Jackson council to weigh $80,000 Karns Meadow wildlife monitoring deal

Jackson’s Town Council is set to vote June 15 on a three-year professional services agreement with the Teton Raptor Center to monitor songbirds and mammals in Karns Meadow Park before, during, and after pathway construction, a rare chance to put hard numbers on how a “natural park” changes once people are routed through it on new trails. The proposed contract would pay $22,277 per year (with 5% annual inflation adjustments), with a not-to-exceed cap of $80,000, plus separately invoiced monitoring equipment costs. The scope calls for four autonomous recording units to track bird communities year-round and 10 motion-activated cameras placed off designated pathways to track mule deer, moose, and other medium and large mammals, with annual reports back to the town. Details are in the agenda packet.

For residents who care about wildlife behavior and winter range in the middle of town, the fine print is worth reading. The agreement frames “human disturbance effects on wildlife” as a deliverable, and proposes analyzing detection rates and activity patterns against distance to trails and construction activity. It also notes that if cameras capture conduct believed to be illegal, recordings would be reported to the police. The Council can approve the agreement as written, direct staff to renegotiate terms, or decline the contract. agenda packet