Tetonia area wetlands earn easement protection
DRIGGS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK)-Teton Regional Land Trust has completed a new conservation easement that will help protect the Spring Creek wetland complex near Tetonia.
The new easement will add an additional 110 acres to the existing 200 acres already protected. It will help enhance habitat protection for native plants, fish, and wildlife, including “species of greatest conservation need.”
"It is great to see the sensitive habitat of the Spring Creek marsh complex further projected. This was a fairly complex project that required a lot of pieces to come together,” said Land Protection Specialist Josh Holmes.
Those species, outlined in Idaho’s Wildlife Action Plan, include Ferruginous Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Northern Leopard Frog, Common Nighthawk, Trumpeter Swan, Short-eared Owl and Columbian Sharp-tailed grouse.
“We are very excited to protect more important habitat in Teton Valley. This land is used year-round by wildlife including wintering elk and nesting and staging Sandhill Cranes in the summer and fall,” says Joselin Matkins, Teton Regional Land Trust Executive Director.
This is the 81st conservation easement completed in Teton Valley.