SSLT Summer 2015 Newsletter

7/21/2019 SSLT Summer 2015 Newsletter

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Summer 2015

Newsletter

The project was funded from the EnvironmentalCoordinating Committee (ECC) underwritten byPacifiCorp Energy. This funding protects riverine habi-

tat and riparian corridors in the Bear River drainage. While cutthroat habitat protection is at the core of thisparticular conservation easement, this particular projectprovides protection for other wildlife that use the sagecovered hillsides and cottonwood canopy along thecreek bottom.

The Jensen family gathered at the Northern Title officein Preston on May 27th to help the Sagebrush SteppeLand Trust work on a quilt. Slowly, but surely, patch-

work pieces of permanently protected ground arecoming together and taking shape along Mink Creek, a

tributary to the Bear River near Riverdale.LaDawn and Dick Jensen have raised family, hay, and

livestock on their 200 plus acres of hillside and creekbottom at the mouth of the canyon. By working with

the Land Trust to protect their family land with a con-servation easement, they protected nearly ¾ miles ofmature cottonwoods along the river, and the sloping

hills above the creek. They have insured that the land will remain protected for wildlife and available for agri-cultural production.

“The family was terrific to work with,” said JerryDeBacker, former executive director for SSLT. “Youcould tell early on in discussions with the Land Trust that

they really loved their little spot in the world, and wereproud of their land.”

The children supported their parent’s decision toplace the property into a protected status. Son Sid

Jensen said, “We’ve tried to take good care of the creekand we know how important these hillsides are for win-

tering mule deer. We watch the wildlife use the groundpretty much year round- it’s beautiful out here.”

The Jensen’s property abuts a previously protectedparcel, the Two Creeks Ranch to the west, and liesnear over 2,000 acres of eased land both down andupstream. These families have all worked with the LandTrust to conserve extensive habitat and clear, cold waterfor imperiled Bonneville Cutthroat trout using MinkCreek for spawning and rearing.

Conservation Success Story Jensen Family Agricultural Lands and Cherished Wildlife Habitat Forever Protected

Dick Jensen said it best, “Sure, we’d likea little more in this world, a couple more

quarter horses or a new pickup, but I’dlike our great grandkids, and their grand-kids, to have as much as we had to enjoyand care about. This little bit of creekisn’t all that much in the big picture, but I think it’s a pretty special place.”

Jensen Conservation Easement

Help us Save More Land

Sagebrush Steppe has received a generomatching grant from the Land Trust Allianc to support us in this important time of trans tion. If you give $500 or more before December 1, 2015, every dollar you give up to $750 will be doubled, allowing us to maximize th

important grant opportunity.



*Deep Creek Preserve435 Acres

*Thunder Ridge Preserve200 Acres

^

Conserved Lands in the Mink Creek Drainage

50 5 102.5 Miles

Map Prduced June 2015

I d a h oI d a h o

U t a hU t a h

*Limited access to public, contact SSLT for details

When you support the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust with an annual gift, you help ensure that farmers andranchers in our part of the world have someone theycan turn to for information on conservation options.

When they’re ready to conserve their property forever, your gift helps make sure there’s someone here with theexpertise to help them realize their goal.

Conservation agreements that last forever are com-plicated and take hundreds of hours of staff and board

time to make happen. When we have the staff capacity to focus on a landscape, landowners know they can turn to us and we’ll be there to help.

Case in point: Mink Creek.

A tributary to the Bear River, Mink Creek is oneof Idaho’s most important streams for the survival ofBonneville cutthroat trout. The attached map showshow much land you’ve helped us conserve along MinkCreek and Bear River near their confluence.

The Bear River’s Mink Creek The Big Picture

The Environmental Conservation Committee andPacifiCorp provided much of the funding needed to buydevelopment rights from these landowners – but with-out your annual support of the Sagebrush Steppe LandTrust and considerable hard work and energy from our

volunteer board, this important conservation worksimply would not have happened. Thank you.

If you haven’t renewed your membership yet

this year, please take a minute to fill out the

envelope in this newsletter and mail it to us

with a check or credit card information. It will

contribute to advancing conservation along the

Bear River as and other special places in south-

eastern Idaho.

Want to give even faster?

Go to www.sagebrushlandtrust.org and click

on the Donate Just Give button in the left hand

column on our homepage.2



SEE MORE ONLINE!sagebrushlandtrust.org

Boyack Conservation Easement along the Bear Ri

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From the President, Garry Ratzlaff

The Board and staff join me in bid-

ding farewell to Jerry DeBacker,as he pursues other conservationopportunities in the northwest.

We’re grateful to Jerry for his ser- vice to conservation. He worked with farming and ranching families to conserve forever over 1,000acres of important habitat for wild-

life in southeastern Idaho. Jerry helped us expand ourconservation reach by conserving two ranches along theLittle Blackfoot River and near the Blackfoot Reservoireast of Soda Springs.

To help us stay on track, we hired seasoned conservation veteran Babette Thorpe to be our acting executivedirector while the board searches for a good fit for a newexecutive director.

Looking ahead we are searching for an energetic andcapable leader to build on 10 years of success conservingland in southeastern Idaho. Please help us find the rightcandidate by checking out the job description on our

website and sharing it with people you think would be a good fit for the Land Trust. We plan on choosing a strongcandidate by fall.

Meanwhile, your support allows us to keep up the good

work. With your help, we’ll continue working with MayorMarc and his team to design and build a public trail alonga stretch of the Oregon Trail on the banks of the SnakeRiver from Seagull Bay to Massacre Rocks. We’ll continue advancing conservation projects within

the Bear River drainage to protect habitat for BonnevilleCutthroat Trout and other wildlife. We’ll continue tomove on opportunities to conserve winter range and sig-nificant wildlife habitat throughout southeastern Idaho.

As a community organization based in Pocatello, Idaho

we are the only non-profit dedicated to conserving pri- vate land in southeastern Idaho.

Your support as a member and volunteer helps us work with willing landowners to protect working farmsand ranches, winter range for mule deer, elk and moose,cool spawning streams for Bonneville cutthroat trout,aspen forests and willow-lined creeks for songbirds andhealthy stands of sagebrush for sage grouse. We celebrated our

10th anniversary in 2014.To date, members like

you have helped us work

with over 20 farming andranching families to pro-

tect over 4000 acres ofcritical wildlife habitat. With your help, we can

become an even moreeffective force in south-eastern Idaho. Right now,

there are more farmersand ranchers who want

to work with us to con-serve their land than we

have capacity to help. Please make our work a priorityfor your annual giving.

For more information on who we are and what we docheck out our website, www.sagebrushlandtrust.org, orcontact Babette Thorpe, 208.241.4662, [email protected] to schedule a visit.

Meet the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust

The Land TrustMission is to protecand enhance natural lands, wildlifhabitat, and workinfarms and ranches iSoutheastern Idahonow and for futur generations.





John Sigler is a westerner. And although born in Ames, Iowa in 1946, he moved to Logan, Utah with his parents and older sister in early 1947. He remained there through a Bachelor of Science degree from Utah State University Collegeof Natural Resources and a Master’s of Science (Water Quality) degree work-ing on Bear Lake. John then spent 3 years with the U. S. Air Force at the AirForce Armament Test Laboratory at Eglin AFB, FL and the Air Force Weapons

Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM. John completed his Ph.D. inFisheries Biology and Management in the Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit at

the University of Idaho, Moscow and returned to Logan with his growing familyin 1980, working with his father in natural resources consulting.

From 1980 to 2006, John worked in environmental consulting on NationalEnvironmental Policy Act evaluations on Air Force bombing ranges in theCalifornia desert, the nuclear weapons complex at Pantex Nuclear Facility near

Amarillo, TX and Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, as well asmunicipal water management projects on the Rio Grande.

From 2006 to 2012, John was the Senior Environmental Coordinator for Pocatello, managing the newlyminted Phase II National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System storm water permit. John now enjoys hiking,

cycling, motorcycling, reading and writing. He hosts “Southeast Idaho Environs,” a Channel 12 Public AccessTV program exploring SE Idaho outdoor issues.

When I go into the field, I always hope to see somethingnew and interesting. This drives me forward. WhenI was out along the Bear River, monitoring a property

we worked with the landowner to conserve last year, Isaw a pair of birds that are not recorded breeding here,

yet: Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. They have notably largebeaks; conical and pale. The male is quite distinctive with

a black head and back, a white belly, patches of white inhis wings, a rose-colored chevron pattern on his breast

with flashes of rose-red under his wings when he flies.The female is brown above with a contrasting pattern

of brown and white on her head, white wing bars, andpale below. Her breast has thin, brown streaks on it. See

www.allaboutbirds.org for range maps and photos.The breeding range of the Rose-breasted Grosbeakextends from the northern Atlantic Coast to easternOklahoma, Colorado and the Dakotas, and north through

Canada. Since the breeding season this year is early for many things, I suspect this pair is breeding here. I heard the male singing continuously, and saw both of them together in very suitable habitat. I also heard their distinctlysharp “chink” call, all at a location west of the migration range.

These birds are rare or very local in migration, according to the Birds of Idaho Field Checklist. I was veryfortunate to see them as I monitored the property this spring.

Care to join us to see what we see?Please contact me (241-4662) if you would like to help monitor the Land Trust’s protected properties.

Welcome New Board Member – John Sigler

From the Steward’s Desk - by Barb North

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Photo credit: Gary Tyson, PA (Tioga County, June 2010)

SEE MORE ONLINE!sagebrushlandtrust.org



NON-PROFIT ORG

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

PERMIT NO. 51

POCATELLO, ID

PO Box 1404, Pocatello ID 83204

sagebrush steppe

LAND TRUST

Also, see us online at www.sagebrushlandtrust.org, visit us on and watch us on

Your support helped us work with a long-time

ranching family to conserve 640 acres on the LittleBlackfoot River in Clark Valley.

When Barb and Babette visited the property on

a very hot day in June, they found a shaded, well-

watered oasis. Bluebirds nested in old aspens

carved by generations of sheepherders. A shallow

wetland along the Little Blackfoot teemed with ducks

and waterbirds. Bunch grasses and flowers dotted

First Conservation Easement on the Little Blackfoot River!

the sage-covered hillsides.

When the landowner decided he wanted to protect hiland from development forever, your financial suppor

gave us the ability to support this decision. We negoti

ated a permanent conservation contract to protect th

wet meadows, sagebrush uplands and aspen groves o

this property. We will monitor the property at least onc

a year to ensure that any future landowner complies with

the terms of the agreement.

Documents

SSLT Summer 2015 Newsletter