Jacques managed a 500-acre Carson Valley ranch for more than 2 decades before co-founding Legacy Land and Water in 2004 to provide land use consulting services that enable landowners to evaluate conservation options and assess smart-growth opportunities.  Jacques has been a leader in local land conservation for the past 25 years, helping guide some of the largest landowners in the Lake Tahoe region toward conservation solutions.  Present and past clients include The Harris Ranch, Conrad Hilton Trust, Edgewood Companies, the Ponderosa Ranch, Homewood Mountain Resort, Incline Lake Corporation, Galeppi Land and Livestock, Scossa Ranch, Churia Holstein, Ranch No. 1, Clear Creek Tahoe, and others. He has successfully conserved over 45,000 acres of land around the Eastern Sierra/Lake Tahoe region. He facilitated the largest land acquisition by any agency at Lake Tahoe in over 60 years, 2,350 acres at High Meadows. 

In 1997, Jacques received the “Award for Presentation” for outlining the Douglas County Master Plan before the National Planning Association’s annual gathering in Orlando, Florida.  Jacques served as a Douglas County planning commissioner for four years and was elected to the county commission in 1994, ran unopposed for reelection in 1998, and won a third term in 2002. He served as chairman for four consecutive years.  

In 1981, Jacques graduated from the University of California at Davis with a B.S. in Planning/Politics and Administration.