A national parks conservation group is asking the Jackson Hole Airport to honor a 1983 agreement and not build a fire/rescue station outside a restricted development zone in Grand Teton National Park.
The airport — the busiest in Wyoming and only commercial airport in a national park — should consider locating its planned fire/rescue building in a development subzone before looking beyond that boundary, the National Parks Conservation Association said Tuesday.
It’s the first time the influential conservation organization has staked out its position on the potential firehouse and the controversy surrounding its location. The airport operates in Grand Teton under a special use agreement that carries significant limitations. It has a 2026 budget of $105.8 million and paid the federal government $1.2 million in fees in 2025.
The airport had planned the firehouse in what the NPCA called “areas that are not permitted by the terms of [the airport’s] 1983 use agreement” with the Department of the Interior. Development outside the zone could destroy sensitive sage grouse habitat in Grand Teton National Park and “movement corridors used by elk, moose, mule deer, fox, and other native wildlife.”
The airport cited a lack of undeveloped space in the 30.5-acre subzone and need to meet safety guidelines as reasons it planned the firehouse outside the development zone. Following public objections, the Jackson Hole Airport Board cancelled one public meeting and “paused” its firehouse planning study.
The airport operates on 533 acres in Teton Park under the 1983 use agreement. The firehouse, identified as a need as long ago as 2015, should meet FAA requirements for response time and obstacle-free access routes.
But that’s a tangled task in the subzone that’s been built up with offices, a quick-turnaround car wash facility for rental cars, a terminal, private lounge, fuel farm, hangars and other buildings.
Fully 580,702 passengers boarded planes (and presumably a similar number disembarked) at the Jackson Hole Airport in 2025. The facility is an economic driver for Jackson Hole and Wyoming; a park study found it is the way 11% of Grand Teton National Park visitors arrive.
“NPCA is confident that a thoughtful solution exists within the airport’s designated development zone that will meet the airport’s safety requirements while upholding its commitment to the protection and preservation of Grand Teton National Park,” the group said in a Tuesday statement.
Director Elwood out
The airport’s planning pause comes as the Jackson Hole Airport Board searches for a new executive director to replace Jim Elwood, who will retire July 3. An 11-year veteran at the airport, he oversaw reconstruction of the runway, terminal improvements, the takeover of fuel sales and other previously private services, and construction of a $55.3 million building housing administration offices and a lounge for private jet passengers.
The airport board said Elwood also “made environmental stewardship a key focus for his team.” That work included making the airport the first in the world to be certified an “International Dark Sky Place,” promoting a fly-quiet program in the noise-sensitive environment and discontinuing the use of a contaminating firefighting foam.
Nevertheless, critics complain about airport light, soil, water and noise pollution, all emanating from inside a national park.
The conservation group is urging the public to weigh in on the selection of a new director. It is asking the public to encourage the airport board to “prioritize” a director who is sensitive to the community and “the greater environment of Gran[d] Teton National Park,” as well as safety.
“The new director will oversee a consequential new facilities project that has the potential to impact undisturbed parkland outside the airport’s current development zone,” the group said in a statement.
“NPCA is confident that a thoughtful solution exists within the airport’s designated development zone that will meet the airport’s safety requirements.”
National Parks Conservation Association
The airport board hopes to hire a new director this summer.
“Korn Ferry, a global organizational and executive search firm, is leading a high-quality process that will help the Airport Board identify the right candidate who will represent the vision and values of the Board and our community and who recognizes the unique nature of the Airport’s location in Grand Teton National Park,” airport spokesman Jeremy Barnum said in an email. “This process began two weeks ago with a site visit from a Korn Ferry [representative] who met with key airport stakeholders, including the park superintendent.
Meantime, the board has appointed board member Bob McLaurin, former manager for the town of Jackson, as interim director. He is taking a leave of absence from his board post.
The conservation group said the airport board can meet commitments to safety and the environment.
“As an aviation industry leader in environmental responsibility, green building initiatives, and energy efficiency, the airport has an exciting opportunity to demonstrate that safe airport operations are not incompatible with its longstanding commitment to protect the environment, community character, and wildlife of the surrounding landscape,” the group said.
