Wyoming officials will proceed with selling a pristine piece of state property within Grand Teton National Park to the federal government for $100 million and end decades of threats to sell it to the highest-bidding private developer.
The 3-2 vote by the state Board of Land Commissioners — made up of Gov. Mark Gordon and the other top four state elected officials, all Republicans — puts the square-mile (2.6-square-kilometer) parcel with an unobstructed view of the Teton Range a step closer to becoming part of the park.
The land that has been a bone of contention between Wyoming and federal officials for decades may now finally be on track to sell by the end of this year.
"There's clearly a right decision to be made. This is a very rare opportunity for you to do the right thing for education in Wyoming," Wyoming Senate President Ogden Driskill, a Republican, urged the board before the vote.
Conservation and sportsmen's groups have made similar appeals to keep the property out of private hands even though selling to developers could net the state the highest dollar return.
The state land surrounded by national parkland on all sides has belonged to Wyoming since statehood. However, leasing it for grazing has brought in only a few thousand dollars a year, far below what the state could get from a modest return on investing the proceeds of a sale.
As in other states particularly in the West, revenue from state lands funds public education.
The two officials voting no said they hoped to strike a better deal under President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration, possibly involving a swap for fossil-fuel-rich federal lands elsewhere in the state. One was state Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, who said she wanted to protect the land but get the best deal possible.
"This is the most valuable piece of property Wyoming has ever had," Degenfelder said before the vote. "To me, we can't sell Wyoming short. I don't believe that voting it down today or tabling it today, as I prefer, is closing doors."
For decades, Wyoming governors have threatened to sell the land within Grand Teton to the highest bidder if the federal government wouldn't buy it. The threats led to on-and-off negotiations and three previous sales of other state land within the park to the federal government totaling $62 million.
The Wyoming Legislature approved the $100 million purchase in the state budget last winter. Under the deal, a federal fund will provide the land's appraised value of $62 million and privately raised money the rest.
Lawmakers stipulated that the governor could walk away from the deal if a plan by President Joe Biden's administration to limit oil and gas drilling and other development in a vast area of southwestern Wyoming moves ahead. The plan irks many in Wyoming, which relies on fossil fuels for jobs and revenue.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management appears set to meet legislators' requirements by approving a not-so-restrictive plan by the end of this month, state Treasurer Curt Meier said.
"This is the time for us to go forward," Meier said before voting to approve the sale.
Grand Teton Superintendent Chip Jenkins said in an emailed statement he appreciated Wyoming's support for protecting the land and looked forward to completing the transaction.
