Targhee Today

How better to kick off the new Targhee Today blog than by sharing our most recent environmental accolade: the 2009 Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence.

For fifteen years, the National Ski Area Association has partnered with Clif Bar to recognize ski resorts for their environmental and sustainable efforts.  Grand Targhee Resort was recognized for our comprehensive approach to sustainability throughout the resort, as well as our leadership and participation as a founding member of The Climate Registry — the leading greenhouse gas inventory regulator in North America.

We were also a finalist for the 2009 Silver Eagle award in Environmental Education, and in 2007 received the Silver Eagle Award for Waste Management.

Grand Targhee is recycling 40 percent of our waste stream, conserving a half million gallons of water by using low-flow showerheads, using bio diesel in all resort diesel vehicles and seeks to educate guests and employees through a complimentary resort naturalist program. Thanks to a seasonal employee shuttle and other carpooling incentives, Grand Targhee Resort was designated one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in 2007.

A dedicated community partner, Grand Targhee Resort annually donates employee labor to support community projects from local organizations. The resort also recently awarded over $8000 in grants to local non-profits for environmental projects as part of the Targhee Protect Our Winters Foundation.

On the “what’s new” front,  we are one of four grant recipients from the new NSAA Sustainable Slopes Grant Program and will use the grant to partially fund a feasibility study for a composting greenhouse. GTR is also a pilot study project for the Greater Yellowstone Framework for Sustainable Development, helping to create a regionally-based rating system for comprehensive sustainable development.