[DISCLAIMER: The “SVR News Roundup” is the personal newsletter of the author and is not an official publication of the Town of Star Valley Ranch or the Star Valley Ranch Association. The SVR News Roundup provides a weekly summary of publicly available information and also occasionally includes opinion and commentary by the author.]
Here’s your Ranch news for the week of March 16th, 2025:
Wednesday, March 19th at 11:30am, while not a calendar item I included in last week’s upcoming events, I participated in a Lincoln County (LC) Transportation Master Plan (MP) meeting. I thought I’d mention this as a public meeting should be forthcoming in the May 2025 timeframe where county residents will have the opportunity to obtain the latest updates on the LC Transportation MP process along with next steps. Some of the potential LC Transportation MP items of interest for Star Valley Ranch (SVR) residents include:
Possible improvements on Muddy String Road to include widening and the addition of a bicycle/walking path lane.
Possible road safety improvements along Cedar Creek Road where it connects to Highway 89.
Possible pedestrian pathway/trail loop around the State Land parcel west of Muddy String Road and in between Cedar Creek and Prater Canyon roads.
Note all of the above are subject to final LC Transportation MP approval and of course, the ability to obtain funding.
Wednesday, March 19th at 2pm the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Travel & Tourism (T&T) Board met at Town Hall. The specific purpose of this meeting was to consider a TSVR Lodging Tax Grant application from the Friends of the Bridger-Teton (FBT) to sponsor trail ambassadors at SVR and Grover Park. The T&T Board voted to recommend approval of the FBT grant by the TSVR Town Council.
Thursday, March 20th at 3am Mountain Standard Time, the Spring Equinox occurred! Although, I found it hard to notice as I seem to recollection we had snow-showers that day along with below-freezing temperatures. Yea!
Also on Thursday, at 2pm the TSVR Natural Resources Board (NRB) met at Town Hall. Apologies as an agenda has not yet been posted to the town website, however, I did attend the meeting so here are a couple of notes:
An email from the town will be forthcoming by month’s end about sign-ups for the Crop Circles Community Garden.
The NRB is working with United States Forest Service (USFS) to update its partnership agreement.
The NRB and TSVR intend to collaborate with the USFS to pursue extensive wildfire prevention projects along the town boundary with the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Also on Thursday, at 7pm the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) Board of Directors held their regular monthly meeting at Cedar Creek Center. Another apology folks, as I had good intentions of attending this meeting, but just couldn’t manage it. Nonetheless, here is a link to the SVRA email which includes the meeting agenda.
Other news and notes for the week:
During the course of the week the TSVR posted several news updates on the town website. Here’s what you may have missed:
Tuesday, March 18th, the Town Administrator posted this update on the difficulties currently being experienced by the town Public Works Department in managing almost spring-time road conditions in town.
Looking down Vista West Drive. Wednesday, March 19th, the town published this notice about signing up for town text alerts that provide information as well as issue updates.
Thursday, March 20th, the Town Administrator posted this update announcing the inaugural post of a weekly update for residents on town activities.
Please folks, I encourage all of you to check the town News & Notices webpage on a regular basis for TSVR information updates. Thanks!
As a follow-up from last week, the Lincoln County Planning and Zoning Commission (LCP&ZC) met on Wednesday, March 19th at 6pm to review the rezone from rural to recreational for the Blue Ribbon Barn. My understanding is that the LCP&ZC opted to table the rezone decision until May 21st, 2025 in order to allow time for a complete master plan to be provided in support of the Conditional Use Permit application.
Here are calendar items for next week:
Tuesday, March 25th at 4pm the TSVR Planning Commission will hold a special meeting at Town Hall to consider a conditional use for one of the commercial lots on Vista Drive.
Wednesday, March 26th at 8am the TSVR Town Council will hold a work session at Town Hall.
Also on Wednesday at 5pm, the TSVR Planning Commission will hold their second reqular meeting of the month at Town Hall.
Thursday, March 27th at 1pm the TSVR Finance Advisory Board will meet at Town Hall.
Also on Thursday, at 2:30pm the TSVR Water Utility Board will meet at Town Hall.
Final thoughts—Okay, yes, I am obsessed with eagle cams! The bald eagle pair at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC), outside of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, has been diligently incubating three eggs for more than five weeks now. And, what do you know? On March 20th, the Spring Equinox, the first of three potential hatchlings began to “pip” its way through an egg shell! As of today, there are two hatchlings you can observe via the live NCTC Eagle Cam. Too cute! And, you can also get eagle nest updates here at the NCTC website. Hopefully the third hatchling will emerge soon! In the meantime, I am looking forward with great anticipation to stepping outside my front door in the evening and hearing the too-too-too song from our resident Northern Saw-whet owls as they gear up for spring courtship! Another sure sign it really is spring despite how it may look outside!
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