House Bill 55 may go down as one of the worst land ideas Wyoming has seen since someone thought selling mineral rights for lunch money was a good deal.
Sponsored by Rep. Jacob Wasserburger (R-Cheyenne), HB 55 would allow the “homesteading” of state lands for $1 per acre. Up to 200,000 acres of public land could be put on the auction block under the banner of “housing.”
While the bill is characterized as a public housing initiative, the truth of the matter is it is another 2026 boondoggle to get lands into the hands of the wealthy.
In reality, it is a land rush masquerading as affordability.
Under the bill, any U.S. citizen domiciled in Wyoming for 12 months can buy up to 25 acres for $25. Sounds great, until you read the fine print.
The land can only be used for a single-family residence. It can never be subdivided. To get clear title within 20 years, the buyer must build a “single-family dwelling” and then “occupy” it as a “primary residence” for five years.
Those three critical terms—single-family dwelling, occupy, and primary residence—are undefined.
Is a $1,000 yurt a dwelling? Does “occupy” mean full-time living, or just getting mail there? Is a primary residence where you actually live, or where you register to vote?
The sloppy language of the bill invites gaming, not good-faith homesteading.
Miss a requirement and the land automatically reverts to the state. You lose everything except your dollar per acre.
The state keeps your house as “consequential damages.” That’s not homesteading; that’s roulette.
The bill requires the state to create 10 to 20 “homestead clusters,” each with 300 to 1,000 lots. At four people per household, that’s 1,200 to 4,000 residents per cluster.
Drop that kind of growth on 20 small Wyoming communities and watch schools, roads, emergency services, and county budgets buckle, especially after recent tax cuts hollowed out local revenue.
Worse, no commercial uses are allowed. No schools. No parks. No churches. No restaurants. No convenience stores. Just isolated housing pods with no services, something no professional developer would ever design because it doesn’t work.
The infrastructure plan? There isn’t one. The state must create access easements, roads, and “minor improvements” (undefined). Utilities aren’t required to reach the lot line, but owners must still comply with all county and municipal codes. That $1-an-acre land comes loaded with hidden costs.
Typically, with developments this large, a professional developer creates a plan. In the plan, and in compliance with local regulations, the development allows things necessary to support subdivisions like schools, parks, fire stations, restaurants and retail stores.
The developer is responsible for a cogent plan for water, sewer, electricity and other utilities to be provided for the residents. With this bill, all of the infrastructure is an unregulated, undefined free for all.
And here’s the fatal flaw: banks won’t finance this. No lender will write a mortgage on a house that can revert to the state if someone missteps. That means this bill only works for people who can self-finance construction, you know, wealthy buyers.
So once again, public lands — along with hunting, fishing, and outdoor access — are being sacrificed, not to solve a housing crisis, but to create a speculative opportunity for those who already have means.
Wyoming deserves free-market housing solutions grounded in reality, planning, and fairness. Not government welfare for the rich.
We deserve better.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 to 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
