Game and Fish Department looks at leaving Jackson

JACKSON — Teton County’s extraordinary housing costs have the Wyoming Game and Fish Department exploring the possibility of combining its Jackson and Pinedale regions and shifting its workforce out of the valley.

No official proposals are on the table, but members of the commission that oversees Wyoming’s wildlife agency want to probe the idea of redrawing regional borders to avoid having to subsidize staffing by providing Jackson Hole housing, the cost of which is inching into coastal metropolitan territory. Staff walked away from a Riverton Wyoming Game and Fish Commission meeting Wednesday tasked with coming up with options for a soft exit from Jackson Hole.

“Jackson has become the land of the billionaires, which is good for Jackson — but it’s bad for the department,” Commissioner Patrick Crank, of Cheyenne, told his colleagues. “It’s time that we seriously look at moving to Pinedale or Dubois. We can’t afford to live in the land of the billionaires.”

Commissioner Mike Schmid, of Big Piney, also spoke keenly about a potential regional union.

Read more: http://www.buffalobulletin.com/news/state/article_92c3a21e-6836-11e9-8654-3f536cbdfc93.html