Stewardship shines on 390

“Energy follows thought,” Willie Nelson croons on one of his recent songs, about the importance of following through on inspiration.

Rob Hoff, a resident of Red Top Meadows south of Wilson, gave a textbook lesson in tenacity earlier this month. Hoff, who owns a construction business, recruited a team of like-minded doers to clear brush along a nearly 2-mile stretch of Highway 390 to help spare moose from being hit by motorists.

Hoff’s idea was born in October, after a series of moose deaths along the heavily trafficked road between Wilson and Teton Village. By his count, at least 10 moose had been killed by vehicles this year, and wildlife officials confirmed six deaths in five months on one particularly hazardous stretch north of Raven Haven Road.

Hoff wrote an impassioned plea to Teton County commissioners and the News&Guide. “What was once one of the most scenic drives in our valley has become a slaughter zone,” he wrote. “Every person who calls this valley home knows how sacred these animals are. They are part of what makes this place feel alive.”

He called for immediate action: reducing speed limits; installing lighting, warning signage and additional fencing; and improving sight lines by removing vegetation. Commissioners responded by asking the Wyoming Department of Transportation to clear vegetation, the most feasible short-term step.

But rather than wait for the project possibly to get bogged down over contractors or funding, Hoff volunteered to do the work himself, and WYDOT quickly issued a permit. Hoff’s VH Builders teamed with Aardvark Excavating, Feuz Excavation and Western States CAT Rental to clear the roadside shrubs and trees. Not only can motorists perhaps see wildlife better, but moose will have less food to browse so close to the highway.

As with river guides who pitched in to save fish stranded in the Snake River earlier this year, Hoff’s effort is the latest in a long “get ’er done” tradition in Teton County — a modern-day barn raising, if you will. Residents repeatedly step up and demonstrate leadership, stewardship and civic engagement.

Too often the energy that follows thought is channeled into unproductive online griping. It’s uplifting to see citizens conceive of an idea, have the passion to bring it forward and see it through to completion.

In a year too often characterized — nationally and locally — by destructive rather than constructive politics, these efforts continue to offer hope in the coming months of what a community can achieve by working together.