Teton Regional Land Trust PROJECT BRIEF

Vital Ground has plenty of our own projects to keep us busy, but this opportunity to help Teton Regional Land Trust push forward a conservation easement on a national forest inholding just outside Yellowstone National Park was too crucial to pass up. This 320-acre property is in a connectivity corridor towards the Bitterroot Ecosystem, offering a natural path for grizzlies to return to the mountains they once called home there. GPS collar data has shown multiple grizzlies moving through and utilizing the property. 

A multi-generational family ranch, the property hosts great habitat for wildlife in the form of wetlands and diverse lodgepole and aspen forested areas. It also protects an important tributary of the Henrys Fork River, providing aquatic habitat for native fish and an abundance of bird species. Like many other areas in Idaho and around the Northern Rockies, the site was at risk of being subdivided and developed. In 2024, we were proud to provide funding to help Teton Regional Land Trust complete this easement and forever protect this special place.