Bridger-Teton National Forest decides to sell 10-acres in Jackson
No decision yet on possibly moving Supervisor’s Office out of Jackson
May 6, 2012
JACKSON, WYOMING – The decision has been made to convey 10 acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest administrative site on North Cache in Jackson, Wyoming.
In 2006, the Regional Forester of the Intermountain Region for the US Forest Service made a decision to use the Forest Service Facilities Realignment and Enhancement Act of 2005 (FSFREA) authority to pursue a project to sell some of the Jackson, WY administrative site property for the purpose of disposing of old and obsolete facilities and improving the existing facilities for the Bridger-Teton National Forest, which is headquartered in Jackson, Wyoming.
An Environmental Assessment (EA) was completed in 2009 with no decision made and a Supplement to the EA was released in February of 2012. After considering public comments on those documents, the decision was signed May 4, 2012 by Forest Supervisor Jacque Buchanan.
The existing Supervisor’s and District office on 340 North Cache Street in Jackson will be retained on the remaining 5.3 acres of the existing 15.2 acre site after the 10-acres are sold.
The decision is to pursue a direct sale of the property to the Town of Jackson, and if that cannot be completed, then to pursue a sale on the open market to private bidders.
The sale proceeds will be used for rebuilding the remaining facilities at each of three administrative sites: North Cache, Nelson Drive, and Cottonwood Work center, including the administrative office, other support facilities and housing. The final amount of the proceeds from the sale will not be known until an appraisal is completed in May of 2012.
This decision did not decide whether or not the Supervisor’s Office will remain in Jackson. Alpine, Wyoming is being considered as a possible location as well as a possible consolidation or staff sharing opportunities with adjoining forests. The final location decision is planned to be made later in 2012.
Also included in this decision is the new construction of 13 multi-family housing units in Jackson at the Forest Service housing site on Nelson Drive. As Jackson is a high-cost housing area and many employees cannot afford private housing, the additional housing is needed for permanent and seasonal employees.
Four additional houses are also planned for the Bridger-Teton’s Cottonwood work center, 16 miles south of Jackson and the end of Fall Creek Road, as permanent employee housing.
The existing Supervisor’s Office was built in the 1960’s and is obsolete for current needs. The new facilities will be constructed to be compliant with existing codes and requirements such as energy efficiency, accessibility, earthquake loads, and USDA office space requirements.
The EA (2009) and the Supplement to the EA (2012) are available at the Bridger-Teton website
http://www.fs.usda.gov/land/btnf/landmanagement
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