The Bridger-Teton National Forest management team was in Star Valley this week to roll out plans for the draft assessment and ultimately the management plan that will guide the 3.4 million acre forest.

The B-T hosted a two hour open house at the Afton Civic Center.

BT Supervisor Chad Hudson offered a summary of the work that will unfold in the coming months.

“We are rolling our forest plan assessment,” he said. “This is step one of the forest planning process. The assessment is now available on our website. It identifies what has changed since 1990. We have a lot of good information a lot of good data with the trends we have seen.”

The information will give the B-T staff direction in the planning process.

“We will take this information and use it when we focus are efforts and start drawing up alternatives for the actual forest plan,” he said. “ It should come together in late winter. We still have some additional steps go through and lot of public dialogue.”

The comment period on the forest planning process is underway now. “We have a 45 day comment period now. We have public meetings in Afton (Star Valley), Jackson and Pinedale, Hudson advised. “Then we have nine more we are scheduling in Teton, Sublette and Lincoln County and one in Sweetwater and Uinta. We are really trying to do our best to connect with people and hear what their thoughts are as far as what we should focus on when we do our new forest plan.”

In the early part of the Afton meeting comments centered on access.

“So far we are hearing quite a bit about active management of the forest and how that has changed since 1990 and what we can do to change that,” Hudson observed. “I’m hearing some comments about forest access and range access. I think there is a variety of interest here. I think we’ll hear a little bit about everything.”

In summary Hudson emphasized the need to update the management of the forest.

“This is a long time coming — 1990 was our last forest plan. It’s time for us to create a new plan. I’m excited about a new plan. I’m excited about the momentum we have and the public engagement. I think folks are really ready to work with us,” he concluded.

“I look forward to making sure that people are heard and that we have a very interactive process. I look forward to talking to folks.”

Provide Public Comment

The Forest Service invites you to submit comments on the draft assessment at fs.usda.gov beginning July 11 and continuing through August 24, 2025.

“The central question is: do you think the draft assessment provides sufficient information to help identify where the Forest should focus on updating management direction?” said Hudson.

Effective comments are specific, relevant to the document, and include facts, data, or local knowledge that can help improve the information needed for the next steps in the forest planning process. Comments submitted through social media, phone calls, email, or mail will not be accepted.

After the comment period ends, the Forest will review all comments and use the information provided to make any necessary updates to produce the final assessment.

Another public meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday, August 21 at the Donn Wooden Civic Center in Alpine from 5-7 p.m.