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The Teton County Scenic Preserve Trust (TCSPT) was established about 5 decades ago to encourage private landowners to voluntarily restrict development, preserving natural resources and open spaces that draw millions to the Tetons every year.
But it has lacked a dedicated county staff member for over a decade to monitor and manage its 58 conservation easements. Commissioners have hired an environmental consultant to ensure the easements’ requirements are being met while long-range planning staff have kept records and reached out to each of the more than 194 property owners once a year.
In a staff report, planners say the infrequent communication is weakening their relationship with landowners. Contracted environmental consultants told commissioners in a recent report that the lack of county oversight is threatening the land trust’s financial stability.
County Commissioners like Chair Mark Newcomb want to bring the trust up to speed through a “modernization project.”
“It is a good time to put on our thinking caps and really imagine what we might put in place for the long term to protect a lot of really important resources,” Newcomb said.
Scott Boettger, former president of a land trust in Idaho, and another environmental consultant recommend several options. They include creating a new advisory board, hiring an employee to oversee the easements, creating a new department or merging responsibilities into an existing department, such as Parks and Recreation.
TCSPT is the oldest land trust in the region but only has about 5% of the land as the Jackson Hole Land Trust, which oversees 62,000 acres. The Teton Regional Land Trust in Driggs has over 42,000 acres under easement. Boettger said that with changes, the county’s land trust could even grow in the future by acquiring new land.
“Those opportunities are only going to come forward if someone is there to make the calls, to make those connections, to bring the partners together and make those relationships with landowners and other funding sources,” Boettger said.
Money is a limiting factor. As commissioners wrestle with the future of the land trust, they’re also hosting a series of meetings to reconcile the budget. Commissioner Wes Gardner said he didn’t want to create a new division or department.
“I appreciate the aspirations, but reality is smacking aspirations in the face for me,” he said.
Commissioners have yet to decide how much money to spend on the effort and will pick up the issue in a future meeting.
