Fed-county land transfer takes shape
Public input encouraged on transfer of BLM parcels along Snake River
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — A river frontage land transfer between Teton County and the Bureau of Land Management has been in the works for some time. As the deal takes shape, the public is invited to learn about and comment on the current plan.
The goal is to achieve permanent protection for 14 parcels along the Snake and Gros Ventre river corridors in Teton County between the southern boundary of Grand Teton National Park and the South Park Boat Ramp. These parcels, which total over 1,000 acres, are currently federal public lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Pinedale Field Office.
BLM’s 2004 Snake River Resource Management Plan (RMP) provides for the disposal of the parcels from BLM administration, while requiring that they be retained in public ownership, and that public access, open space, wildlife habitat, and recreation values be maintained. It states that any sale, exchange, or transfer of public land will include, where appropriate, the use of conservation easements to prohibit development and preserve scenic values, wildlife habitat, and open space.
A task force consisting of representatives from the BLM Pinedale Field Office, Snake River Fund, Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF), Teton County, Wyoming Game and Fish Commission (WGFC), and Jackson Hole Land Trust held community meetings and developed an implementation plan in 2008 on how to transfer ownership of the BLM parcels.
The 2008 plan recommended ownership of two parcels be transferred to BTNF, six parcels be transferred to WGFC, and six parcels be transferred to Teton County. To date, no transfers have occurred and both BTNF and WGFC have decided taking ownership of any of the parcels does not fit with their agencies’ mission and priorities.
The Teton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) has expressed interest in potentially acquiring all of the BLM parcels in order to ensure the wildlife habitat and public recreational opportunities they provide are protected in perpetuity. In 2020, the BCC hired Western Land Group (WLG), a public lands consultant that specializes in land ownership adjustments, to help determine a feasible path to transfer ownership and ensure the parcels are appropriately managed and protected.
WLG has concluded that carefully crafted Congressional Legislation directing the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to convey the BLM Parcels to non-federal governmental entities is the most feasible means of transferring ownership of the BLM Parcels in a way that conforms with the provisions in the Snake River RMP for perpetual public access to the parcels, and the protection of scenic, wildlife habitat, and open space values in perpetuity using conservation easements.
The public can review the proposed framework developed by WLG for the future protection and management of the BLM Parcels if ownership is transferred to Teton County.
Written public comment can be mailed to Teton County at PO BOX 3594, Jackson, WY 83001, delivered to the Teton County Administration Building at 185 South Willow Street in Jackson, or via e-mail through the Teton County Public Comment site under “Comment Period Open for the Potential Transfer of Ownership of BLM Parcels to Teton County, Wyoming Government.”
The public comment period will be open from Thursday, August 5 to Friday, September 3, 2021. Following public comment, WLG will compile the information presented and return to the Teton County Board of Commissioners with recommendations.
