A Conservation Focus in the Headwaters of the Wind River
The Wind River Program was created to conserve important scenic, agricultural and wildlife values in the upper Wind River watershed. Organized in response to growing interest in the expansion of its work, the Jackson Hole Land Trust established the program in 2007.

Directing the program is Ellen Vanuga, a long-time resident of Dubois. Employing her community-oriented experience, Ellen formed an advisory committee comprised of valley residents representing a broad spectrum of interests, with one member also serving on the Jackson Hole Land Trust Board of Directors. "It's important to listen to the people in this community," says Ellen. "They have a tremendous sense of ownership and pride in the natural resources and cultural heritage of this valley."


What has been accomplished?
The Jackson Hole Land Trust was founded in 1980 with the sole purpose of preserving the scenic, ranching and wildlife values in and around Jackson Hole. Since that time, the organization has attracted the interest of communities throughout western Wyoming. In 1983, the Land Trust accepted the gift of a conservation easement on 1,200 acres between the town of Dubois and the public lands of the Wind River Mountains. In 2007, the Land Trust received the donation of an easement on 100 acres along the Wind River east of town. That easement protects an area of open space along Highway 26, and Byrd Draw in the valley's colorful badlands which is important habitat for a number of mammals, including bighorn sheep.

In 2005 the Land Trust worked out an innovative partnership with Bob and Kate Lucas and The Nature Conservancy, resulting in the Lucas’ gaining title to easement-protected grazing acreage north of Dubois, and preservation of 340 acres of the U Lazy U Ranch, one of the last working ranches in Jackson. This ensures agricultural use of both properties into the future.

In 2009, the remarkable scenic, cultural, wildlife and recreational treasures of Ring Lake Ranch in the Torrey Creek Valley were protected with an easement. The 420-acre ranch overlooks both Ring and Torrey lakes, and is home to a retreat center devoted to "renewal in sacred wilderness" and to a breathtaking collection of petroglyphs. In early 2010, the adjacent Torrey Lake Ranch's 940 acres were added to the broad landscape of protected properties. This property includes nearly five miles of lakeshore and creek habitat, and historic log and rock cabins dating to the 1920s. The Torrey Creek drainage is critical winter habitat for the legendary Whiskey Mountain herd of bighorn sheep. The two easements in the Torrey Creek drainage were accomplished in partnership with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, the Wyoming Governor’s Big Game License Coalition, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, the Wyoming Chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center, the Dubois Anglers and Wildlife Group, the Mule Deer Foundation, and private donors.

Ellen explains her motivation as "a desire to balance economic opportunities with protection of those conservation values – wildlife, scenery, and agricultural lands – which give Dubois its unique character."


Organizational Bio
The Wind River Program is the Dubois office of the Jackson Hole Land Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the open space, agricultural, scenic, and wildlife values in and around Jackson Hole. The Wind River Program is community-oriented, focused on working with landowners in the Upper Wind River Valley, and motivated by a desire to balance economic opportunities with protection of those conservation values – wildlife, scenery, and agricultural lands – which give Dubois its unique character.