FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2026
Nelson Neighborhood Conservation Coalition
Contact: Info@NelsonCoalition.org
The Nelson Neighborhood Conservation Coalition, a Wyoming nonprofit corporation, has been formed as a response to the Bridger-Teton National Forest development plan for the public lands near the Nelson Trailhead in east Jackson. On March 10, 2026, a group of concerned East Jackson neighbors gathered in Jackson to discuss issues related to the proposed 2025 development plan for the Nelson Residential Site on Nelson Drive. The discussion focused on how significantly the 2025 proposal diverges from the Final Decision issued in 2012 by Bridger–Teton National Forest (BTNF) Superintendent Jacqueline Buchanan. Many attendees believe the 2025 proposal represents an entirely new development plan that legally requires a new approval process under The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The Coalition believes that public lands are under threat across the American West. A pattern has emerged where land managing agencies reopen or reverse long-standing decisions without reopening public comment. In this specific case, after an extensive public NEPA process, the BTNF issued a Final Decision Notice in 2012 concerning development at Nelson Drive. In 2025 the BTNF materially changed that decision without updating their analysis of impacts or giving the public an equivalent process to review and challenge the new project. Click here for entire Public Service Announcement
Latest Update: Attorney Austin Dunlap has been busy on our behalf, filing a Motion to Intervene and then writing a very powerful response to the Forest Service Opposition. The documents are all here on our website: click on the Documents tab above. If you do nothing else, I recommend that you read the Response to understand our legal position and how our arguments strengthen the existing suit. United States District Judge Alan B. Johnson has filed the Order Granting Motion to Join as Right, which joins our suit to Attorney Michael J. Clement's suit against the Forest Service.
Attorney Clement's arguments are outlined in detail in his filed document Plaintiff's Reply to United States of America's Opposition to Plaintiff's Notion for Preliminary Injunction.
An image of East Jackson and the massive 80-acre BTNF Nelson Residential Parcel. We intend to protect this land as it is vulnerable to development now and in the future.
A hand-drawn sketch that BTNF Supervisor Buchanan sent to East Jackson neighbor Charlie Payne in 2012 clarifying her Decision Notice and noting the approved boundaries of the project.
The 2025 development plan as shown in the Special Use Permit issued by BTNF Supervisor Chad Hudson to the Housing Trust.
An overlay of the outline of Buchanan's sketch plan with the plans included in the Special Use Permit issued by Hudson. Many units in the 2025 development plan are outside the boundary approved by Buchanan in 2012.
