By Billy Arnold 
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — On Thursday, Wyoming lawmakers shot down a resolution demanding that the United States government hand about 30 million acres of public land, including Grand Teton National Park, to the Equality State.

But hours later, those same lawmakers returned and decided to vote on the measure again. After one previously absent senator cast his vote and another establishment Republican changed his “nay” vote to “aye,” the 31-person Wyoming Senate revived the state’s latest attempt to acquire virtually all of the federal land within its borders. Only Yellowstone National Park would be exempt from the push.

The measure advanced by a 16-15 vote. Earlier in the day, it had failed by a 14-15-1 vote with Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, excused and Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, excused. French’s district covers the northern half of Yellowstone. Driskill’s district includes the iconic Devils Tower National Monument, which Wyoming would like to acquire.

Neither French nor Driskill explained their votes.

Sen. Mike Gierau, a Jackson Democrat, represents a district that covers the southern half of Yellowstone, all of Teton Park and thousands of acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

He voted against the resolution, painting it as misguided. It costs about $15 million a year to run the park, according to the National Park Service’s annual budget, and millions more for maintenance of the park’s hundreds of buildings, pavement and wastewater infrastructure. 

Gierau questioned whether Wyoming would want to take on that cost, especially given that fee collection is only a small part of Teton Park’s revenue. He also asked whether the state should. As it stands, Grand Teton is a huge economic driver for the state.

“It is the bedrock source of our economy,” Gierau said on the Senate floor. “And I would suffice to say at this moment, at this moment in time, it is the bedrock economic driver for this entire state.”

The resolution is not law — nor will it be. Senate Joint Resolution 2, whose formal title is a “resolution demanding equal footing,” is a statement of the Wyoming Legislature’s values. Wyoming lawmakers cannot pass a law forcing the federal government to hand over all federal lands in the state. Instead, the resolution demands that the U.S. Congress turn over the title to federal land over to Wyoming by Oct. 1. Even if the resolution survives three more readings in the Wyoming Senate, passes the Wyoming House of Representatives and is signed by Gov. Mark Gordon, its supporters don’t anticipate Congress doing anything, even with President Trump in office.

“Congress can do something,” said Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester. “Will they? No, I can flat out say they won’t.”

The resolution is borne out of a desire for Wyoming to have more control of the federal land within its borders: about 50% of the state. Having that control, advocates say, would limit restrictions on oil and gas development and be a windfall for the Equality State. Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, sponsored the resolution and estimates that state ownership would have granted Wyoming roughly $24 billion in mineral royalty income. 

After the Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management issued controversial plans for millions of acres near Rock Springs and the Powder River Basin, as well as others for managing sage grouse and limiting oil and gas development, Ide cast the resolution as a way to circumvent those issues in the future.

“We just can’t let our guard down, even though we have a new administration right now,” Ide said. “It’s going to change in the future. Our kids and our grandkids are probably going to have to deal with this again. So if we can get it close to home, I think all the better.”

Wyoming’s symbolic push comes after the Wyoming Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by Utah, and backed by Wyoming, that sought to declare the BLM’s ownership of 18.5 million acres of land in Utah as unconstitutional. It also comes after Wyoming sold the square-mile Kelly parcel in Teton County to Teton Park. 

The price tag was $100 million, but the sale angered Wyoming lawmakers like Ide, who advocated for holding onto the land or using it as a bargaining chip to acquire even more federal land under Trump.

Sen. Stacy Jones, R-Rock Springs, questioned what would happen to the Kelly parcel if Congress improbably acted in Wyoming’s favor.

“This body last year voted to sell the Kelly parcel to the federal government. A great many of you voted for that. But now, does that mean we take it back?” she asked the Senate chamber. “And I’m just wondering, are we going to change our minds every year, every other year — or are we going to stick with one path?”

Ide, in response, said Wyoming wouldn’t have to hold onto Grand Teton National Park if it was granted to the state.

“The body could determine, or the state could determine, just to cede that land to the feds,” Ide said.

Two Teton County senators split over the measure. Gierau voted against the resolution. Sen. Dan Dockstader, a Republican who represents southern Teton County and Lincoln County, voted for it.