Gov. Mark Gordon certified Friday that key conditions have been met for the sale of the Kelly Parcel to the National Park Service for inclusion into Grand Teton National Park, clearing the final significant hurdle to the long-awaited transaction. 

Authorizing the sale last winter, the Wyoming Legislature added some contingencies related to the Bureau of Land Management’s just-finalized resource management plan for its Rock Spring Field Office. Late on Friday, the governor — who’d already signed the sales agreement for the state-owned 640 acres — announced that conditions related to the southwest Wyoming plan have been met. 

“With the Governor’s certification and the authorization from the Board of Land Commissioners complete, the Kelly Parcel transaction with the National Park Service may now be finalized,” a statement from the governor’s office said. 

Gov. Mark Gordon signs legislation into law during Wyoming’s 2024 legislative session. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

Wyoming, the federal government and a host of conservation non-profit stakeholders have been working on the Teton County land transaction for nearly 15 years, though efforts have stalled out and taken unpopular turns — including a proposed auction that fizzled in 2023. Ultimately the state and federal government agreed to a $100 million sale. Some $62 million of the funding is coming from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, while the balance is being fundraised by the Grand Teton National Park Foundation. 

Kelly Parcel sale conditions related to BLM’s Rock Springs plan are wonky. To meet the terms written into Wyoming’s 2024 budget bill, the federal government couldn’t select certain actions related to rights-of-way and fluid mineral leasing in the plan’s record of decision. 

A herd of several hundred elk grazes the hillsides just north of the Kelly Parcel in November 2024. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department classifies the area as “crucial winter range” for wapiti, which move through the area every spring and fall. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

A Gordon letter signed on Friday certifies that the BLM met those terms. Still, the governor made it clear in his correspondence that he remains dissatisfied with where the BLM ended up with its plan for 3.6 million acres of southwest Wyoming.

“I always expected to have to litigate the Biden Administration’s parting shot at the good people of Wyoming and I have instructed the Attorney General to pursue every legal remedy,” Gordon said in a statement. “In addition, I have been in contact with Wyoming’s Congressional delegation and potential members of the incoming Trump Administration to fix the mess an ideological Biden Administration is leaving for southwestern Wyoming.”

As of Friday, a warranty deed for the Kelly Parcel sale had not been recorded with the Teton County Clerk’s Office. WyoFile’s efforts to ascertain the expected closing date were not immediately successful. 

Mike Koshmrl reports on Wyoming's wildlife and natural resources. Prior to joining WyoFile, he spent nearly a decade covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s wild places and creatures for the Jackson...

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  1. Now, for park officials to honor the sales agreement regarding the continuation of grazing and hunting rights for “the people” who truly own that land.

    Reply

  2. The Teton Valley Wyoming that includes public lands that include GTNP, Bridger Teton National Forrest, the National Elk Refuge, and BLM administered lands and are the only last natural places in Teton County Wyoming. The Kelly parcel of 640 acres is just a small part of the undeveloped 97% public lands in the county.

    Take a step back and look at the 3% that is privately owned. This includes some of the most magnificence private homes and “Gentlemen Ranches” in the nation, world class 5 star restaurants, a ski area where you can buy a convenience pass for the sum of $10,000 dollars that allows a person to enjoy an experience compared to none. And, all of the the conveniences in town with services that you will only find in Beaver Creek, Park City, San Fransisco, New York, Dubai, and Paris. Let’s then look at the people who struggle to supply all of these conveniences, the service people. From the house keepers who clean the 10,000 square foot homes, the window cleaners who may clean sparkle bright 5,000 square feet of glass in each of those homes, the construction workers, laborers, landscapers, and all the trades who service the ultra-wealthy who are busy bees servicing the “upper class of 1% of 1% ters. Then look at the doctors, physician assistance, nurses, CNA’a who supply some of the most state of the art care for these people. They are looking for housing to sustain their existence with double digit inflation year to year.

    It is not a sustainable situation for anyone who services in any capacity. Everyone who has seen the photos of the Kelly parcel knows that is a pristine, undeveloped wildlife wonderland. My final question? Should this 640 acres be sold for development similar to the rest of the 3% private holdings or be kept in perpetuity for a wild life oasis? The answer is in the mind and hands of the Wyoming Governor, Mark Gordon. Please, sir, look to the future, you can become a savior or you can become a villain? History will judge, choose wisely.

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