Sagebrush Steppe Regional Land Trust

In The News

Sagebrush Steppe Regional Land Trust is pleased to announce the completion of of our latest conservation project, the 200-acre Thunder Ridge Preserve, located up Sleight Creek Canyon outside of Paris, Idaho in Bear Lake County. This project ensures 200 acres of important winter range habitat in the Bear Lake Valley is protected for future generations. Protection of winter range in the area is becoming increasingly important as development and mining activities fragment the landscape. The beautiful property sits below Paris Peak with a view of Bear Lake. The sagebrush steppe habitat on the property is in great shape with healthy populations of sagebrush and bitter-brush. The Land Trust will hold the property in fee title ownership and manage it for its wildlife values.

The property was donated to the Land Trust by Keith and Jan Rasmussen. “Jan and I are pleased to work with the Land Trust to protect this critical wildlife habitat. Over the years, our family has enjoyed observing elk, deer, moose, eagles, and sage grouse on the property during all seasons of the year,” said Keith. "The Land Trust was a pleasure to work with.” To see photos of the property, visit our facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150547536587184.430861.69144787183&type=1&l=2f27c2b16d.

Land Trust Completes 2 new projects protecting 396 acres

Just in time for the new years, the Land Trust finalized a 114 acre easement in Caribou County adjacent to our Kackley Preserve along the Bear River. The project protects riparian habitat along the Bear River, as well as allowing for active farming and ranching.

The Land Trust is also pleased to announce that we completed our first conservation easement in Bannock County. The 282 acre property along Rapid Creek protects aspen groves, conifer forests, and riparian vegetation along Rapid Creek, while allowing for continued farming and ranching in agricultural fields and associated range lands.

Conservation Planning Project
Over the next several months, the Land Trust is getting started on a comprehensive

conservation planning effort that will help us identify and prioritize the lands within our

service area that are the highest priority for our land protection efforts. This effort will incorporate 3 types of conservation criteria and will have several opportunities for public outreach. The first phase is to gather all the spatial information and data we can related to the biological, working land, and community values of Southeastern Idaho. Once we have incorporated this into a series of maps, we will then reach out to our community members to ensure that we have been able to capture the critical areas in this planning exercise. Once we have integrated the spatial data with the human input, we will then begin to figure out how we can move forward to get these important areas protected, now and for future generations.

If you have any questions about this process, want to be involved, or want to be informed when we are ready for public input, please contact the Land Trust. We would love to have your feed back.

We held a meeting in Soda Springs in early December and are in the process of completing the initial draft. We are planning a meeting in Bannock County in late January.