In the Field: Wood River Land Trust & The Nature Conservancy – Idaho

Heart of the Rockies Initiative supports 31 member land trusts in the Rocky Mountain West through science delivery, capacity support, collaborative fundraising, learning and networking activities. Our favorite thing is to connect with our members in person – ideally on the landscape we all love. 

In January, we had the chance to do just that when some of our staff traveled to the Wood River Valley in Southern Idaho to spend time with Wood River Land Trust (WRLT) and members of The Nature Conservancy – Idaho’s (TNC) Hailey office team. We toured the Hailey Hot Springs Ranch property, a recently completed Wood River Land Trust project, funded in part by our Keep It Connected program, and celebrated the collaborative efforts of WRLT and TNC in that effort. The visit provided a meaningful opportunity to engage with our members, experience a transformative local project in a stunning landscape, and see first-hand how our members are connecting to scale conservation in their own areas.

That evening, wildlife biologist and Heart of the Rockies Initiative’s Partnerships Manager Jim Williams delivered a presentation at the Community Library in Ketchum. The event drew a sold-out crowd and highlighted the essential work of community land trusts in local conservation and in scaling connectivity regionally – as well as some of Jim’s inspiring professional experience and global travel to support wildlife connectivity on a global scale.

Jim’s presentation is available to stream via the Community Library site here.