Project Information

Bid Title

Ecological Monitoring at Karns Meadow Park

Issuing Agency

Town of Jackson

Location

Wyoming

Published Date

Dec 2, 2025

Closing Date

Jan 12, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

Bid Title:	Ecological Monitoring at Karns Meadow Park
Category:	Bid Opportunities
Status:	Open

Description: The Town of Jackson, Wyoming seeks proposals from qualified and experienced persons, firms, or teams of firms to submit a proposal for ecological monitoring at Karns Meadow Park. The 42-acre parcel is scheduled to be developed into a passive park, and the Town seeks to understand the impact of human recreation and park development on the natural resources of the parcel, with a focus on impacts on the vegetative cover and wildlife that use the meadows. Proposals are due January 12, 2026 at 10:00am MT. See the full RFP here . Publication Date/Time: 12/2/2025 8:00 AM Closing Date/Time: 1/12/2026 10:00 AM Submittal Information: Submit to Town Clerk via email at clerk@jacksonwy.gov Miscellaneous: Questions are due by 5:00pm MST December 12, 2025 to Tanya Anderson, Ecosystem Stewardship Administrator, at tanderson@jacksonwy.gov. Related Documents: Karns Meadow Ecological Monitoring RFP

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Ecological Monitoring at Karns Meadow Park

Issued: December 2, 2025

Jackson, Wyoming

Requested By:

Town of Jackson

Due Date:

10:00 am MST January 12, 2026

Proposal Submission:

via e-mail:

clerk@jacksonwy.gov

Contact and Questions:

Tanya Anderson

Ecosystem Stewardship Administrator

tanderson@jacksonwy.gov

Deadline for Questions:

5:00 PM MST December 12, 2025

1. SUMMARY

The Town of Jackson, Wyoming seeks proposals from qualified and experienced persons, firms, or teams of

firms (“Respondents”) to submit a proposal for ecological monitoring at Karns Meadow Park. The 42-acre

parcel is scheduled to be developed into a passive park, and the Town seeks to understand the impact of

human recreation and park development on the natural resources of the parcel, with a focus on impacts on

the vegetative cover and wildlife that use the meadows. Proposals should include 1) a plan to summarize

existing and new data pertinent to the Town’s monitoring goals into a report that can be updated annually,

2) a proposal for additional studies to monitor the impact of development and recreational use on vegetation

and wildlife, including impacts on overwintering wildlife and nesting songbird success, seasonal visitation

counts, changes in the audio-scape, changes in vegetative cover, and changes in the prevalence of invasive

species, and 3) the development of ecological thresholds related to the data collected in these studies that

will inform an adaptive management plan.

The current project timeline will allow for a full year of observation prior to the major construction activity.

Teton County/Town of Jackson Parks and Recreation intends to conduct a phased construction of the park

plan, beginning in 2027 and concluding in 2028 or 2029. The first phase will occur on the western and

northern sections of the park and will include the parking lot, shelter, picnic area, pedestrian trail, and the

pedestrian bridge to West Hansen. Subsequent phases will include the improved sidewalk along Snow King

Avenue and the southern pedestrian bridge across Flat Creek.

The Town has budgeted up to $9,000 in Fiscal Year 2026 for small tools, which could include the purchase

of monitoring tools such as game cameras and decibel meters that can be installed permanently at the park

and may remain in place after the period of ecological monitoring is complete.

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2. BACKGROUND

The Town of Jackson is a community in Northwest Wyoming with just over 10,000 residents. It is the sole

municipality within Teton County, Wyoming, whose population, including the Town of Jackson, is just over

23,000 residents. Karns Meadow is an undeveloped, centrally located piece of land (roughly 42 acres) that

consists of seven tracts that were sold to the Town of Jackson (Tract 1-6) and the Jackson Hole Land Trust

(Tract 8), between 2003 and 2008 by the Karns family with the intention for Karns Meadow to be a “Natural

Park” providing limited park amenities that would enhance public access while preserving the natural

resources of the property. Conservation easements were recorded against all tracts to protect the property

in perpetuity and limit the uses beyond the base Public/Semi-Public and Park & Open Space zoning.

In 2022, the Town Council identified the Karns Meadow Master Plan as a priority project and directed staff

to move forward with a rezone, Environmental Analysis, and Conditional Use Permit (CUP), which were all

completed and approved. The final approval of the Master Plan, which occurred on December 16, 2024, and

was done through the CUP, approved a parking lot along Karns Meadow Drive, a public restroom, a picnic

shelter, and an eight-foot-wide unpaved loop natural trail. Operationally, the park will be open year-round

to users such as walkers and nordic skiers. Dogs and bikes are prohibited at all times, with the exception of

mobility-assisted devices and kid-sized bikes for children ages 8 and under who are accompanied by an adult.

During the summer the entire park will be open to the public, but during the winter only designated trail

sections will be available for use and all other areas of the park will be closed consistent with the United

States Forest Service winter closure (December 31st through April 30th). During the winter, a small loop near

the parking lot will be groomed for walking/nordic skiing along with non-groomed/non-plowed trail sections

along the north and east sides of the park. The non-groomed/non-plowed trail sections along the north and

east sides of the park will allow for individuals who want to break trail on foot, snowshoe or skis. These areas

will be marked with temporary/removable poles to ensure users do not wander into other areas of the park

that are closed due to the winter closure. Below is a site plan showing the various improvements approved

in the Master Plan.

Karns Meadow is located in a narrow section between East Gros Ventre Butte and United States Forest

Service land south of Town and provides one of the shortest and most sheltered routes through the Town

for wildlife. Flat Creek runs through Karns Meadow from the northeast corner to the southwest corner and

provides habitat for fish, waterfowl, songbirds, amphibians, and mammals. Within Karns Meadow on the

west side of Flat Creek, there is a public well for the Town of Jackson, a ground-mounted solar panel array to

power the well, and a small parking area. It is also a designated landing site for paragliders. On the east side

of Flat Creek, there are artificial wetlands that provide stormwater treatment. There are currently no

recreational trails or amenities; though people are allowed to fish and walk through the property,

recreational use is minimal. Activation of the park is likely to increase use of the parcel, and may have

undesired impacts on plants, wildlife, and water quality. The Town of Jackson is interested in hiring an

ecologist to study the impact of park activation on the ecological values of the parcel.

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3. SCOPE OF WORK

The Town of Jackson seeks proposals from experienced persons, firms, or teams with expertise in the field

of ecology that address the following elements:

a) Prepare a summary of available data into a report that can be updated annually. The Town of

Jackson is interested in hiring an ecologist or team of ecologists to summarize existing and new

data on the ecological health of Karns Meadow Park pertinent to the Town’s monitoring goals and

create a replicable report that can be updated annually. The Environmental Analysis conducted as a

part of the Conditional Use Permit process provides an overview of several past studies. The

following is a list of current and past ecological studies that could be used to create this report.

Table 1: Current or Ongoing monitoring at Karns Meadow

Type of monitoring

Frequency

Macroinvertebrates

Annually in September

Suspended Sediment Concentration, turbidity 4 times per year

(upstream & downstream of Karns)

Physical substrate (cobble size, dimensions, Annually in September

embeddedness)

Field water chemistry (dissolved oxygen, pH, Annually in September

specific conductance, temperature, turbidity)

Organization

Teton Conservation

District (TCD)

TCD

TCD

TCD

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Water Temperature

Continuous 1-hour intervals, TCD

summer only

Water chemistry: minerals (basic

Annually in September

TCD

cations/anions, hardness, alkalinity, ammonia,

nitrate, orthophosphate, turbidity)

Microplastic sampling

Current, not ongoing

Central Wyoming College

Park Inspection logs (trash and camping

impacts, with some notes on wildlife and

Monthly in summer

Parks & Recreation

noxious weeds)

Ungulate data (1 moose, currently)

Relevant only if collared WY Game and Fish

animals use Karns

Department (WGFD)

Wildlife Vehicle Collision Report

Annual

Jackson Hole Wildlife

Foundation (JHWF) and

WGFD

Christmas Bird Count

Annually in December

Citizen science data;

Jackson Hole Bird and

Nature Club

Moose Day

Annually in February

Citizen science data; JHWF

Nature Mapping with iNaturalist

Ongoing

Citizen science data; JHWF

Park Visitation Counts

Winter 2024/25, with

intention to repeat

Parks and Recreation &

Friends of Pathways

Table 2: Previous studies and reports that include data collected at Karns

Type of monitoring

Year

Study of biota assessing feasibility of trout habitat-related projects

1996

Flat Creek Water Quality Assessment

1998

Snake River Cutthroat Trout Estimates

2011

Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship in Jackson Hole

2012

Mule Deer Movement and Habitat Use Patterns in Relation to Roadways in 2013

Northwest Wyoming

Karns Meadow Stormwater Treatment Wetland Performance Evaluation

2013

Detailed Hydraulic Analysis Flat Creek Rock Treatment Structures

2014

b) Conduct ecological monitoring before, during, and after construction of Karns Meadow Park. The

Town of Jackson is interested in hiring an ecologist to monitor the impact of development and

increased recreation on the ecological health of Karns Meadow. In particular, the Town is interested

in monitoring plans that will assess the following:

1. The impact of development and recreation on wildlife that use the meadow.

• Species of interest include mule deer, moose, and nesting songbirds.

• The Town is particularly interested in the impact of winter recreation on

overwintering wildlife.

2. The impact of development and recreation on vegetation.

• Changes in vegetative cover, prevalence of bare ground, changes in the type and

quality of vegetation.

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• Changes in the prevalence of invasive species.

3. Changes in human use of Karns Meadow before, during, and after construction.

• Changes in seasonal visitation counts.

• Changes in the audio-scape.

• Changes in the way people use the park.

c) Identify and define ecological thresholds to inform an adaptive management plan. The Town seeks

the expertise of a qualified ecologist to help establish thresholds to inform an adaptive management

plan that could include seasonal closures of specific areas or restrictions on recreational activities.

The Town of Jackson has up to $9,000 budgeted for small scientific tools that can be used to purchase

game cameras, noise-monitoring equipment, and other devices. The Town seeks an ecologist to

recommend equipment and installation locations, and to analyze data collected using these devices.

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Commodity Codes

• NAICS 541620Environmental Consulting Services
• NAICS 541690Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services

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