In a ruling that developer Dan Schwab viewed as "cutting me off at the knees," a rural Wyoming board of commissioners granted conditional approval for 20 units instead of 30 at the uber-remote 73-acre Blindbull Meadows parcel Schwab has been desperately trying to develop to settle his $2.5 million debt on the property. Blindbull is an inholding surrounded by the Bridger-Teton National Forest accesible only via a disused airstrip or a Forest Service dirt road, which means a 25 mile drive from the nearest town, Alpine. The commissioners required that potential property owners carry wildfire insurance and that outdoor sprinklers be installed to fend them off as well. According to the Jackson Hole Property Guide, Schwab was none too pleased to be losing a third of his planned lots.
While some "nearby" residents have been vocal in their opposition to the remote project on prime wildlife grazing habitat, Schwab had been amenable to selling the land to the Wyoming Game & Fish department for a conservation easement. Unfortunately, Game & Fish stated that their budget for wilderness acquisitions is "currently at zero," and that they didn't even have the money to simply maintain a conservation easement there, even if it were free. The properties the department is considering for such easements are all larger than 1,900 acres. Schwab stated that he'd be looking for other conservation buyers, including the Jackson Hole Land Trust and a potential unnamed "conservation buyer" he knows.
· BlindBull, cut down, wins OK [Jackson Hole Property Guide]
· BlindBull Meadows easement up in the air [Jackson Hole Property Guide]
· BlindBull Meadows archives [Curbed Ski]