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On a defunct dude ranch in Grand Teton National Park, framed by the Bridger-Teton National Forest on the horizon, a group of five panelists told about 50 outdoor brand reps and journalists from across the nation the long history of “public-private partnerships” to support public lands.
Pitt Grewe was one of the speakers. He works for the mapping platform All Trails.
“Things will always change, things will always shift, whether it’s visitorship, whether it’s laws, whether it’s funding, whether resourcing,” Grewe said. “But I will say that it is very important that these partnerships are in place.”
He said one of All Trails’ programs allows land managers to update safety alerts or fire restrictions directly to the platform’s close to 90 million users. It exemplifies evolving partnerships with land agencies across the nation.
“Decisions are always being made at the federal level, at local levels, in government, everything else,” Grewe said. “In Jackson Hole, these public and private partnerships are adjusting as those decisions are made.”
Recent decisions by the Trump administration have slashed jobs and the budgets for national parks and forests. All Trails relies on the successful management of both to-profit.
“We can’t just fully rely on the public entities to do it,” Grewe said, “and it’s not the full responsibility of just private entities to do it, but the combination of the two is where the magic happens.”
Grand Teton Superintendent Chip Jenkins sat next to Grewe on the panel. Over 200 businesses rely on Grand Teton to turn a profit. He stopped short of saying how or if private partnerships are changing due to recent federal decisions.
“Throughout my career, we are constantly evaluating things,” Jenkins said, “how we work, how we can work differently, how we could work in partnership with others.”
Bridger-Teton National Forest Deputy Supervisor Bekee Hotze was also on the panel and declined to answer if private partnerships are changing.
