• Sale of 640-acre school trust land depends on whether final 3.6M-acre federal Rock Springs land plan meets Legislature’s terms.

 

By Angus M. Thuermer Jr., WyoFile.com

Gov. Mark Gordon has signed an agreement to sell the 640-acre Kelly Parcel school section in Grand Teton National Park to the park for $100 million, his spokesman said Monday.

The agreement still requires the governor to formally determine that the federal government’s plan for 3.6 million public acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management meets two specific state terms.

The final plan appears to meet those conditions set by the Wyoming Legislature, according to reporting by the Jackson Hole News&Guide, but the BLM still has to finalize the environmental study with a “record of decision.” Gordon will wait for that step before deciding himself whether the legislative language is satisfied.

“The governor signed the sales agreement,” spokesman Michael Pearlman said Monday. However, he’s “not going to certify [it] until the [BLM] Record of Decision is signed.”

Meantime, the BLM on Nov. 18 responded to Gordon’s last criticisms of the plan — called a consistency review — without yielding to his proposed changes. The response to Gordon clears the way for the agency to finalize the record of decision.

Gordon intends to appeal the BLM’s response to BLM head Tracy Stone-Manning by Dec. 18, an appeal that must be resolved before the record of decision is signed, Pearlman said.

“That appeal is being prepared,” Pearlman said. “We are going to be appealing.”

The recent developments create an unusual confluence of events. It appears the BLM can meet the Legislature’s terms, that the state’s Kelly Parcel can be sold to Grand Teton and that Wyoming will appeal the BLM response — all at the same time.

 

Conservation balance

The BLM plan seeks a balance between conservation, industrial development, grazing and recreation, the BLM and its supporters contend. But residents of Rock Springs, Sweetwater County and the surrounding region have criticized the BLM for threatening their livelihoods by choking off access to parts of the expansive country between South Pass and the Union Pacific railroad.

Gordon’s consistency review questioned the extent of the BLM’s proposed conservation efforts, saying they were unnecessary, didn’t align with county land management plans and lacked meaningful engagement with area residents and governments, among other things.

Signing the sales agreement marks a step toward earning money for Wyoming education and several state institutions while ensuring the wildlife-rich and scenic Kelly Parcel will be preserved. State legislators had debated auctioning the land for development but ultimately OK’d the $100 million price — with conditions.

That deal was outlined in Wyoming’s 2024 budget law. The State Board of Land Commissioners last month approved the sales agreement with a 3-2 vote, leaving only the governor’s signature and his pending decision on the conditions. Gordon signed the agreement last week, Pearlman said.

The Legislature’s conditions called for relaxing the BLM’s proposed conservation restrictions in two arenas. One restriction proposed to limit oil and gas leasing; the other would have constrained rights of way that area residents said would have curtailed their ability to manage livestock and pursue other activities.

“Closing cannot occur until the Governor determines that the Record of Decision for the BLM’s [Rock Springs Resource Management Plan] does not select Alternative B[’s]” provisions restricting oil and gas leasing and rights of way, the sales agreement states.

“If the Governor is not able to make this determination after the Record of Decision,” the sales agreement reads, “[the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments] shall make notice to the [U.S.] Department [of Interior] of such non-determination, and this Agreement shall automatically terminate and the Parties shall have no further obligation to one another under this Agreement.”

The mile-square section Kelly Parcel is surrounded on three sides by Grand Teton National Park and is highly valued for its scenic and wildlife qualities. It was appraised at $62.4 million in 2022.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has secured $62.4 million via the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Grand Teton National Park Foundation has pledged the $37.6 million balance.

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