• First of many opportunities to be involved. 

The Bridger-Teton National Forest is revising the management plan and a series of meetings will be held, including one in Afton January 16. The B-T released the following report in preparation for the public meetings.

The Bridger-Teton National Forest is an amazing 3.4 million acre landscape with iconic wildlife, mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, and rangelands offering diverse opportunities for human connection. Everyone who cares about the future of the Forest is encouraged to attend a Forest Plan Symposium in person or on line, scheduled for the evening of January 16, 2024 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm in Afton, Kemmerer, Jackson, and Pinedale, Wyoming.

The symposium is the first of many opportunities the public will have to be involved as the Forest works to revise the Forest Plan. To kick-off the plan revision effort, the symposium is designed to be an opportunity for all citizens, organizations, and agencies to learn about forest planning – what it is, why it matters, how the process works, and how to make a difference – from people who have already gone through the process elsewhere and can offer insights from a variety of perspectives. Forest Supervisor Chad Hudson said he is honored to welcome such a stellar panel of speakers and looks forward to learning from them along with all those who attend. The panel will feature three members of the national federal advisory committee who helped craft the guidance for implementing the National Forest Planning Rule that provides the framework for revising all Forest Plans. These panelists include Dr. Martin Nie, director of the Bolle Center for People and Forests at the University of Montana, James Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, and Adam Cramer, CEO of the Outdoor Alliance. Joining them will be RandyL’ Teton, an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannack Tribe with deep ancestral ties to NW Wyoming, and Clancy Jandreau, who was involved in the Custer-Gallatin forest planning effort as a student in Montana and now works as a water steward for the Blackfoot Challenge. The panel and Q&A discussion will be moderated by Dr. Melanie Armstrong, director of the Ruckelhaus Institute at the University of Wyoming.

This free hybrid event will be hosted at four venues around the Bridger-Teton National Forest with invaluable assistance provided by Friends of the Bridger-Teton and is scheduled from 5-8 pm January 16, 2024. The in-person venues include the JH Center for the Arts in Jackson, the Civic Center in Afton, the Sublette County Library in Pinedale, and the South Lincoln Training & Event Center in Kemmerer. The panel presentations and discussion will be live-streamed to the four venues and will also be available for those wishing to view it at home. Although designed to learn from others and not focus on the Bridger-Teton Forest planning effort yet, Forest staff will be available in person at the four venues to visit with attendees about the status of the local effort prior to and after the panel discussion. Light refreshments will be served.

So why should you attend and why does the Forest Plan matter? In short, the Forest Plan is the document that provides the overall vision and management emphasis for different areas on the Forest and guides all the decisions made for specific activities. The current Forest Plan for the Bridger-Teton National Forest was approved in 1990 and needs to be updated to better reflect past and future trends in ecological, social, and economic conditions. As Chad Hudson noted, “everyone who recreates, values wildlife and scenic beauty, ranches, guides, gathers forest products, or otherwise is connected to National Forest public land should attend and learn more about how to become engaged and make a difference for the future”.