Uncle Sam has a belated Christmas gift for anyone who loves visiting national parks.
After years of political wrangling between state and federal officials, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced Monday the purchase of 640 acres of additional land within Grand Teton National Park. Known as the Kelly Parcel, the “picturesque landscape” has mountain views and “world-class wildlife habitat,” federal officials said in a news release.
The parcel was the largest remaining piece of unprotected land within the national park’s boundaries. By adding the area to the park, wildlife managers can maintain “essential connectivity for wildlife in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” officials said. They called the zone one of the last remaining temperate ecosystems on the planet that’s mostly intact.
The $100 million sale to preserve the parcel was made possible through a partnership between the Interior Department and the National Park Service. They pooled money from the Grand Teton National Park Foundation ($37.6 million), the Land and Water Conservation Fund ($62.4 million), and the National Park Foundation. But private donations were a big part of the conservation victory as well. Nearly 400 donors from 46 states made gifts ranging from $10 million to $15 million.
“We are in awe of the incredible generosity of hundreds of people who stepped forward to protect this essential parcel,” Grand Teton National Park Foundation President Leslie Mattson said.
‘Overwhelming’ Public Support for Kelly Parcel Sale
Wyoming officials have debated for decades whether to make the Kelly Parcel the official property of the federal government. But, a 2023 public comment period appeared to show widespread support among Americans.
More than 10,000 people from across the country weighed in on the discussion, “overwhelmingly supporting” the conservation of the land for wildlife, public enjoyment, and strengthening Wyoming’s economy, federal officials said.
It also directly impacts Wyoming education. The Kelly Parcel has been designated as school trust land since Wyoming became a state in 1890. That means the $100 million price tag will benefit Wyoming public school students “for generations to come,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a statement.
“Today marks an incredible milestone, decades in the making, to permanently protect an essential wildlife migration corridor and treasured landscape within Grand Teton National Park,” Haaland said.
State officials have been working since at least the 1990s to sell portions of Wyoming school trust land. Another Grand Teton land parcel, known as Antelope Flats, was purchased by the National Park Service in 2016 for $46 million.
“Today’s historic purchase, through a combination of private philanthropy and federal funding, continues the tradition and generosity that helped establish Grand Teton National Park,” the Grand Teton National Park Foundation said in a statement.
State Officials Still Concerned
Wyoming officials, however, have long debated alternative options for selling the land and maximizing financial benefit to the state, WyoFile reported. Some state leaders argued for commercial development or a public auction to sell the land to real estate developers. Others sought to bargain the parcel for federal coal lands.
Even as Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon approved the land sale on Friday, he mostly criticized the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Gordon sided with state legislators who say the BLM must reconsider its Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, which updates federal land management in Wyoming. Among several complaints, state leaders have criticized the conservation-heavy plan for limiting energy extraction.
As a result, Gordon plans to appeal for changes to the federal plan once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
“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,” Gov. Gordon said. “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.”
