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The Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners, led by Governor Mark Gordon, voted Thursday to delay a decision on whether to sell 640 acres of state trust land located within Grand Teton National Park. Megan Degenfelder, one of the board members who voted to delay further action for now, recommended the state begin talks with the Interior department for a potential land exchange. The board said it will revisit a possible sale in fall 2024.
“To me the answer is really in the state entering negotiations with the federal Department of Interior to exchange other federal parcels of land within our borders for the Kelly parcel,” Degenfelder said. “The federal government has its own land that we could [use to] truly maximize value to our beneficiaries, namely, in areas with oil and gas development.”
“Governor Gordon and the Land Commissioners did the right thing today,” said Center for Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala. “A parcel this important should be open to the public and wildlife. Now the clock is ticking. It’s up to the governor and legislature to and ensure this land remains in public hands forever, as part of the national park.”
Americans to Biden administration: Protect the Arctic
A 90-day public comment period on the Interior department's proposed regulations for the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska came to a close on Thursday. An analysis by the Center for Western Priorities found that 88 percent of commenters encouraged the Bureau of Land Management to adopt the regulations as written or further limit oil and gas drilling in the Arctic. Just 12 percent of comments encouraged BLM to significantly weaken or scrap the rule.
The proposed NPR-A regulations would enhance protections for Alaska Native subsistence uses throughout the Reserve, especially within the Special Areas identified in the plan. Over 40 Indigenous communities harvest caribou, birds, and fish within the NPR-A, with many communities subsisting primarily from food harvested from the Reserve. The rule would not affect existing oil and gas operations in the Reserve.
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This is not a partisan issue. I guarantee that if you put a ballot measure on any state ballot, including Wyoming, asking voters if they should simply maximize the value by selling state lands, or take a balanced approach to keep public lands public, the public option will always win.”
