WSGLT announces new executive director

On Jan. 27, the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust (WSGLT) announced Jessica Crowder was hired as the new executive director on Jan. 4.

 As executive director, Crowder will oversee programs, fundraising, finances and management of the ninth largest regional land trust in the United States – by acres conserved.  

Crowder was born in Victoria, Texas and spent her childhood on a cattle ranch in central New Mexico, where she first began to understand the relationships existing between the land and those who steward it. She graduated from high school in Comfort, Texas and was drawn to pursue a degree in range management at Texas Tech University, where she broadened her understanding of stewardship, agriculture and conservation. 

Crowder holds a Master’s of Science in range science and a Bachelor’s of Science in range management. Her master’s degree research focused on prescribed summer fire and grazing management in the Northern Great Plains. 

Prior to joining WSGLT, Crowder was the policy director and a policy associate for the Western Landowners Alliance. She served as a policy advisor for former Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, a position she held for over four years. 

Crowder has also worked as a policy analyst for the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, as a technician for the Agricultural Research Service and as an instructor at Northwest College in Powell. Much of her work has focused on natural resource management with an emphasis on keeping working lands intact and economically viable across varied land ownerships. 

“Working lands and the families stewarding them are essential to preserving the agricultural heritage, conservation values and the western way of life we, as Wyomingites, enjoy. I am excited to join this organization and its landowners, partners and supporters as we work to keep working lands intact and productive for future generations,” said Crowder.