phase this summer. Phase one expands the zone along small portions of East Jackson, Aspen Drive, Snow King Avenue and some areas near Garaman Park.

No changes have been made to the Bear Conflict Zone since it was created as part of the Town Sustainability Plan, which was approved in the summer of 2024. The plan includes a target for 100% of public-facing Town-owned trash containers to be bear-resistant by June 30, 2026. According to Anderson, this goal is on track to be completed.

A future phase three was presented but not decided upon during the workshop, which would require all household-sized trash containers to be bear-resistant throughout town, and all dumpsters in the Bear Conflict Zone would be required to be bear-resistant.

The above map represents the full expansion proposal. Household-sized cans would be required in the pink and green zones, and bear-resistant dumpsters would be required in the Bear Conflict Zone, represented in red. Staff did not recommend making a decision about this expansion during the April 20 workshop. Image: Staff Report

Hannah is a Buckrail Staff Reporter and freelance web developer and designer who has called Jackson home since 2015. When she’s not outside, you can probably find her eating a good meal, playing cribbage, or at one of the local yoga studios. She’s interested in what makes this community tick, both from the individual and collective perspective.