Teton Valley Real Estate, Idaho, Driggs Victor Tetonia, Alta Teton Valley Idaho, Driggs, Victor, Tetonia, Alta Real Estate Sales

The Teton Regional Land Trust was  honored by the Public Lands Foundation with a Landscape Stewardship Award this winter.

The PLF award is given to honor private citizens and organizations that work to advance and sustain community-based stewardship on landscapes that include, in whole or in part, public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Teton Regional Land Trust Executive Director Chet Work and Land Protection Director Babette Thorpe accepted the award on Tuesday along with representatives from The Conservation Fund and the Nature Conservancy.

Each awardee was presented with a plaque and citation by Deane Zeller, PLF Idaho State Representative.

“We are honored to receive this national award,” Work said. “We believe that our work along the South Fork is one of the finest conservation projects in the nation. This award emphasizes that belief.  We have been fortunate to work with so many willing landowners and to have such talented and dedicated partners.”

In 1998, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy and the Teton Regional Land Trust formed The Upper Snake River Land Conservation Partnership with the Bureau of Land Management in response to imminent threats of subdivision and resort development which threatened the scenic, recreation and wildlife values of the South Fork.

Through the efforts of these organizations, approximately 91 privately owned properties, many of them working farms and ranches, have been protected through purchase and conservation easement.

Thus far, the Partnership has leveraged approximately $57 million from diverse funding sources including Land and Water Conservation Fund and Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act funds, the Bonneville Power Administration wildlife mitigation fund, the National Resource Conservation Service’s Wetland Reserve and Farm / Ranchland Protection Programs, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetland Conservation Act funds, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and landowner donations. Partial donations by land owners, nonprofit conservation partners, and charitable contributions totaling about $4.5 million have allowed the BLM to stretch federal funds.

The Public Lands Foundation which granted the award is a national non-profit organization, which is made up predominately of retired Bureau of Land Management employees, that advocates and works for the retention of the National System of Public Lands in public hands, professionally and sustainably managed for the responsible common use and enjoyment of the American people.

“The purpose of this award is to recognize and call public attention to individual and group efforts, to promote collaboration by a broad range of participants to achieve shared natural resource protection and enhancement goals, and to call attention to the many values and management needs of the Nation’s National System of Public Lands.”

For more information about Teton Regional Land Trust visit www.tetonlandtrust.org

(Alta, WY – November 21, 2011) Grand Targhee Resort will open for its 42nd winter ski season on Friday, November 25 with the Shoshone Chairlift and the Papoose Conveyor. Lifts will run from 9:00AM to 4:00PM.

Grand Targhee has received over 78 inches of snow since the beginning of October, a few weeks of warm weather coupled a few wind events and the moisture content of the snow from this last storm cycle prevent Grand Targhee from opening the upper mountain at this time. Additional lifts and terrain will open as soon as Grand Targhee receives additional snowfall and conditions allow.

Lift Ticket pricing and Special Promotion:

Grand Targhee Resort will offer a reduced lift ticket rate of $49 for full day and $39 for half day for access to Shoshone and the Papoose Conveyor. Anyone wishing to donate $5 or more to the “Benefit for Leon (Slim) Weston” fund or donating two canned goods to the local Teton Valley Foodbank will receive $10 OFF their ticket purchase making their tickets $39 for a full day and $29 for a half day until additional terrain opens. Donations will be accepted at the Activities Center.

Season Pass Processing and Pick-up:

Season passes will be available for pick-up in the Activities Center, with the Activities Center opening at 8:00am on Friday. All passholders will be receiving new passes this year. All passholders who previously picked-up their passes this summer will be issued a new pass and there will be a season pass Will-Call tent located outside the Activities Center with those passes pre-printed. All passholders who have not previously picked-up their passes will need to go inside the Activities Center to get their pictures taken and passes processed. You will not be able to access the lifts or mountain without your new pass, make sure you stop-by the Activities Center to get your new pass.

Mountain & Nordic Operations:

Back after a few years? hiatus, The GTR Terrain Park will open with several features for all freeriders to get their jib on. Ski & Snowboard School, Pre-School Ski School and all retail and rental will operated on a normal schedule.

Nordic track in Rick’s Basin will open partially on Friday. Most of the track has good snow conditions but there will be some occasional thin spots. No classic track will be set, please check-in at the Activities Center or Ski & Snowboard School for the most up-to-date Nordic conditions and map.

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Kyle Marvinney is the newest addition to the growing Teton Nordic Team program working alongside veteran head coach Bob Gammelin. Marvinney is fast on skis, but focused on team-building and fun this winter.

With snow on the ground and the weather service predicting much more on the way, Teton Valley has turned to thoughts of powder, first turns and new wax.

And Kyle Marvinney is ready for the season to slide into high gear. This 23 year old has almost 20 years logged on Nordic skis, four of which he raced through college at St. Lawrence, a Division 1 team.

Recruited by Teton Nordic Team head coach Bob Gammelin, Marvinney brings more than a set of skis and a drive for speed on the region’s well-groomed trails and pathways.

“A ski team becomes a family,” Marvinney said Tuesday night. “You want to see everyone succeed. Above all, you really want kids to see that Nordic skiing is fun. I think it (Nordic skiing) gets overlooked at times, but the bottom-line is that it’s a really challenging sport that requires a lot of conditioning that’s fun.”

And the Teton Nordic Team is all things Nordic, but above all, fun. Gammelin reported that the program continues to grow with 30 students on the race team and 20 students participating on the recreational team. Gammelin said the Teton Nordic Team is one of the largest programs in the region given the size of this community.

This is Marvinney’s first taste of the Tetons and he’s personally excited to, “be on the snow, a lot” this winter. Team building is paramount to the success of the team he said. And while the students learn to build one another up as competitors, Marvinney will be fine-tuning their Nordic form and holding them fast to personal racing goals.

“It’s a good team,” he said of this year’s skiers. “The kids are fired up.”

And so is Gammelin.

“We’re here to help kids obtain goals on skis, but above all help kids develop a sense of community and team,” Gammelin said of the Teton Nordic Team program. “Other programs are focused on creating Olympic racers; we’re not opposed to that, but our program is focused on team. Kyle’s not here to create fast gears. He sees Nordic as a whole. A culture that’s supportive and a team that likes having a good time.”

That said, Marvinney is anxious to participate in the team’s first competition next weekend in West Yellowstone, Mont. After that Marvinney and the group will head to Salt Lake, Bozeman, Sun Valley and all points inbetween. “I’m excited for the kids to watch professional racers,” Marvinney added of heading to some of these races. I’m excited for them to see really fast racers.”

The Teton Nordic Team is a nonprofit organization that strives to make Nordic skiing affordable and convenient. The program offers low-cost equipment, discounts on gear at local shops, and can provide fee waivers and free gear. The program has never turned anyone away because they couldn’t pay. Find the team at www.tetonnordic.org. Bob Gammelin may be reached at Bob@TetonNordic.org or at 307-353-0373 (please don’t call before 7 a.m. or after 8:30 p.m.). Kyle Marvinney may be reached at Kyle@TetonNordic.org or at 207-837-7709.

Be sure to catch the Local Heroes speaker series this Saturday at the Wildwood Room in Victor. The event is a fundraiser for the Teton Nordic Team, featuring local athletes. This Saturday, local athlete and action photographer Mark Fisher will be featured. The event starts at 7:30 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m. for happy hour, food and raffle prize giveaways.

This article appeared in the Valley Citizen on 11/16.

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Based on the success of last year’s program and as part of Grand Targhee Resort’s continued commitment to reducing environmental impact and working with the community, Grand Targhee will begin its shuttle service on Nov. 25, opening day at the resort.

The shuttle service will have five stops in Driggs and Alta for local residents, guests of the community and resort employees. It will run on a consistent schedule seven days a week with four morning routes and five afternoon routes, according to a press release issued by the resort Tuesday.

Rider fees will be similar to last year with some additional free rides available to purchasers of punch cards; buy 10 rides get two additional rides free. Also, new this year will be a season pass good for unlimited rides throughout the season for $99 per person.

Rates:

Walk on – $2 a ride

Punch card – $20 for 12 rides

Season Passes – $99 for unlimited rides

Punch cards and season passes will be available for sale at Habitat in downtown Driggs, the Activities Center at the resort, via phone through reservations, as well as on-line at GrandTarghee.com beginning Nov. 19.

The shuttle will run in the mornings and afternoons.

After Santa Claus comes to town and the fireworks of New Years fade, fewer tourists visit this area during a traditionally slow season. That scenario is likely to change dramatically with the addition of the Teton Valley Great Snow Fest, the official name of a week long festival that is coming this January.

Still in its initial stages of fundraising, the Snow Fest has already been scheduled for the first long weekend of the year. Using the federal holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday on Jan. 16 as an anchor, the Teton Valley Foundation has planned Snow Fest events from Tuesday until Sunday leading up to the holiday.

Driggs City Councilors got the ball rolling this Tuesday when they approved at least $1,500 in support for one of the Snow Fest’s main attractions, a snow sculpting competition that will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 10 in front of city hall in downtown Driggs.

Though the Teton Valley Foundation is coordinating the Snow Fest in its entirety, many other individual nonprofits are organizing specific events. Ralph Mossman and Mary Mullaney represented the Teton Arts Council at the Driggs meeting to ask for support during the crucial first year.

“January is usually extremely dead here,” Mossman told City Councilors. “Our goal is to bring more people here during that time. In order for something like this to be effective, it has to be really strong the first year.”

Driggs approved $750 from its special event fund and the same amount from its economic development fund to help TAC bring in a visiting snow sculptor in January, while also helping with prize money for the competition, but TVF Executive Director Dahvi Wilson stressed that most sponsorships of the Snow Fest will help fund all of the events.

Snow sculpting will mark the beginning of the Snow Fest early in the week, but major events will also include skijoring on Main Street in downtown Victor, snow bike races up at Grand Targhee, bingo marathons, luge demonstrations, snow plane exhibitions and much more. The middle of January is a weekend that has drawn visitors for the Teton Ridge Classic for eight consecutive years, and the Nordic race sponsored by Teton Valley Trails and Pathways will play a significant role during the weekend, hosting a film festival on the Thursday before the race this year.

“Fundraising is the most complicated aspect of this,” Wilson told city councilors as Mossman and Mullaney were soliciting funding from Driggs.

With the knowledge that you have to spend money to make money, Teton Valley Foundation’s Festival Committee is also actively soliciting sponsorships as the Snow Fest develops. If it fulfils its mission, this event will provide a boost for local businesses, increase exposure for all of Teton Valley and establish a benchmark to measure success moving forward.

This article was taken from the Valley Citizen, written by Hope Strong.