Current:Home > ContactWyoming moves ahead with selling land in Grand Teton National Park to federal government for $100M -FinanceCore
Wyoming moves ahead with selling land in Grand Teton National Park to federal government for $100M
View
Date:2025-04-18 12:35:19
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming officials voted Thursday to proceed with selling a spectacular, 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 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.
For decades, Wyoming governors have threatened to sell the land within Grand Teton to the highest bidder if the federal government didn’t want to 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.
veryGood! (45662)
Related
- Sam Taylor
- Ukraine’s leader says Russian naval assets are no longer safe in the Black Sea near Crimea
- Panera Bread's ‘Charged Lemonade’ being blamed for student's death, family files lawsuit
- 2nd trial in death of New York anti-gang activist ends in mistrial
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Wisconsin officers fatally shoot person on school roof in exchange of gunfire, state police say
- At least 16 people killed when a boat caught fire in western Congo, as attacks rise in the east
- 10 NBA players under pressure to perform in 2023-24 include Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Tennessee faces federal lawsuit over decades-old penalties targeting HIV-positive people
Ranking
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- New deadly bird flu cases reported in Iowa, joining 3 other states as disease resurfaces
- Michelle Obama to narrate audio edition of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’
- 4th defendant takes plea deal in Georgia election interference case
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- States sue Meta claiming its social platforms are addictive and harm children’s mental health
- Dime heist: 4 Philadelphia men charged after millions of dimes stolen from US Mint truck
- Lil Wayne Has the Best Response to Major Wax Figure Fail
Recommendation
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
What Lori Loughlin Told John Stamos During College Admissions Scandal
Pakistani court extends protection from arrest in graft cases to former premier Nawaz Sharif
Tom Bergeron Reflects on “Betrayal” That Led to His Exit From Dancing with the Stars
How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
Appeals panel questions why ‘presidential immunity’ argument wasn’t pursued years ago in Trump case
Can a rebooted 'Frasier' still scramble our eggs?
Danny Masterson asks judge to grant Bijou Phillips custody of their daughter amid divorce