By Jim Stanford on March 20, 2008
Thank heavens we have eagle eyes watching over our forests.
Regional Director Harv Forsgren put an end to the sad comedy the U.S. Forest Service has staged in recent months over proposed relocation of the Bridger-Teton supervisor’s office.
Forsgren, who has been under a barrage of criticism from all sectors of the community and even his own employees, announced at a press conference Thursday that the agency will remain in Teton County.
However, according to the Jackson Hole Daily, the Forest Service will go ahead with plans to sell part or all of the 15-acre site on North Cache Drive, a parcel estimated to be worth up to $50 million. Selling public land is the only way the Forest Service can pay for construction of a new headquarters, Forsgren said.
There are still perplexing subplots to be resolved, like where the new building will go and whether the agency really will complete a thorough environmental assessment before a congressional deadline in September.
Much of the credit for the agency’s about-face goes to citizen journalist Joe Albright, who exposed the process as a sham. Albright, a dude ranch owner and former international reporter for Cox News, requested public documents under the Freedom of Information Act and showed that the Forest Service appeared to be breaking the law (it still may be).
As Albright told the Daily, “Now all of us have to keep an eagle eye on what the Forest Service bosses in Utah and Washington are going to do next with this crucial chunk of public land.”
Posted under environment, national forest, politics
Big thanks to everyone who stopped this sham from occuring especially Joe Albright! We now need to figure out a way to stop the sale of any or all of OUR 15 acres. Is there a better place for the offices than their current location next to many of the other public land agencies and the visitor center?
The town council needs to step up and make a declaration that they will not rezone the land if it sold-although given our current development happy council, I think that is a shot in the dark.