“To the office. . . to the phones. . . to the field!”  That was the cry that the Jackson Hole Land Trust stewardship staff put forth following our presentation to our board of directors in Fall of 2008.  Now with the 2009 summer monitoring season in its infancy, we are finally fulfilling the third portion of our exclamation.  It is wonderful to be back in the field visiting with landowners on easement protected properties throughout Jackson Hole. 

 

Spring and early summer never fail to startle the senses when contrasted to the snow and chill of winter –  new green of the aspens and cottonwoods & brightness of grass stubble on the working agricultural lands, the fragrance of life returning to the valley and pollen wafting in the air, the tactility of thawed soils and newly sprouted vegetation, and the auditory rushings of spring runoff over the wind in the trees. 

 

We are back to garnering interesting wildlife tales from landowners and relearning the early season forbs whose colors attract the eye.  The pasqueflower, puccoon, indian paintbrush, arrow leaved balsamroot, shooting star, bluebells & blue clematis mixed in among the flowering antelope bitterbrush, serviceberry and chokecherry shrubs is an inspiring sight that screams summer!  As uplifting as these events are for animals of the human variety, it is the wildlife who have weathered another winter and are now building themselves, and their newborn young, up on the lushes vegetative fodder.

 

We are excited to be back outdoors fulfilling the task that we are entrusted, that of upholding our conservation easements in perpetuity.  It should be a great summer season as we crisscross the area from Dubois to the Teton River & the Buffalo Valley to Bondurant taking in the natural rhythms of the flora and fauna protected by our conservation easements.  And with our recent rains, it could make for a verdant summer that all the valley’s inhabitants can appreciate.  –Steffan Freeman