Wyoming Governor Approves $100 Million Sale of State Land to Join Grand Teton National Park

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: US News and World Report/AP

Dec. 27, 2024, at 7:47 p.m.


CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming will sell a 1-square-mile (2.6-square-kilometer) parcel of pristine land bordering Grand Teton National Park to the U.S. government for $100 million after Gov. Mark Gordon signed off on a deal Friday that ends the state's longstanding threats to unload it to a developer.

Under the agreement the federal government will pay the appraised value of $62.5 million for the property, while privately raised funds will supply the rest.

Carpeted by a mix of trees, shrubs and sagebrush, the rolling land has a commanding view of the iconic Teton Range and is prime habitat for animals including elk, moose and grizzly bears.

Gordon, a Republican, announced in a statement that he was approving the deal to add the land to the national park after his office ensured that a U.S. Bureau of Land Management plan for managing a vast area of southwestern Wyoming doesn't carry too many restrictions on development including oil and gas drilling — a stipulation made by the state Legislature last winter.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/wyoming/articles/2024-12-27/wyoming-governor-approves-100-million-sale-of-state-land-to-join-grand-teton-national-park

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REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143337112

The "Kelly Parcel" is the one that was sold.

[2naSalit]

1. GOOD!!

That parcel, I think, includes Shadow Mountain area and should be part of the federal land system. I think, haven't been over there in a few years, it's the patch of private land you had to cross to get to the campground.

I'm all for it.

[Bob_in_VA]

2. Not opposed to the purchase

But $156,250 an acre? Seems a trifle expensive to me. We're not buying land in some high end suburb, after all.

[2naSalit]

3. There's probably...

Standard rate, it's surrounded by public land but it was also grazing land which goes for high dollar in sage scrub.

The info should be readily available as it's a public land transfer.

[Xolodno]

4. I remember when California bought a huge parcel of land that contained a lot of redwood trees.

The owner got the market value of all the tree's he was going to clear cut and harvest. In the end, he probably made out ahead, because he didn't have to hire people, pay insurance, haul it out, etc. Had absolutely no care for the environment, scenery, how it would impact others, etc. Just wanted the cold hard cash and go. Sacramento I believe made it into a state park and off limits for any "development". I believe both Democrats and Republicans in the state came together to save it.

[republianmushroom]

5. Thank you, Gov. Gordon.