Wyoming officials postpone decision on Kelly Parcel auction until next year

Dec. 7—CHEYENNE — The decision to auction off the Kelly Parcel was put on a yearlong hold when members of the Board of Land Commissioners tabled the decision during their Thursday meeting.

The Board of Land Commissioners consists of the state's top five elected officials: Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, Auditor Kristi Racines and Treasurer Curt Meier.

The Office of State Lands and Investments (OLSI) received more than 9,000 public comments during the 60-day comment period. An overwhelming majority urged state officials not to auction off the 640-acre Kelly Parcel to potential private developers and suggested selling the land back to Grand Teton National Park.

Degenfelder made a motion to table the Kelly Parcel disposal decision until the fall of 2024.

"That bare minimum of $62 million is not my idea of an acceptable rate of return," Degenfelder said, referring to the appraised value of the state trust land. "How, then, do we honor our fiduciary duty to the people of Wyoming, maximize the value, but at the same time keep it available to the public?"

The Board of Land Commissioners is constitutionally obligated to maximize revenue off state trust lands to fund education. The Kelly Parcel is the last of four state trust lands that was not acquired by the federal government through the Grand Teton National Park Land Exchange Act of 2003.

The U.S. Department of Interior acquired the three other state parcels from 2010 to 2016 through an agreement made with the Wyoming Legislature, leaving the Kelly Parcel as the last piece. Two attempts by the Legislature in 2011 and 2016 failed to get transfer the Kelly Parcel to the Department of Interior. Although not desirable, discussions of auctioning off the Kelly Parcel began in 2016, said OSLI Director Jenifer E. Scogin.

OLSI had recommended the board put the parcel up for public auction with a minimum bid of $80 million.

Degenfelder's motion to table the decision was seconded by Racines, and the board supported it unanimously.

State and local officials expressed relief over the board's decision not to move forward with an auction of the land — at least just yet. Wyoming field manager Josh Metten, with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, was thankful board members listened to Wyomingites' concerns.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is one of several hunting organizations within the state.

"Our mission is to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish. And so here in Wyoming, a lot of my work is centered around conserving migration corridors and critical habitats," Metten said.

The Kelly Parcel is a critical migration corridor for wildlife, including endangered species such as the pronghorn antelope. The conservation program is currently in the process of designating a pronghorn corridor through the Kelly Parcel.

"It's is the first federally designated migration corridor," Metten told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. "We're dealing with a pronghorn population that suffered a massive decline during the last winter due to the winter conditions and also an pneumonia outbreak."

What's next for the Kelly Parcel?

Teton County Commissioner Luther Propst said the extra year gives his county more time to work with the Board of Land Commissioners, the Legislature and the Interior Department.

"I'm delighted that the board decided not to go forward with an auction. An auction would have been a disaster," Propst said.

Officials told the WTE that lawmakers were considering a land exchange with the federal government for the Kelly Parcel. The exchange would involve another appraisal of the land, and several officials were concerned by the complexity of such a deal.

Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson, said things were complicated on the legislative side, since lawmakers have yet to reach a consensus over how to move forward with the Kelly Parcel. Some legislators want to attempt an exchange, as Degenfelder suggested, but Storer said exchanges "are very difficult."

"They're time consuming," Storer said. "I support the idea that we do it, but we also have to put a timeline on it."

The general consensus from state officials, lawmakers and municipal leaders was that an exchange was likely to be considered, but difficult to execute.

"The exchange idea, on the surface, makes sense," said Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins. "On the other hand, that path has been explored in the past, and it was not successful."

Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.