Wyoming lawmakers have agreed to a $100million deal to turn over a parcel of land within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park to the federal government – protecting it from being turned into luxury condos.
The ‘Kelly’ parcel had been the subject of negotiations for years as one of the last remaining areas established before the national park was founded in 1929, according to the New York Times.
Conservationists hoped to permanently secure the land, which has sweeping views of the Teton Range, while state lawmakers wanted to sell the one square mile property in an auction – potentially to a luxury home developer.
But as part of an agreement finalized on Monday, the nonprofit Grand Teton National Park Foundation, was able to raise about one-third of the $100million needed to secure the land.
The remainder of the funds came from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The money will now be used to support education throughout the state.
Wyoming lawmakers have agreed to a $100million deal to turn over a parcel of land within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park to the federal government
Conservationists have hoped to permanently secure the land, which has sweeping views of the Teton Range, as state lawmakers planned to sell one square mile property in an auction – potentially to a luxury home developer
‘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,’ Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
The deal came together following high-stakes negotiations, as the Park Foundation feared donors would drop their funding if there were further delays.
A group of conservative lawmakers, who are gaining power in the State Legislature, also signaled a desire to break the deal during the legislative session that starts in January.
But ultimately, Wyoming lawmakers made an agreement to save the land if the federal government eased restrictions for development, including oil and gas drilling, on other federal lands operated by the Bureau of Land Management.
Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, then announced last week that the federal government met the conditions for the agreement, but said he hoped to alter those land-management plans with the incoming Trump administration.
Wyoming lawmakers made an agreement to save the land if the federal government eased restrictions for development, including oil and gas drilling, on other federal lands operated by the Bureau of Land Management
Grand Teton is one of the most popular national parks, drawing more than 3million people each year.
Leslie Mattson, the president of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, said Monday that the preservation of the Kelly parcel was ‘truly priceless.’
She noted that saving the land is important to preserve the wildlife habitat, saying that developing luxury real estate condos would have disrupted animal migration in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – which is one of Earth’s few remaining temperate ecosystems.
‘It could have been horrific for the wildlife,’ Mattson said.
