JACKSON, Wyo. — One hundred and twenty acres on West Gros Ventre Butte recently became a conservation easement, announced the Jackson Hole Land Trust (JHLT).
The Land Trust announced the easement today, Jan. 14, calling the land, high-quality habitat linking West Gros Ventre Butte to JHLT-protected properties in Spring Gulch and Coyote Canyon.
“We are very pleased to be able to donate this conservation easement to the Jackson Hole Land Trust,” said landowner John Shelton of Trident Partners. “We wanted to reduce the footprint of development on Vogel Hill to preserve an important wildlife corridor that had already been impacted by development in sensitive areas.”
There are a number of homes on Gros Ventre Butte.
According to the Land Trust, the easement protects vital habitat for wintering mule deer and greater sage grouse populations with east and southeast-facing slopes with interspersed pockets of mixed aspen, conifer, mountain shrub and forb. Vogel Hill also safeguards an elk migration corridor and mule deer Crucial Winter Range as designated by Wyoming Game and Fish.
Fisk’s Spring, a tributary of Spring Creek, flows through the eastern portion of the easement and provides spawning habitat for Snake River cutthroat trout. Vogel Hill’s waterways support important riparian and wetland habitats that reptiles, amphibians, and resident and migratory birds rely on.
“We are incredibly grateful for the donation of this easement,” said Ellen Incelli, JHLT conservation project manager. “The property’s well-stewarded lands are relied on by some of Teton County’s most iconic wildlife and are a vital piece to protecting the rural character and ecological function of Spring Gulch.”
