Local conservation and recreation groups ask Teton County to back ambassador funding from Travel and Tourism Board
April 28, 2025 | Teton County, Wyoming
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Several local conservation and recreation groups asked the Teton County Board of County Commissioners on April 28 to support travel-and-tourism-funded ambassador programs that they say reduce safety risks and protect natural resources.
“My name is Gary Kofinas. I serve as the chair of the Teton Backcountry Alliance,” said Gary Kofinas, representing a joint request from Friends of the Bridger Teton, the Teton Backcountry Alliance, Jackson Hole Nordic and Camino Comingo. “We anticipate together our organizations will be requesting about $800,000. The TTB has allocated in this new category $550,000. The Teton Backcountry Alliance will be requesting about $85,000 to support our Teton Backcountry grama and our Teton Pass shuttle.”
The groups told commissioners that ambassador programs — staff and volunteers who provide visitor education, extinguish abandoned campfires and enforce food-storage rules — help protect public lands and improve the visitor experience.
Scott Cuciba, executive director of Friends of the Bridger Teton, said the nonprofit’s ambassadors have extinguished more than 800 abandoned campfires in county jurisdiction since 2021 and have handled thousands of food-storage violations. “Our work and the work of our three other partners here is critical to the tourism industry,” he said.
Nancy Leon, board chair of Jackson Hole Nordic Alliance, described eight years of partnership with the Travel and Tourism Board and said ambassador services provide information about responsible recreation across winter trail networks and for visitors and residents alike.
Former Bridger-Teton National Forest recreation staff officer Susan Marsh and Linda Marigliano, representing the Bridger-Teton National Forest, also urged county support, saying federal recreation budgets have been inconsistent and that some grants the groups expected have not materialized this year.
Speakers requested county coordination with the town and the Travel and Tourism Board to ensure the $550,000 funding category can be used to sustain and expand ambassador coverage, including seven-day-a-week presence on the Teton Pass shuttle and renting an all‑wheel‑drive vehicle to support shuttle operations.
Commissioners thanked commentators and reserved questions for a later time; no formal county action on the request was taken at the April 28 meeting.
“My name is Gary Kofinas. I serve as the chair of the Teton Backcountry Alliance,” said Gary Kofinas, representing a joint request from Friends of the Bridger Teton, the Teton Backcountry Alliance, Jackson Hole Nordic and Camino Comingo. “We anticipate together our organizations will be requesting about $800,000. The TTB has allocated in this new category $550,000. The Teton Backcountry Alliance will be requesting about $85,000 to support our Teton Backcountry grama and our Teton Pass shuttle.”
The groups told commissioners that ambassador programs — staff and volunteers who provide visitor education, extinguish abandoned campfires and enforce food-storage rules — help protect public lands and improve the visitor experience.
Scott Cuciba, executive director of Friends of the Bridger Teton, said the nonprofit’s ambassadors have extinguished more than 800 abandoned campfires in county jurisdiction since 2021 and have handled thousands of food-storage violations. “Our work and the work of our three other partners here is critical to the tourism industry,” he said.
Nancy Leon, board chair of Jackson Hole Nordic Alliance, described eight years of partnership with the Travel and Tourism Board and said ambassador services provide information about responsible recreation across winter trail networks and for visitors and residents alike.
Former Bridger-Teton National Forest recreation staff officer Susan Marsh and Linda Marigliano, representing the Bridger-Teton National Forest, also urged county support, saying federal recreation budgets have been inconsistent and that some grants the groups expected have not materialized this year.
Speakers requested county coordination with the town and the Travel and Tourism Board to ensure the $550,000 funding category can be used to sustain and expand ambassador coverage, including seven-day-a-week presence on the Teton Pass shuttle and renting an all‑wheel‑drive vehicle to support shuttle operations.
Commissioners thanked commentators and reserved questions for a later time; no formal county action on the request was taken at the April 28 meeting.
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