Last December, the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments recommended the Kelly Parcel adjacent to Grand Teton National Park be auctioned off with a minimum bid of $80 million. Friday, it upped the ante and is now recommending the state sell the pristine, and controversial, 640-acre parcel of land directly to Grand Teton National Park for $100 million.
An extended saga about what to do with the Kelly Parcel may soon be coming to a close more than 20 years after it began when the State Board of Land Commissioners, made up of Wyoming’s top five elected officials, will consider an agreement to transfer the Kelly Parcel to Grand Teton National Park when they meet Thursday.
The notice was quietly announced in an agenda posted for a special meeting of the board at the Wyoming Capitol on Friday.
The OSLI is recommending the land commissioners sell the Kelly Parcel to the park for $100 million. OSLI believes the state can get much more revenue from the sale of the lands and future investment of the money than it is now from leasing it for livestock and recreational purposes.
“Disposing of the Kelly Parcel looks to provide comparatively greater and more consistent returns than what is realized by continuing to hold the parcel and allow it to appreciate in value,” the OSLI report reads. “Thus, disposal of the Kelly Parcel appears to reasonably meet the beneficiaries’ short and long-term needs.”
The land commissioners are made up by Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, State Treasurer Curt Meier and State Auditor Kristi Racines.
Rob Wallace, the former Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, has been a vocal advocate for keeping the Kelly Parcel public. He told Cowboy State Daily that the $100 million proposal is a “great deal.”
“I commend the governor, the land board and the Legislature for taking up this proposal,” he said. “It’s a great deal for kids, wildlife and one of the most iconic pieces of land in the country in Grand Teton National Park.”
What's The Kelly Parcel?
The Kelly Parcel is a coveted 640 acres of state land in Teton County within Grand Teton National Park that had been recommended for public auction at a starting bid of $80 million by the Office of State Lands and Investments in 2023. This proposal drew large public concerns and was generally opposed by most.
Later that year, the land commissioners voted to delay taking any action on the Kelly Parcel until late 2024 to explore possible exchange options for the parcel and to work with the Department of Interior about a possible trade for mineral rights in other parts of Wyoming.
A similar consideration happened between the board and federal government in 2014.
The Wyoming Constitution directs the Board of Land Commissioners to generate a reasonable income from state trust lands to support Wyoming public schools. However, because the Kelly Parcel is within the exterior boundaries of Grand Teton, OSLI has determined the board is not able to realize the full potential economic value of the acreage.
In a 2010 agreement, the board and U.S. Department of the Interior entered into an agreement that the federal government would buy the Kelly Parcel for $46 million on or before Jan. 5, 2015. This agreement eventually fell apart for the Kelly Parcel, but was used for a few transfers of other Wyoming trust lands.
A 2022 appraisal of the parcel paid for by the Grand Teton National Park Foundation valued parcel at $97,539.06 per acre, for a total of $62.4 million.
As part of the sale, Wallace said the federal government will still only pay $62.4 million while the remaining $37.6 million will be paid by the Grand Teton National Park Foundation and other sources of private philanthropy.
The Kelly Parcel is 640 acres of pristine land that borders Grand Teton National Park. (Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
The Kelly parcel is 640 pristine acres of public land next to Grand Teton National Park. (Photo Courtesy Liz Storer) 
Members and supporters of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance rally against the potential public auction of the Kelly parcel in Grand Teton National Park in this 2023 file photo. (Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance) 
At a Novembe 2023 meeting, Jenifer Scoggin, director of the Office of State Lands and Investments, listens to the public comment of Erin Welty of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Welty was the first speaker of the public comment period, setting the tone of universal opposition to auctioning off the Kelly Parcel. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
Chip Jenkins, superintendent of Grand Teton National Park, testifies to the State Board of Land Commissioners about the Kelly Parcel in this 2023 file photo. (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily)
Legislature Weighs In
As a result of this year’s legislative session, there is a stipulation that was built into the biennial budget that directs the board to sell the Kelly Parcel for no less than $100 million directly to the federal government.
The money from the sale would be placed in the state's Common School Permanent Land Fund. The $100 million would generate about $6.4 million a year in income, far more than the $2,800 in annual leasing revenue it generates. This would provide the state a return of $192 million over 30 years at a 6.4% rate of return.
“Disposal of the Kelly Parcel appears to substantially increase funds available for distribution to the State’s school districts when compared to revenues currently realized by existing and potential uses,” says the OSLI report.
An amendment passed by state Rep. Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs, also ties the fate of the Kelly Parcel with a controversial BLM resource management plan (RMP) for the Rock Springs area, in that the governor shall make a determination on selling the Kelly Parcel to Grand Teton National Park based on whether the BLM moves forward with its highly contested and agency-preferred Alternative B proposal with respect to rights of way on certain sections of the plan.
Stith told Cowboy State Daily this part of the stipulation has been satisfied. The original Alternative B proposed that 60% of the lands in the RMP be prohibited from mineral development from the current 15%. The BLM has now shifted that number to 30%.
The Legislature also said the sale of the Kelly Parcel may be divided into multiple transactions, provided that the sale is completed entirely before transfer of title to the Kelly Parcel is made. The board is also allowed to accept funds from another entity on behalf of the federal government, provided that the sale and conveyance of the land is only to the government.
The conditions of the sale also require that the Kelly Parcel be leased for livestock grazing and be available for public hunting in perpetuity.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
