Comments closed July 28
Stop Grand Targhee's 694-acre expansion into Teton wildlands
U.S. Forest Service · Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Teton Basin Ranger District
- What
- The Forest Service plans to open 694 acres of Teton Mountain forest to ski resort development, permanently altering the South Bowl and Mono Trees areas.
- Where
- Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Teton Basin Ranger District, Teton Mountain Range, ID, WY
- How much
- Undeveloped forest habitat for goshawk, owls, and peregrine falcon in the South Bowl and Mono Trees areas faces clearing for lifts, trails, and snowmaking.
- Decided
- Comments closed July 28, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Forest Service comment page (CARA) ↗, read July 27, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Forest Service project page ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the project page names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- DecidedJuly 28, 2026, from Forest Service comment page (CARA), its “comments are requested through” date ↗. Read July 27, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 9, 2026.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
PLAN's read: high threat
The Forest Service plans to open 694 acres of Teton Mountain forest to ski resort development, permanently altering the South Bowl and Mono Trees areas.
What’s at risk
If this goes through
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
The agency’s own analysis
What the notice says, and what it leaves out
The window has closed; the record of what was missing stays.
The agency says
“with 1,455 spaces that would be available under proposed conditions and assuming no expansions or improvements in base area parking capacity, there would be a deficit of 927 spaces when visitation is at a CCC (6,170 guests).”
The FEIS acknowledges a parking deficit of 927 spaces under the Proposed Action on days when visitation reaches the new CCC of 6,170 guests, yet defers the entire solution to a privately approved county plan, the PUD-PR, that the Forest Service explicitly states it has no authority over and that may never be built.
The agency says
“the School District, the Teton County Fire Protection District, and Teton Valley Health have seen workers turn down position offers due to concerns about housing costs and are struggling to fill vacant positions.”
The FEIS documents that affordable housing is already severely strained in the study area, with up to 70 percent of renters in Madison County cost-burdened, yet the agency's only mitigation is to note that GTR is required by the PUD-PR to provide some employee housing and that new FTEs might fall within baseline growth projections.
The agency says
“A separate alternative that includes no new terrain or no capacity increase" was among alternatives dismissed because they "would not substantially lessen environmental impacts, resolve identified resource conflicts, or provide a substantially different decision framework.”
The FEIS eliminates from detailed analysis a 'no capacity increase' alternative on the grounds that it would not meet the purpose and need, but the purpose and need is defined entirely by GTR's business objectives: remaining viable in the competitive destination skier market.
The agency says
“These outfitters may need to have their operational areas relocated to other areas of the CTNF if negatively affected by the incorporation of South Bowl into the GTR SUP area.”
The FEIS acknowledges that the South Bowl area is currently experiencing high backcountry use, that the Colter Lift has increased access, and that incorporating South Bowl into the SUP will eliminate 266 acres of backcountry terrain for non-resort recreationists and may displace those users to Teton Canyon and South Leigh Canyon.
The agency says
“the global warming trend could create operational difficulties for south-facing slopes and lower elevation ski terrain”
The FEIS states that climate change projections show declining snow water equivalent and shortened snow residence time in the Intermountain Region under RCP 8.5, and acknowledges that south-facing slopes at lower elevations face greater operational difficulty, yet the South Bowl expansion is on a south-facing aspect.
The agency says
“Not more than 30% of any of the principal watersheds and their subwatersheds should be in a hydrologically disturbed condition at any one time”
The FEIS discloses that under the Proposed Action, hydrologic disturbance will increase in Targhee Principal Watersheds and HUC6 subwatersheds, and that the 1997 Forest Plan guideline states not more than 30 percent of any principal watershed should be in a hydrologically disturbed condition at any one time.
The agency says
“Prior to construction of projects in Rick's Basin, South Bowl, and in the Papoose Creek Watershed a dye tracer test shall be completed to determine connection to Public Water Systems.”
The FEIS acknowledges that dye tracer tests have not yet been completed for Rick's Basin, South Bowl, and the Papoose Creek Watershed to determine connection to downstream public water systems, yet project design criteria Table 2.4-1 lists that dye tracer test completion is required only prior to construction, not prior to the NEPA decision.
The agency says
“These aquatic influence zones provide a high level of aquatic protection and maintain ecological functions (e.g., sediment transport, microclimate control, nutrient regulation, and connectivity within the watershed).”
The FEIS proposes Forest Plan amendments to remove 125 acres of Aquatic Influence Zone designation from lands that would be converted to Management Prescription 4.2 in the Mono Trees expansion, yet it does not analyze the baseline ecological functions those AIZ acres currently provide to downstream riparian and aquatic systems before concluding the conversion is acceptable.
The agency says
“specific volumes of cut timber cannot be specified, glading projects typically consist of the removal of smaller diameter trees (under 8 inches in diameter) as well as hazard trees.”
The FEIS estimates impacts to whitebark pine, a species the document identifies as a Forest Service sensitive species facing climate-driven decline, under the Proposed Action across multiple tables in Section 3.12.
In the agency’s own words
LEGAL NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT USDA FOREST SERVICE CARIBOU-TARGHEE NATIONAL FOREST, TETON BASIN RANGER DISTRICT GRAND TARGHEE MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND TNF RFP AMENDMENT 8 The Caribou-Targhee National Forest (CTNF), Teton Basin Ranger District, has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Draft Record of Decision (ROD) for Grand Targhee Master Development Plan Projects, which includes five project-specific plan amendments to the 1997 Revised Targhee National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan), and one programmatic Forest Plan Amendment, TNF RFP Amendment 8. The propo…
The groups on this fight
4 groups predicted likely to care in Idaho and Wyoming
Predicted likely to care is a guess from the group's sourced work in Idaho and Wyoming, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Idaho Conservation League
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho: Mobilized Idahoans to file Interior Department comments defending Craters of the Moon during the 2017 national monument review, arguing shrinkage would damage the economies of Blaine, Butte, Minidoka, and Power counties.
- Western Watersheds Project
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Bruneau-Jarbidge Rivers, Idaho: Challenging BLM's grazing management across 1.4 million acres of the Jarbidge and Bruneau river canyonlands, where it won an injunction blocking ranchers from grazing beyond their permit limits.
- Wyoming Outdoor Council
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Red Desert (Wyoming BLM), Wyoming: Leading opposition to BLM's 2025 reopening of the just-finalized Rock Springs RMP, with program director Alec Underwood arguing the Golden Triangle and Big Sandy Foothills are too special to lease and develop.
- Wyoming Wilderness Association
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Red Desert (Wyoming BLM), Wyoming: Engaged in the Rock Springs RMP revision since 2011, submitting formal comments and coalition advocacy for roughly 1.6 million acres of ACEC protections across the Red Desert.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
The photograph on this page: Oxbow Bend and Mount Moran in autumn, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. More Than Just Parks.
In court on this ground
No court case we track is over Targhee National Forest and Caribou National Forest.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
See how your members vote ↗Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
Know an open comment period we are missing, or spotted a wrong deadline? .
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