County commissioners to send Grand Targhee objection letter

Teton County commissioners are set to send a formal objection letter on Grand Targhee's expansion plan at Monday's voucher meeting, asking the Forest Service to tighten mitigation before any Special Use Permit expansion moves ahead agenda. The draft letter says the county is not trying to stop the resort's Master Development Plan, but wants practical conditions tied to the federal approval, including a transportation demand management plan, workforce housing mitigation, wildfire and emergency-service coordination, and stronger wildlife protections.

The objection letter, dated July 7, says the federal review still leaves too much hand-waving around costs that land on this side of Teton Pass, especially roads, responders, housing and the South Bowl country bighorn sheep use objection letter. County commissioners are also asking the Forest Service to explain why about 22,500 square feet of commercial and visitor-serving facilities need to be pushed onto National Forest land instead of staying in the resort base area or on adjacent private ground. That fits the county's longer argument in this fight: if resort growth goes forward, the mitigation needs to be enforceable, not just acknowledged in an environmental report.