Major Conservation Success - South Fork Snake River
wo of the last unprotected parcels of private land along the canyon stretch of the South Fork Snake River in Bonneville County are now conserved permanently, thanks to willing landowners and a strong conservation partnership.
More than 300,000 people visit the South Fork each year to enjoy world-class fishing and floating, abundant wildlife and one of the most scenic rivers in the West. Thanks to conservation projects like this, the South Fork’s going to stay that way.
Picturesque Views Conserved
Whether it’s your first time or part of your daily routine, descending into Teton Valley from the north can be a breathtaking experience. Private landowners and fourth generation ranchers have recently helped protect these iconic views of the Valley floor that flank the prestigious Tetons. The Breckenridge family recently worked with the Teton Regional Land Trust to conserve 198 acres along the Teton River on the north end of Teton Valley.
This newly protected conservation easement, lying just south of the Teton Valley Overlook on Highway 33, will stay undeveloped while remaining in private ownership of the family who homesteaded the property in the late 1800’s. Protection of the property preserves the unique rural character of Teton Basin by preserving one of the Valley’s earliest cattle ranches while also protecting traditional landowner values.
Important Bird Area Conserved
On a sunny morning in early April 2008, Greg Burns invited staff from the Teton Regional Land Trust to tour his property - about 200 acres of pasture, farm fields and healthy cottonwood forests along the South Fork of the Snake River downstream of Twin Bridges in Madison County, Idaho. Armed with binoculars and accompanied by wildlife biologist Rob Cavallaro, Greg and TRLT staff were looking for birds.
They weren’t disappointed. Within a few hours, they had identified yellow warblers, Mac- Gillvary’s warblers, song sparrow, red-naped sapsucker, veery, ruby-crowned kinglet, Townsend’s solitaire, warbling vireo, eastern kingbird, cedar waxwings, Bullock’s orioles and Lazuli buntings mingling with the more common northern flicker, robins, black-billed magpie, European starling and black-capped chickadees. Belted kingfishers zipped along the river, while white pelicans and California and Franklin’s gulls flew overhead. A pair of wood ducks floated along the Reid Canal, Sandhill cranes foraged in the pastures, flipping over piles of manure in their search for grub. Osprey, kestrel, red-tailed hawk and Cooper’s hawk nested or roosted in the large cottonwoods.
Merrills Fill Gap Along the Main Snake River
Jefferson County landowners Ron and Hellen Merrill have partnered with
the Teton Regional Land Trust to permanently preserve 400 acres of their
land. Surrounded by Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Deer Parks
Wildlife Management Unit and Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s
(IDFG) Market Lake Wildlife Management Area, the Merrill property fills
in a former gap in protected land along the main Snake River.
The 400-acre Merrill property was protected in a two-phase process. TRLT worked with Ron Merrill and his family using the BLM’s Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) funding to purchase the first 103 acres in a fee-title transaction that closed in August 2007.
Teton Valley Conservation Boom
Supporters of farming, ranching and wildlife in Teton County have cause to celebrate. Private landowners in collaboration with the Teton Regional Land Trust and a variety of federal, state and private partners have protected 1,000 acres of key agricultural lands and fish and wildlife habitat in the past 12 months through permanent conservation easements.
Click here to read the article in Teton Valley News.
Farm Perserved in Madison County
In the heart of a rich landscape seven miles
southwest of Rexburg, Idaho, lies the DKJ Farm.
In November 2008, the Teton Regional Land Trust
closed on the purchase of an 80-acre conservation
easement using funds provided by the JKL Foundation
to match a grant from the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) through their Farm
and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP).
The DKJ conservation easement property is a working farm containing nationally designated prime soils which allowed it to be eligible for the FRPP grant. Two forks of Bannock Jim Slough meander through the farm property, creating over one mile of wetland-slough habitat important for many conservation priority species, including northern leopard frog, trumpeter swan, northern pintail, snowy egret, white-faced ibis, sandhill crane, Wilson’s phalarope, Franklin’s gull, California gull, and bald eagle.
Property Conserved on Swan Valley's Pine Creek Bench
Just a mountain pass away from rapid land use changes in Teton Valley,
Swan Valley has seen an increase in residential development over the past
few years, particularly along the South Fork of the Snake River and on the
Palisades Bench, a high, windswept plateau overlooking the river and valley.
On the other hand, the Pine Creek Bench in Swan Valley, though equally
attractive for development, remains largely committed to farming, grasslands
and wildlife habitat. Many of the landowners on the Pine Creek Bench
have chosen to conserve their land by working with the Teton Regional
Land Trust, the US Bureau of Land Management, The Conservation Fund
and/or the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG).
As the Palisades Bench develops, the Pine Creek Bench becomes increasingly important to mule deer and elk moving from the Big Hole Mountains to the South Fork for winter range. The Pine Creek Bench also provides courting, nesting and foraging grounds for the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, an upland game bird considered a Species of Greatest Conservation Need by IDFG.
Henry's Fork benefits from Conservation Project
Val and Gail Chambers have recently closed a conservation easement with the Teton Regional Land Trust, adding to the 2,500 acres of contiguous conservation land that protects the Henry’s Fork and its associated wetland complexes in the Texas Slough area. The Chambers’ 80-acre, no-build easement borders Texas Slough near the Henry’s Fork river about five miles southwest of Rexburg.
"It is very rewarding to help landowners achieve their conservation goals using conservation easements. Through this permanent agreement, Val and Gail will rest assured that their property will remain as they want; agricultural open space and wildlife habitat," TRLT’s Land Protection Specialist Matt Lucia explained. "It has been a pleasure working with the Chambers family."
Conservation Easement Protects Teton Valley Farm
A fourth-generation family farm west of the
Tetons in Idaho could have been developed into
hundreds of homes. Instead, the family chose
to protect the farm - and its 869 acres of vital
wildlife habitat - forever.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Teton Regional Land Trust and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently announced a new conservation easement on the Garry and MaeDene Jardine farm near Tetonia, Idaho.
A legal agreement that stays with the property even if it changes ownership, the easement prevents residential development from spoiling the land’s agricultural and wildlife values.
Historic Gold Ranch Conserved
The Teton Regional Land Trust partnered with Madison
County’s Gold Ranch landowners to preserve important bird
habitat on the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. The 572-acre
property borders the Lower Henry’s Fork for nearly one mile
and also borders Texas and Mulligan Sloughs.
The Gold Ranch project is a component of a larger conservation partnership that has protected 1,800 acres of contiguous private lands surrounding the Cartier Slough Wildlife Management Area (CSWMA). The CSWMA is a wetland/riparian/ grassland complex managed by Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) and provides habitat for a large variety of wildlife including 197 species of birds. IDFG outlined in 2002 that the "most crucial, abundant and sensitive of these habitats are riparian areas and wetlands" that provide critical nesting, feeding and loafing habitat for waterbirds. The Gold Ranch Conservation Easement property adds a significant amount of protected wetland/ riparian habitat along the Henry’s Fork that is adjacent to the CSWMA and acts as an extension of available nesting, foraging and roosting habitat for waterbird species. Three additional migratory bird refuges - Market Lake Wildlife Management Area, Mud Lake Wildlife Management Area and Camas National Wildlife Refuge - lie west of Gold Ranch. Many birds that breed in these refuges depend on the Lower Henry’s Fork, including the Gold Ranch, to forage during and after breeding.
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