JACKSON, Wyo. — The Teton County Board of County Commissioners is advocating for protecting public lands in Teton County, sending Wyoming Republican Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis letters requesting they exclude Teton County from new provisions in the proposed budget reconciliation package mandating the disposal of public lands.
During its June 17 meeting, the Board approved letters to each Senator, asking for Teton County to be excluded from the mandate, pointing to Montana Senator Steve Daines’ efforts to secure the exclusion of Montana from the land disposal list.
“We hope that Teton County can secure a similar exemption,” the letter states.
According to the Wilderness Society, the nonprofit behind the map that’s being widely shared on social media depicting the public lands at risk of sell off, areas on the chopping block include Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands. Language released by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 11 mandates the disposal of 2 to 3 million acres of public lands from 120 million acres of public lands across 11 western states over the next five years. States targeted for the sell-off include Wyoming, Washington, Utah, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, California, Arizona and Alaska.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced the proposal, part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” package Republicans are championing to fund the Trump Administrations economic agenda. Lee says the sell-off of these “underused” lands could promote housing development and promote economic development, yet the majority of the land is located in roadless wilderness areas.
“The development of additional luxury homes, as almost certainly dictated by our real estate market, only creates more jobs and worsens the imbalance between local jobs and local houses that our workforce can afford.”
Letter from the Teton County Commissioners to Senators Barrasso and Lummis.
Updated bill text leaked on June 14 expands the inventory of lands available to more than 255 million acres, the Wilderness Society says. According to their estimates, in Wyoming, almost 15 million acres could be nominated for sale under the broad criteria; over 5.3 million acres of Forest Service managed land, and 9.6 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.
The eligible area includes nearly the entire Wyoming Range and national forest lands surrounding the Jackson Hole valley including Bridger-Teton National Forest, Teton National Forest, and land leased by Snow King and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
“We request this exclusion based upon our firm conviction – built upon extensive experience with past and current development projects in Teton County – that disposal of public land in Teton County, as contemplated in the reconciliation bill, is much more likely to worsen our housing crisis, rather than to mitigate or address our housing shortage,” the Commissioners’ letters state. “The development of additional luxury homes, as almost certainly dictated by our real estate market, only creates more jobs and worsens the imbalance between local jobs and local houses that our workforce can afford.”
The Commissioners also pointed to the impact public land sell-offs would have on wildlife in the county, stating that these habitats are part of the foundation “of our local economic prosperity and quality of life,” and citing the Teton County Comprehensive Plan as material testimony “to the community’s dependence on the existing balance between public and private lands.”
The bill has not yet hit the Senate Floor, but opposition from House members prompted the removal of a less extensive version of public lands sell-off in the House version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The Commissioners also sent a letter to Wyoming’s House Rep. Harriet Hageman.
“Public lands belong in public hands,” Commissioner Len Carlman said on Tuesday.
“One of the good things about this Board of County Commissioners is that we have been, are, and will be, light on our feet; If there needs to be a follow-up letter in a hurry, we will write one,” Carlman said.
