Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Wyoming land office: Grand Teton auction should start at $80 million
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Monday, December 4, 2023
Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments ([link removed])
The Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments formally recommended auctioning a parcel of state land inside Grand Teton National Park ([link removed]) to the highest bidder—at a starting bid that is $18 million higher than the parcel's appraised value.
The state land office recommendation would set a minimum bid of $80 million for the Kelly Parcel, despite widespread public condemnation ([link removed]) of a sale that could lead to multi-million dollar trophy homes within the national park.
Jason Crowder, deputy director of the land office, said the recommendation for a sale above the the appraised value came out of the office's duty to raise money for Wyoming schools, but that it provided thousands of pages of public comments opposed to the sale ([link removed]) to the Board of Land Commissioners, which will meet this Thursday to decide whether to move ahead with the auction.
“They have the responsibility to pull the two together,” Crowder told the Jackson Hole News & Guide ([link removed]) . “We have to give them what we see as the greatest fiduciary benefit to the beneficiaries. But they get to take those public comments as well and maybe think a little bit broader.”
The Thursday meeting is scheduled to start at 8:00 am ([link removed]) in Cheyenne and is expected to run all day. The land board is comprised of Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, along with the state auditor, treasurer, secretary of state, and school superintendent.
** Quick hits
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At COP, Biden administration finalizes rule to cut methane emissions, commits to coal phase-out
CNN ([link removed]) | Politico ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])
State officials recommend $80 million starting bid for Grand Teton parcel
Jackson Hole News & Guide ([link removed]) | Cowboy State Daily ([link removed]) | Wyoming Public Radio ([link removed])
The sticking points in the new plan for rural Arizona groundwater
Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])
Another gunky, toxic season for Utah waters
High Country News ([link removed])
The salmon crisis in the Yukon River
Washington Post ([link removed])
An Alaska Native council greenlit a gold mine—some Tribal members aren't happy
Alaska Public Media ([link removed]) | Grist ([link removed])
Ammon Bundy 'in hiding' after losing home, websites in battle with Idaho hospital
Idaho Statesman ([link removed])
Opinion: Nevada landscapes in danger again as BLM plans oil and gas lease sale
Reno Gazette Journal ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” The latest science is showing that flares are not just sources of waste, they’re also large sources of pollution because they’re just not working right. The easiest way to stop that pollution is to stop sending it to flares in the first place. It doesn’t seem logical, why are you burning off this product you can sell?”
—Jonathan Goldstein, Environmental Defense Fund, CNN ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@mypubliclands ([link removed])
Trails have always been integral to Indigenous life - often serving as routes for migration, trade, travel, connection, and communication. Many of these ancient paths are now part of the National Trails System.
Earlier this year, we partnered with several organizations to bridge the gap between trail maps and Indigenous Ancestral territories and highlight how hiking trails intersect with these lands. This project provides a mapping resource for visitors to understand the Indigenous Ancestral territories that the trails traverse.
📷 The sun rises over a hazy desert landscape covered in shrubs and cacti in the Sonoran Desert National Monument, Bureau of Land Management - Arizona; Bob Wick.
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