Land Trust Unveils the Public Phase of the Legacy of Land Campaign with the Announcement of a Capstone Gift
Teton Regional Land Trust (TRLT) is overjoyed to announce that the Hamill Family Foundation has shown unprecedented support and commitment to the natural resources, conservation and agricultural heritage in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem through a $1,250,000 gift to the Legacy of Land campaign.
In 2018, faced with a growing interest by landowners in conservation easements on lands deserving of protection in the Upper Snake River watershed and increased project costs, TRLT’s Board of Directors declared its first-ever capital campaign, designated the “Legacy of Land” campaign, with a goal of raising $10 million dollars. The Legacy of Land funds are being raised for three purposes: conservation of wildlife habitat, open spaces, ranchland and farmland; support of long-term stewardship of these lands; and organizational sustainability.
“Teton and Swan Valleys and the Island Park area are under tremendous development pressure that removes land from agricultural production, wildlife habitat and migration corridors. Our work area encompasses one of the largest intact ecosystems in the northern hemisphere. The Land Trust has worked for over 30 years to preserve the habitat, migrations corridors, agricultural heritage and magnificent viewscapes that we all love and appreciate. Our Legacy of Land campaign is needed to accelerate our work and enable us to be even more effective,” said Arantza Zabala, TRLT board president.
The announcement of this capstone gift and the public phase of the Legacy of Land campaign follows four years of successful private fundraising thanks to many generous donors. The Hamill Family Foundation gift does come with a match challenge. Teton Regional Land Trust will need to raise an additional $250,000 of support during 2022 in order to get the final $250,000 of their gift. Each gift received in 2022, up to a total of $250,000, will be matched 1:1 by the Hamill Family Foundation gift.
Nancy Hamill Winter explains, “Although a ‘prairie girl’ from Illinois, the Tetons have deeply impacted me since childhood. Four generations of the Hamill family owe a great deal of our appreciation for the natural environment to this spectacular area of the earth. Our support for the Teton Regional Land Trust reflects deep confidence in its staff and volunteers who are committed to preserving this spellbinding landscape in which wildlife and people thrive. We hope that the entire community will join the Hamill Family Foundation supporting the future success of the Land Trust.”
“We are so grateful and excited, that despite a global pandemic, our private donors have been so very generous. Our success so far is a result of truly sacrificial gifts given to this campaign in response to the urgency of this work and the effectiveness of TRLT as an organization. The Hamill family, Joan and Corwith “Corky” Hamill along with their children and grandchildren, have a legacy of protecting wilderness areas and promoting stewardship of the environment. This gift from the Hamill Family Foundation honors that family legacy and invites our community to join in this vital work. I am so humbled by the exceptional generosity of the Hamill Family Foundation,” said Robin Anderson, Legacy of Land campaign committee chair. “The matching grant allows our donors to double the effectiveness of their gift. We invite our friends and supporters to help us meet the generous match and invest in the future of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem by donating to the Legacy of Land campaign.”
To support the Legacy of Land campaign visit tetonlandtrust.org and click on Support. Donations can also be mailed to Teton Regional Land Trust, P.O. Box 247, Driggs, ID 83422. For more information regarding Teton Regional Land Trust’s work in eastern Idaho and about the Legacy of Land campaign, please visit tetonlandtrust.org or contact TRLT’s Development Director, Jeske Gräve at jeske@tetonlandtrust.org.
Since 1990, the Land Trust has been able to protect nearly 40,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat and working lands in eastern Idaho, including migration corridors for large mammals, native Yellowstone cutthroat trout spawning areas and tributaries, wetlands and critical bird habitat, and agricultural lands.
