JACKSON, Wyo. — On Monday, Dec. 30, the Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) Foundation announced that the Department of the Interior purchased the 640-acre Kelly Parcel from the State of Wyoming for $100 million.
The deal was inked right before it was set to expire. The official incorporation of the square mile of state school trust land into GTNP will help preserve connectivity for wildlife in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and provide funding for Wyoming’s public school system, according to the GTNP Foundation.
“We are so proud to have helped enable this incredible achievement for the American people, Grand Teton National Park and the state of Wyoming,” GTNP Foundation President Leslie Mattson said via press release. “We are in awe of the incredible generosity of hundreds of people who stepped forward to protect this essential parcel while supporting public education in Wyoming.”
According to the GTNP Foundation, the Kelly Parcel was the largest remaining piece of unprotected land within the boundaries of GTNP. The parcel, which provides critical wildlife habitat, is a key migration corridor for pronghorn, elk and mule deer, connecting national park land with the Bridger-Teton and Caribou-Targhee national forests, including the Upper Green River Valley and the Wind River, Gros Ventre and Wyoming Range mountains.
The GTNP Foundation raised $37.6 million to match $62.4 million from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund for the purchase. The $100 million from the sale will be invested into Wyoming’s Common School Permanent Fund.
“This purchase, through a combination of private philanthropy and federal funding, continues the tradition and generosity that helped establish present-day Grand Teton National Park in 1950,” the Department of the Interior said in a press release. “It carries on the vision and legacy of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Laurance S. Rockefeller and the Rockefeller family, who recognized the role of philanthropy in the permanent protection of critical lands for the public.”
A Wyoming constitutional mandate requires that school trust lands, created at statehood in 1890, must generate income for the common school trust, the GTNP Foundation wrote in its announcement. The late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas passed legislation in 2003 to authorize exchanges, sales or trades that would compensate Wyoming for the GTNP school section inholdings.
As the agreement was being hashed out over the last year, stakeholders had agreed that the sale would be contingent upon amendments to the Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP), which covers 3.6 million acres in southern Wyoming. When the RMP was approved earlier in December without amendments, the fate of the Kelly Parcel deal was up in the air. Monday’s decision brings the years-long saga to a close.
State Representative Mike Yin spoke to Buckrail about what the Kelly Parcel means for Wyoming.
“I’m excited about the win-win of continued public and wildlife access for this land that is sandwiched between the park and the national forest,” Yin said. “Having it be part of GTNP is great for our shared national legacy, and I’m glad that it is getting finalized before the new legislature can take away from all of us.”
GTNP shared its thanks to Wyoming and people all over the country for helping to preserve this land parcel.
“People from every state come to GTNP each year to enjoy the stunning landscapes and iconic wildlife protected in the park,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in a statement. “We are grateful for the support of countless stewards in the park’s local community, Wyoming and across the nation who contributed their voices leading to this incredible conservation achievement that will benefit generations to come.”
