Consultants present options to modernize Teton County Scenic Preserve Trust; staffer plus advisory board recommended as first step
April 28, 2025 | Teton County, Wyoming
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County staff and consultants presented a report and options on April 28 to modernize the Teton County Scenic Preserve Trust and to better align the trust’s responsibilities with the county’s conservation goals.
“Teton County is at the center of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem,” consultant Sean Hill said, framing the trust’s stewardship responsibilities. The report reviewed the trust’s history (founded in 1978), the role it played in holding conservation easements, and how that work connects to the county’s comprehensive plan and the trust resolution amended in 2015.
The consultants presented five options and recommended a two‑phase path: immediately adopt a Status Quo Plus approach — recruit a part‑time (or eventually full‑time) staffer to manage monitoring contracts, public engagement and stewardship relationships — then pursue a unified conservation framework over one to three years. The unified options include creating an open lands department, an open lands division within an existing department, or a conservation department led by a conservation director.
“Those 58 easements are doing all the wagging and they don't need to be,” consultant Scott Petra said, arguing the trust could evolve from a primarily monitoring role to a convening and partnership role that leverages county assets to implement the comprehensive plan’s conservation strategies.
Under Status Quo Plus, the recommended staffer would assume monitoring duties from the current contractor over time, maintain landowner relationships on a biennial monitoring cycle, and lead public engagement. Consultants also recommended establishing an advisory board with expertise in conservation, land use, law, public engagement, realty and ecology to advise staff.
Consultants described the open lands or conservation department models as ways to elevate conservation work, give dedicated leadership and coordinate implementation of the comprehensive plan’s conservation strategies. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about timelines and the balance between ongoing easement monitoring and new programmatic opportunities; consultants described Status Quo Plus as a pragmatic immediate step to preserve existing stewardship while enabling future program expansion.
No formal action was taken at the April 28 workshop; the presentation provided a recommended path and invited future direction from the commissioners.
“Teton County is at the center of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem,” consultant Sean Hill said, framing the trust’s stewardship responsibilities. The report reviewed the trust’s history (founded in 1978), the role it played in holding conservation easements, and how that work connects to the county’s comprehensive plan and the trust resolution amended in 2015.
The consultants presented five options and recommended a two‑phase path: immediately adopt a Status Quo Plus approach — recruit a part‑time (or eventually full‑time) staffer to manage monitoring contracts, public engagement and stewardship relationships — then pursue a unified conservation framework over one to three years. The unified options include creating an open lands department, an open lands division within an existing department, or a conservation department led by a conservation director.
“Those 58 easements are doing all the wagging and they don't need to be,” consultant Scott Petra said, arguing the trust could evolve from a primarily monitoring role to a convening and partnership role that leverages county assets to implement the comprehensive plan’s conservation strategies.
Under Status Quo Plus, the recommended staffer would assume monitoring duties from the current contractor over time, maintain landowner relationships on a biennial monitoring cycle, and lead public engagement. Consultants also recommended establishing an advisory board with expertise in conservation, land use, law, public engagement, realty and ecology to advise staff.
Consultants described the open lands or conservation department models as ways to elevate conservation work, give dedicated leadership and coordinate implementation of the comprehensive plan’s conservation strategies. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about timelines and the balance between ongoing easement monitoring and new programmatic opportunities; consultants described Status Quo Plus as a pragmatic immediate step to preserve existing stewardship while enabling future program expansion.
No formal action was taken at the April 28 workshop; the presentation provided a recommended path and invited future direction from the commissioners.
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