Wyoming should sell the 640-acre wildlife-rich and scenic Kelly school trust parcel to Grand Teton National Park for $100 million, the Office of State Lands and Investments recommended Friday.
The recommendation appears to clear the way for the State Board of Land Commissioners to vote on a sales agreement at a special board meeting Thursday. Approval would prevent development feared by conservationists and turn the land over to the federal government “at Grand Teton National Park.”
The recommendation is unsigned; Jason Crowder is the acting director, having replaced Jenifer Scoggin in September.
Wyoming legislators and others have resisted an outright sale, seeking to link transfer of the scenic and wildlife-rich property to the relaxation of proposed restrictions on public land in southwest Wyoming. At issue was a plan to curtail travel and oil, gas and mineral leasing on federal Bureau of Land Management property near Rock Springs.
“Disposing of the Kelly Parcel looks to provide comparatively greater and more consistent returns than what is realized by continuing to hold the parcel and allow it to appreciate in value.”
Office of State Lands and Investments
The BLM issued the final plan in August, and it could be approved soon.
The recommendation appears to recognize that the BLM will not restrict rights of way and mineral leasing for the 3.6 million acres of public land as it first proposed. House Enrolled Act No. 50, a budget bill, made the sale to Grand Teton contingent on the federal agency not adopting restrictions it had contemplated.
Lawmakers set the $100 million price in legislation that enables the sale without an auction.
The parcel has been appraised at $62 million. Conservationists could contribute to the effort to buy the state property located just inside the national park boundary.
The lands office said it’s time to sell.
Property appreciation in the uber-expensive Jackson Hole real estate market “has been shown to be volatile and highly subjective to fluctuating economic conditions,” the recommendation asserts.
“Disposing of the Kelly Parcel looks to provide comparatively greater and more consistent returns than what is realized by continuing to hold the parcel and allow it to appreciate in value,” the office wrote.
Sale of the Kelly Parcel “appears to substantially increase funds available for distribution to the State’s school districts when compared to revenues currently realized by existing and potential uses,” according to the recommendation.
That would fulfill the state’s obligations to schools and other institutions that trust lands are constitutionally required to support.
“[D]isposal of the Kelly Parcel appears to reasonably meet the beneficiaries’ short and long-term needs,” the recommendation states.
The State Board of Land Commissioners’ meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Thursday in Cheyenne and is available through the OSLI’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@wy_osli
Secretary of State Chuck Gray supports – with Superintendent of Public Instruction (Mrs. Degenfelder) – Wyoming’s acquisition of property in the Powder River Basin for oil and gas drilling. The proposed land purchase amounts to $ 162 million. Those dollars are programed to fund Wyoming schools. Investing that money in oil and gas should be looked at skeptically: 1) Previously, Mrs. Degenfelder worked in the fossil fuel industry, 2) Mr. Gray and Mrs. Degenfelder are aligned with Mr. Trump’s plan for a long-lasting reliance on non-renewable energy, and 3) the Wyoming Treasurer’s 2024 audit indicates that this money, invested in the Common School Permanent Land Fund, can generate revenue (for schools) at a rate of approximately 6 %/yr.
We need politicians that are realistic about how our state will fund schools decades into the future. In my opinion, Mr. Gray and Mrs. Degenfelder are politically constrained and thus incapable of that foresight.
Finally, for those who say we cannot transition to renewable energy, consult this paper in IEEEXplore : “On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research”.
Many questions in this short article. Can this land be developed or will it stay natural? Who will manage the land ? I am not sure that selling a beautiful piece of land like this is in the best interest of Wyoming people. Why doesn’t the state purchase the property, or a conservation group and turn it into a wildlife area? The best thing for Wyoming everyday people is if the land is protected and does not turn into another big land grab by the rich and famous that will bar Wyoming residence from using or accessing the land. We need to get smart in preserving these beautiful tracts because they are gone, because there is no turning back.
If these clowns really cared about Wyoming and the nation, they would give this land to the park system. At the very least, sell it for appraisal. Tourism is a very important in Wyoming, and a development on this parcel would ruin the view. Really, they’re trying to ‘own’ the libs.
Amen, mostly. I would add, why so much more than the current appraised value?
THere needs to be more information here. Does the GTNP Foundation have to come up with the $100 million? Or is it just the National Park and they don’t really have the money. Sounds like Leslie Madsen will be busy.
Don’t you guess this shows us how the legislature will act if the state ever got control of all public lands in Wyoming? While I’m certainly not opposed to this sale, it could be a harbinger of things to come—legislative manipulation of this sort is an emerging trend that is troubling.