March Madness

This is a mountain town. We don’t watch basketball. Instead, we eat, ski, party, barely sleep, party some more, repeat. March is a questionable month for snow. I’ve seen everywhere from zero to 100 inches fall in March. This year began dry but that never holds us back. We just ski the park, drink more ULLR, and party a little harder in a rain-dance of sorts for snow. This was likely the rowdiest start to March I’ve ever had. 

I love Jackson and it’s endless access to the outdoors and recreational opportunities. But what keeps me here most is the community. The friends and people I’ve met in this valley are everything - my Jackson family. And with new seasonal workers and those with similar interests moving in, the family only grows. Also fun are when old friends visit and join the family. This month Jake Zellner, a friend from middle school, joined the party. In a crazy coincidence Alistair Berven, another middle school pal, planned a Jackson Hole ski trip at the same time. A Town School ’09 reunion was underway - a catalyst for an extra good time. The Town brotherhood never dies. 

Ice fishing, disco, hockey, skiing, hot springs, bars, glory hikes and more. Endless Corbets waffles consumed, liters of alcohol drank, and little sleep prioritized. I’ll remember this early March for a long time. Jake crashed on our couch and I can’t thank Denton, Kelly, Andrew, Tanner, Erin, Mal, Melissa, Jules, and everyone else for adopting Jake into this community.

Jake you’re the man, know how to have a good time, and embody everything great about Jackson. Here’s to many more reunions surrounding our shared interests of skiing, mountains, and immature middle school jokes. 

Andrew, Jake, and I still don’t know

No 1am wake-up and Teton Glacier ski would be complete without pasta and bow-ties. (Me, Tanner, Rick)

The snow gods must have heard our rain dance. After weeks of high pressure skies and icy ski conditions, 20 inches fell in a couple days! We even received the rare blue-bird POW day.

6 glory laps, 10k vert, and 48 hours later, we got the powder turns we’ve been waiting for. Old man winter isn’t done yet and we are all praying this is the start of “Miracle March”! Fingers crossed for more. 

Thanks to all the nice people that picked up me and my friends hitch-hiking this week. Particularly the lady who gave me the front seat and lap dog. Also, lesson learned that pins can literally rip out of bindings on icy ski tours.

Early March brought some amazing presentations to Teton Valley. Delayed for Covid, David Gonzales’ much anticipated presentation on “Picnic-ing” finally arrived. David Gonzales is a legend in Jackson and a huge inspiration for me. He created the Grand Teton Picnic triathlon several years ago with newer versions since. Involving biking, swimming, and climbing, it’s a voluntary suffer-fest that has become a staple of my summer each year. More Picnic explanation coming in August.

Titled “Why The Fuck Not” (#WTFN), David explained his addiction to pushing outdoor human potential that a lot of us share. Other “Picnic-addicts” took the stage including Julia Heemstra, another hero of mine whom I met on the Grand Traverse last year. David even invited me to share a story and explain my passion for these events. The night was a perfect embodiment of everything I love about Jackson. An inspirational place where athletes push themselves outdoors in a friendly, non-competitive, communal suffer-fest. 

High Point Cider in Victor, Idaho hosted another Story Slam. Brought to us by Valley Voices, the fundraising event raised money for the Family Safety Network. Thanks to a comedic situation and my good friends Tyler and Tanner, I was lucky enough to share two stories that night. In my next post I’ll try to link to a story or two I’ve shared. Such a fun night of laugher, suspense, and local tales.

Thanks Valley Voices for letting me speak. The nerves and heart race I experience before going on stage equate to those in the mountains when free soloing or encountering grizzlies at close range. I love it. 

Below is a rant about conservation, wildlife management, and my frustration with keyboard haters. Keep reading only if you want to get into wildlife politics and science. Otherwise feel free to sign off. 

Wyoming Game and Fish (WG&F) and the National Park Service (NPS) recently completed the near extermination of invasive mountain goats in the Tetons. Through hunting and aerial gunning, the native bighorn sheep in the Tetons are now relatively safe from this invasive species. Currently WG&F is also planning a ewe and lamb hunt this fall for bighorn sheep in the Gros Ventre, the mountain range across the valley from the Tetons. After endless confusion and hateful comments aimed at this decision, I feel the need to explain. 

Wildlife management occurs at a population level rather than species-wide. Humans have altered the landscape in a way that creates islands of habitat animals simply can’t cross. In a sense, populations on land experience island biogeography and the issues that it brings. While Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep may all be the same species genetically, each population endures it’s own pressures. WG&F has to manage them individually. 

The Teton herd has dealt with invasive mountain goats overtaking their habitat and possibly spreading disease. The bighorn herd is small enough it has not reached carrying capacity of the Teton landscape. To save this native, extermination of the goats was necessary and became the key tactic to sheep protection. 

The Gros Ventre sheep on the east side of Jackson are a completely different population. In science a “herd” is defined by where it summers and where it winters. The Teton and Gros Ventre sheep herds separately summer and winter in different areas with no contact.

There are no mountain goats in the Gros Ventre. The Gros Ventre sheep herd is significantly larger than the Teton herd, roughly 500 and 100 individuals respectively. The story of Gros Ventre sheep management is thus an entirely different story. Their pressures revolve around carrying capacity issues rather than an invasive species. 

Carrying capacity is the number of individuals a landscape can support based on nutrient and resource availability. If given the chance to grow, all animal populations would eventually reach this on a landscape. Once at a number above what the landscape can support, average body condition of each individual drops due to competition over available forage. With body condition low, the population is at increased risk of disease. Disease spread will eventually tank the population below carry capacity. Now with fewer animals on the landscape and thus plenty of forage for each individual, the body conditions will improve and the population will slowly rise again back to carrying capacity. This is the classic “boom-bust” cycle of wildlife populations. It is demonstrated perfectly in the graph below of Gros Ventre sheep history (provided by WG&F).

This graphs shows how WG&F distinguishes the two herds as the “Jackson” and “Targhee” herds. To avoid confusion, I use the range in which they are found - “Gros Ventre” and “Teton” herds, respectively.

So why hunt ewes and lambs this season? The Gros Ventre sheep herd has once again reached a population above carrying capacity. Average body condition is plummeting. If left unchecked, they will again experience a mass die-off from disease as seen several times in the past. The extent of the die-off is uncertain. Uncertainty is terrifying to a wildlife manager, especially on a landscape so altered by humans. If the die-off was catastrophically low, who knows if predation and other factors would wipe out the rest of the herd before it has time to rebound? Here’s a better solution - what if we harvest a controlled amount of sheep, bring them back down to carrying capacity, and thus increase average body condition before any disease outbreak?

Populations can’t grow indefinitely. Sheep will die either from disease or us. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather that die-off occur in a controlled manner than be left to the uncertainty of an outbreak. Plus, the meat would be used and consumed by hunters and help families feed themselves on this renewable resource. In addition, if I can speak for the sheep, I would 110% rather die from a quick bullet or arrow through the lungs rather than die a slow, painful death of disease and starvation. Not to mention the eventual ripping apart of my body by coyotes while I am weak but still alive. 

This week I opened Facebook. I keep my page alive solely to buy and sell gear on the marketplace in Jackson Hole. I vow to limit all scrolling on the useless homepage of garbage posts. This week, however, I saw at the top several posts commenting on the recent announcement of this ewe/lamb hunt. “Why do we kill goats in the Tetons to save sheep, then kill sheep in the Gros Ventre?!” “WG&F at it again, killing animals left and right.”  The list goes on.

Many comments were a respectful request to understand the science. Others were filled with hate and driven by emotion. If any of the keyboard warriors took a basic wildlife management class, or simply took the time to actually READ the article, they would understand the science and the WG&F position. Instead, they resorted to classic online outrage and negative group-think that perpetuated the misunderstanding.

Look, I love how the Jackson community cares about animals. They live around us and are part of our daily lives. It’s amazing everyone cares about wildlife and has opinions and emotions concerning them. But PLEASE, base your opinions on science over emotions. Accept the current world we live in and put some effort into understanding how modern conservation works. 

At last I felt the need to comment. With no aggression, I simply explained and repeated the science that the article clearly states to provide clarification. In response, I received farther questions such as “why don’t we relocate some sheep from the Gros Ventre to the Tetons?” Completely fair response.

I respectfully responded that such a monumental effort requires incredible funding both in the action itself plus the research required before and after to monitor results. Also it is sometimes not feasible due to endless factors WG&F deals with. Should this lady whose profile image was a morbidly obese, sadistic looking cat have the $100k+ to support such an effort, I am sure WG&F would happily accept it.

She replied with emotion calling my comment “lame”. After another educated wildlife professional responded in support of my position, the cat lady deleted the entire post and banned me from the page. Thanks keyboard warrior. You just deleted an amazing post and learning opportunity that the Facebook community could have used to understand wildlife conservation.

Now it’s gone to protect your stupid, emotion-driven ego. I am done with Facebook’s homepage once again. Back to the marketplace to buy climbing gear. I’ll save my mental energy and time to actually read the science, create informed opinions, and support true wildlife professionals who are in the field. Sounds better than conversing with a lady on her couch eating Lays potato chips with her cat who says she likes sheep.

Last note to keyboard warriors wanting to comment about wildlife management. Stop using the argument “they were here first. Humans are in their habitat. Let’s kill humans rather than shoot these poor innocent animals.” I hear that with wolves, bears, sheep, etc.

I must respectfully respond “get the hell out”. An argument of that nature deserves zero attention. Anyone with that opinion does not deserve a spot at the table. It shows a complete disregard to create useful and meaningful solutions. You offer nothing to the discussion. You are supporting mass genocide at the likes of Hitler, which you know is not a viable option. And, the second your family members were chosen for elimination to protect the animals, you’d reverse your choice. Accept the world we live in. Humans are part of the landscape now. Meaningful conservation requires new approaches that let us all coexist. Please leave the room should you argue that again. 

If you’re still reading, thank you. Wildlife gets me a little fired up. My current job involves educating the public on these issues. It felt appropriate to do so here too. Thanks for letting me rant. 

Snow is falling right now. Stop reading and go shred. I wish you all endless face-shots.