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Here’s your Ranch news roundup for the week of February 16th, 2025:
Wednesday, February 19th starting at 8:30am the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Town Council held a day-long Special Meeting to train council members on team building, budgeting, and planning. The meeting was held at the Thayne Community center and also included some key town staff members.
Thursday, February 20th at 2pm the TSVR Natural Resources Board met at Town Hall. Unfortunately, there is no agenda posted to the town website, however, my understanding is this was quite the lengthy meeting (going nearly two hours) with all sorts of topics being discussed by the board members.
Also on Thursday at 7pm, the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) Board of Directors (BoD) met at Cedar Creek Center. This was the first meeting of 2025 by the BoD after their usual winter break. Here’s a link to the agenda along with a few notes:
New email addresses have been established for each member of the SVRA BoD. These new email addresses will provide continuity when board member positions turn over and also help to maintain privacy of SVRA business. You can find the new email addresses at this link.
The 2024 reconciliation of accounts was presented. Turns out it was a good year for golf with that account ending up nearly $225,000 in the black!
The 2025 Election Calendar was approved by the board.
A new golf pro, Nick Harding, has joined the SVRA team.
And, installation of the garden level railing at Cedar Creek Center has been completed and there is now also handicapped access to the driving range.
To finish out the week, on Saturday, February 22nd from 1pm to 3pm the Fresh Tracks Club held their First Annual Poker Run on the front 9-holes of Cedar Creek Golf Course. This was a terrific event and very well-organized. Participants met at the Cedar Creek Pool parking area for check-in before heading out onto the course. Along the way participants stopped at card stations where they competed in various activities in order to earn the opportunity to draw a card and complete their best individual five-card poker hand. Snowshoers, cross-country skiers, and fat-tire bikers all took park in the action enjoying darts, corn-hole, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, go-fish, and snow golf along the way. After finishing the course I only ended up with a pair of sixes and a joker, so suffice it to say I did not have the winning hand! Nonetheless, I had a great time and based on my estimate so did 50 to 60 other folks! Nice work Fresh Tracks and SVRA! I’ll be looking forward to your next event!
Other news and notes for the week:
The Star Valley Ranch Trail Crew continues to keep our local trails open for snowshoers and intrepid skiers. And, remember to check the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center’s warning status before hitting the trails. Safety first folks!
Also this week on Wednesday, an opinion column I authored (under the byline as Mayor of Star Valley Ranch) was published in Cowboy State Daily. As many of you know I’ve had a thing or two to say about the unprecedented increase in our property taxes over the past few years. This column explores the same topic while opining on the reality that tax relief is not a one-size-fits all proposition—click here (or on the image below) if you’re interested in reading it.
Looks to be a quiet finish to the month of February, here is the lone calendar item I am aware of for next week:
Wednesday, February 26th at 5pm the TSVR Planning Commission will meet at Town Hall.
Final thoughts—In looking at the calendar, it seems the spring equinox is only 25 days away! Of course, that doesn’t mean a whole lot to those of use here in Wyoming, but I suppose it’s still something to look forward to. Speaking of spring, for the American Bald Eagle this is the time of year when mated pairs are already incubating eggs in the nest. Typically, eggs are laid in mid-February, and after 35 to 38 days of steady incubation, the eggs hatch around mid-March. With that, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has maintained the Eagle Cam at the National Conservation Training Center near Shepherdstown West Virginia for the past 20 years. This year, the first egg was laid by the resident female eagle on February 10th, followed by a second egg on February 13th and a third on February 16th. Both adult eagles are now taking turns incubating the eggs with hatching anticipated to begin the week of March 17th. How cool is that! I know I’ll be staying tuned to the Eagle Cam and I hope you’ll also find some time to enjoy it! Have a great week!
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