JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Joint Powers Board continues to tightrope between promoting tourism in Jackson Hole and spreading a ‘sustainability’ message that prioritizes environmental stewardship and enhanced residential quality of life.
The TTB recently approved a collective $1,579,500 in funding for Teton County community initiatives and events.
From March 2022 to May 2022, TTB’s allocation of lodging tax collections in support of three nonprofit organizations, including Friends of the Bridger-Teton, Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, and Jackson Hole Nordic Alliance.
The board says recent spending is a clear illustration of local and visitor education aimed at protecting and highlighting the area’s greatest assets. As this period overlapped with the JHTTB’s annual event sponsorship application window, during May’s monthly meeting, the Board unanimously approved $400,000 in event funding requests.
An overview of the TTB’s recent activities and distribution of lodging tax dollars includes:
- $1,000,000 for the Friends of the Bridger-Teton’s “Ambassadors for Responsible Recreation” program to support management objectives to mitigate the impact of an influx of visitors to the Bridger-Teton National Forest. March 2022.
- $84,000 for Being Wild Jackson Hole, an initiative of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation that advances wildlife conservation driven by science, collaboration, and a community of volunteers emphasizing integrative visitor experience and education. April 2022.
- $95,500 to the Jackson Hole Nordic Alliance for winter trail ambassadors and educational initiatives supporting Nordic skiing, fat biking, snowshoeing, and responsible winter recreation in Jackson Hole and Teton Valley. May 2022.
- $400,000 towards 39 community character, sporting, festival, and legacy event sponsorships for the fiscal year 2023. May 2022.
While Being Wild and JH Nordic Alliance have been recipients of TTB funding in previous years, the one million dollars committed to Friends of the Bridger-Teton is significant and without precedent. The program’s size and resulting financial request reflect the scale of visitor information, education, and management required in the increasingly popular public lands surrounding Jackson Hole.
With lodging tax collections experiencing a seemingly perpetual all-time high, TTB’s funding allocations could pay a key role in supporting opportunistic initiatives that balance meeting visitor demands with the greater good.
In 2001, the Green Knoll fire south of Wilson burned nearly 4,500 acres and threatened 150 homes before being contained. That human-caused fire cost an estimated $19.8 million to fight; today, that figure would likely exceed $45 million, not to mention the loss of forest, wildlife habitat, and the toll of evacuation efforts.
After record-breaking lodging tax collections in fiscal year 2021-22 and close to $6 million in reserves, TTB determined that the expense incurred by taxpayers to contain the human-caused wildfires, protect homes, and save lives is exponentially greater than that of preventative efforts and interventions.
Historically, TTB’s ‘opportunistic’ approach is best illustrated in the annual funding of events. During the 2023 event sponsorship application period, TTB and an appointed committee reviewed 47 applications for funding requests. While that number reflects fewer applications than in past years, an increase in the number of “community character” (events that don’t necessarily attract visitors) grew from 12 to 21.
According to board member Joe Madera, “It was a significant lift in narrowing the funding down to $400,000, but we found a good balance of events that bring value to locals, visitors, and our business community. The emphasis on ensuring large events have a sustainability component (new this year) provided the committee with a scoring metric that assures JHTTB-funded events do not harm our environment.”
