by Gus O’Keefe
No one can refute these points: by the nature of its setting at the foot of the Tetons, and by the presence of Grand Teton National Park and other federal public lands, and with the abundance of public wildlife, which includes being the homeland to late Grizzly 399 and her offspring, Jackson Hole, Wyoming is a rare marvel on Earth.
It’s the most prominent iconic place in the state, a pillar of commerce, a jewel for America and a vital biological crossroad in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. While 97 percent of Teton County (which encompasses Jackson Hole) is comprised of federal lands, much of the remaining three percent that’s private has either been intensively developed or is set aside in conservation easement.
It’s the fate of the remaining private undeveloped natural lands, which serve as vital connective tissue, that could make all the difference in determining whether wildlife still persists in another decade as it does today. But amid titanic ongoing development pressure and market conditions exacerbating an affordable housing crisis pushing the social fabric of the community to the breaking point, how does Jackson Hole navigate its way out of this wicked problem without wrecking its essence of place?
Can the affordable housing problem, for instance, truly be fixed, or is that a notion of flight of fancy? If it isn’t then how can it be approached in a way that doesn’t permanently destroy wildlife habitat in the southern valley, and doesn’t make huge traffic congestion problems, already present, much worse?
On Tuesday, March 4, Robert Liberty who has spent four decades examining the relationship between growing hubs of humanity in the West and natural landscapes will share his thoughts about Jackson Hole’s predicament at an event sponsored by the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. The free talk and social time is being held at the Theater Lobby of the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts. It will not be live-streamed but taped for circulation later.
Liberty will be joined in a discussion with Yellowstonian co-founder Todd Wilkinson who has written extensively about the impacts of private land sprawl on Greater Yellowstone and for 30 years he wrote a popular local column, The New West, that appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
Jenny Fitzgerald, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, says the intent of the evening is fostering a lively, passionate conversation about a community that stands apart in the world because citizens here in early generations took a stand on behalf of wildlife and landscape conservation. Indeed, those earlier actions laid the foundation for not only a thriving sustainable nature-based economy, and, as a global inspiration, brought back species pushed to the brink, but paradoxically, it has created another set of challenges.
“Robert Liberty is one of the most perceptive big picture thinkers out there when it comes to helping us all think about issues of growth at the landscape level. Numerous conversations with him over the years have informed the way I approach my reporting. Robert’s analysis has always made it better,” Wilkinson says.
In recent years, he said, especially after Covid accelerated development pressures, Liberty has lent his insight to pondering how Greater Yellowstone can prevent an otherwise inevitable lurch into the kind of sprawl that has destroyed other places. “I know from experience that everyone who lives in Jackson Hole does so because they deeply love this place, but as a place, it wouldn’t be what it is without maintaining its wildlife and natural character,” Wilkinson says. “Few communities in Greater Yellowstone are having these kinds of conversations about their ecological future, and its relationship to planning and zoning, as people in Jackson Hole are doing.”
What happens in Jackson Hole has huge implications for neighboring Teton Valley, Idaho; and Hoback, Bondurant, Afton and other valleys to the south. It also holds lessons for counties in other parts of Greater Yellowstone dealing with growth issues, such as Gallatin, Madison, Fremont County, Idaho, Park County, Montana, and Park County, Wyoming.
As a primer for the conversation Tuesday, readers here are invited to enjoy an exclusive re-screening of the award-winning film Subdivide and Conquer: A Modern Western that appeared a quarter century ago but is still remarkably timely in framing the challenges we face today. To view it, click here. Also read the new analysis on the impacts of sprawl on Greater Yellowstone published by NumbersUSA and lead by co-author Leon Kolankiewicz, who over his career has been hired to complete over 100 Environmental Impact Statements and assessments on the impacts of proposed developments on public lands. He also has been the scientific expert reviewing management plans for over 40 national wildlife refuges.
