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Hundreds of residents urge county to keep wildlife advisory committee as commissioners promise review
Summary
Dozens of residents urged the Teton County commissioners to retain the Wildlife Advisory Committee and the county’s newly updated Natural Resource Overlay map. Commissioners said they will review procedural concerns and hold a public joint meeting with the committee and other stakeholders before considering policy changes.
Hundreds of residents filled the commissioners’ meeting to press the board to keep the county’s Wildlife Advisory Committee and the recently updated Natural Resource Overlay (NRO). Dozens of public commenters — many identifying as longtime residents, landowners, biologists and volunteers — said the committee provides scientific review and local expertise that help protect migration routes, riparian habitat and other wildlife values while informing development decisions.
Speakers repeatedly described the committee as volunteer-driven, science-based and cost-saving. Several asked commissioners to preserve the NRO because it guides siting and conditions for new development; others warned that removing the committee would increase legal risk and harm tourism and property values. Multiple speakers cited recent and longstanding wildlife conflicts on county roads and urged stronger, data-driven mitigation such as updated wildlife crossing signage, mapped movement corridors and funding for targeted countermeasures.
Commissioners said they heard the public’s concerns and pledged to examine procedural issues that surfaced during the overlay’s adoption, including earlier open-meeting documentation errors that led staff to rescind and re-run parts of the NRO process in 2023–24. Commissioner comments emphasized that the commission has no current plan to disband the committee and that board members want to ensure committee appointments and advisory procedures are both legally compliant and balanced.
The board set two near-term steps: (1) a joint session with the Wildlife Advisory Committee (scheduled by staff for Feb. 18) for information-sharing and (2) a broader “advisory committees listening” town-hall-style meeting on March 5 at 6 p.m. to hear from multiple advisory bodies, residents and partner agencies. Commissioners also asked staff to accept written incident or procedural concerns so the board and county legal counsel can evaluate any alleged conflicts of interest or procedural defects and return with options.
Commissioners and staff repeatedly urged civil, fact-focused public discussion and said the county will continue to accept technical input from Idaho Fish and Game, local land trusts and other professional sources while it reviews committee structure and appointments. The board asked staff to prepare a timeline and recommended next steps for formal remedies if legal or procedural problems are confirmed; commissioners emphasized that any final governance changes would be public and subject to further public review.
Ending: Staff will compile the public comments and procedural complaints submitted at the meeting and online, work with county legal counsel to review any alleged conflicts and report back to the board before any formal removal or reconstitution of advisory bodies. The board’s next related meetings include a joint session with the Wildlife Advisory Committee (Feb. 18) and the advisory-committees listening session (March 5).
