Jackson Hole Land Trust

The Land Trust's Stewardship Department works to maintain the scenic, agricultural, and biological values of conservation easement protected property in perpetuity. By working with the landowner, we aim to support the long-term preservation of the conservation values identified and protected by the easement.

We strive to safeguard the conservation values of a property by:

Creating a well-documented baseline assessment of the property’s initial condition

Contributing to clearly written easements that are enforceable by Stewardship Staff

Maintaining a constructive relationship with protected property owners and the community

Monitoring the property on an annual basis with a systematic and thorough program

Serving as a resource for protected-property landowners

Assisting habitat enhancement efforts

Resolving easement issues by way of personal communication

Easement Monitoring
We are proud of our easement monitoring program and have received recognition in the greater Land Trust community for our practices. Our monitoring program is charged with observing and recording changes to a conservation easement property over time. Stewardship staff monitors the easement-protected properties in three ways:

Summer Monitoring: a visit to the property with the landowner. During this visit we walk the property with the landowner to discuss any changes or arising management practices that may interface with the easement. We use an informal kitchen table approach to understanding the needs of our landowners and utilize these visits to keep in touch with their needs.

Winter Monitoring: a cursory glimpse at the properties during the winter months. We do not enter the properties, but we do make observations of the property that can be viewed from public roads in hopes of gleaning interesting natural occurrences not seen in the summer months such as presence of wildlife movement.

Aerial photo comparisons: aerial photos of the property that are taken at 2 year intervals by Teton County are compared for visible changes that may involve the conservation easement.