Born in Albuquerque on 28 December 1908, Betty Woolsey grew up amid the Sandia Mountains and later studied at Vassar before tackling the Alpeans, the Canadian Rockies and, in 1936, the Olympic downhill run in Garmisch‑Partenkirchen. She won the 1939 U.S. National Downhill Championship at Mount Hood and went on to lead American teams in Europe.
In 1943 Woolsey turned her sights to the Teton Range, buying a rundown 270‑acre tract near Wilson, Wyoming that would become Trail Creek Ranch. She refurbished the log house, added a barn, and transformed the acreage into a guest ranch that welcomed hikers, hunters and seasonal guests.
After Woolsey’s death at 88 in 1997, her estate formalised a conservation easement covering the entire 270 acres, filing the restriction with the Wyoming Land Trust to bar subdivision or commercial development. The easement locks the ranch’s wilderness character into a permanent protected status.
The move has drawn praise from conservationists who view the easement as a rare private‑ownership model that balances ranching with stewardship. It signals to other landholders that protecting natural heritage can coexist with continued use of the land.
Gibb Scott, a former hunting guide who spent decades on the property, said the easement preserves the “untouched pine‑smelled mornings” and the hunting trails his family has cherished for generations.