With this year being our tenth anniversary, we’ve doing a lot of reminiscing about the early days of LRLT, how organization developed into what we are today & thinking about what the next ten years will look like. Somethings have changed, while a few others have stayed the same, so here’s a few things you might not know about us:
- LRLT’s first office was actually the office of Idaho Adventures, our Executive Director, Kristin’s & her husband, Mark’s outfitting business. There literally wasn’t even a checkbook at the time, so renting an office wasn’t an option in the early years. Eventually running LRLT in the midst of Idaho Adventures got a bit too chaotic, so the Upper Salmon Basin Watershed was gracious enough to allow Kristin to move into an empty space in their office & when an additional person joined their staff, we made the move to our current Center Street location.
- Our entire staff graduated from Salmon High School. Not by design, but we all left the valley, graduated from college, made our way back home & eventually landed at LRLT. For Breann & Charli, the timing was right & positions happened to open up right as we were finishing college & looking to come back. Kristin on the other hand, was back, running Idaho Adventures & minding her own business when Joe Tonsmeire showed up at her office with a twinkle in his eye asking her to work for a new organization he was trying to start.
- We never recruit any landowners to complete conservation easements. Our work is all done with voluntary landowners, which means you have to contact us. This was a principle established by our board in the early days that has continued to serve us well. This also means that while you may want your neighbor to think about a conservation easement, we’re not going to just call them up to chat about that possibility at your suggestion.
- We love visit from landowners, supporters & the public. Our door is always open. And visiting properties? Love it. We’ve never met a piece of land we didn’t love. Like all of you, we love this valley & our hidden away little piece of Idaho & we never cease to be amazed at the hidden gems tucked away up various drainages & valleys.
- 2014 was the first time we ever actually purchased any brand new office furniture. Nope, we’re not kidding. We’re a practical, low maintenance bunch & the office is 95% furnished with second hand things that were given to us when we first moved in & literally had no furniture.
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