Jackson to weigh wildlife-friendly fencing and movement rules

Jackson Town Council will be asked Sept. 28 to give Andrew Bowen policy direction on wildlife-friendly fencing and wildlife movement standards, not to adopt code language yet workshop agenda. Planning staff recommend a wildlife-centric lens, with movement and safety as the primary focus; they want Council to decide whether future rules should address entanglement across all Natural Resource Overlay (NRO) tiers, prioritize movement standards in the High Tier, and apply mainly to new development and redevelopment rather than forcing broad retrofits staff report.

The hard question is whether Jackson can keep passage open through developed lots, especially places the Comprehensive Plan names around Flat Creek, Karns Meadow and lower density neighborhoods, without treating every yard like rural range. Staff say peer standards for urban wildlife movement are scarce, so the next six months would run through stakeholder roundtables, an open house, Planning Commission review, then a possible Town Council hearing in March.