Like what you’re reading? Make our newscast part of your daily listening routine. Subscribe on Spotify (or wherever you listen to podcasts).
If you’ve tried to get out hiking or biking on public land this week, like the popular tracks on Josie’s Ridge in town, you might’ve found your go-to trail closed.
At the southern tip of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Teton County holds a dizzying mix of federal, state and local public land; all with different managers. Those managers issue closures each winter to help protect a number of big game species like deer, elk, and moose.
Morgan Graham, Teton Conservation District’s GIS and wildlife habitat specialist, said about a dozen agencies issued winter wildlife closures on Dec. 1.
“We’re talking Bridger Teton, Caribou Targee, Grand Teton National Park, National Elk Refuge, Wyoming Game and Fish, Teton County, Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments and others,” Graham said.
He said the different rules from different agencies make it difficult for those trying to enjoy the land to know exactly what is allowed in any given area throughout the county.
So instead of tracking a dozen maps, Graham made a tool. The interactive, color-coded, online map compiles restrictions and closures in the county, and parts of Idaho, into one place.
One big fruit salad of sorts.
“Making all the apples and oranges and pears and bananas and pineapples and grapefruit fit together in one cohesive blend that spoke to one another,” he said.
The tool came out in 2015 and has been updated every year since. Graham estimates he’s put over 200 hours of “nitty and gritty” work into building it and hopes it helps educate recreators to respect seasonal closures and encourages often siloed land agencies to work more collaboratively.
