Conserving Wyoming’s Working Lands for Future Generations
Preserving open space, wildlife habitat, and rural heritage.
Photo Credit: Kyle Spradley Photography
The Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust (Land Trust) was founded by the membership of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association in December 2000. It was established in response to the growing need within the ranching community to provide voluntary, private-sector options for agricultural land conservation. The Land Trust is the only Wyoming-based land trust that is focused specifically on conservation of agricultural lands. With 25 years of building and maintaining collaborative partnerships with local landowners, the Land Trust has worked with 92 families, conserved over 300,000 acres, and established 121 perpetual conservation easements. These conserved lands are within greater sage-grouse core areas, big game migration corridors, and crucial winter and summer ranges for Wyoming big game species (e.g., mule deer, pronghorn, elk, bighorn sheep). Therefore, these lands are critical to the long-term survival of multiple wildlife species, one of the iconic symbols of Wyoming.
The Land Trust’s accomplishments are achieved by collaborating with private landowners, conservation organizations, and natural resource agencies. Through these partnerships, the Land Trust is establishing and maintaining conservation easements, conducting outreach and communication about programs and practices to maintain working ranchlands, and assisting in developing new opportunities to conserve agricultural lands. Sustaining working landscapes will also conserve Wyoming’s history, culture, and economy.
