Opinion: Sell this national treasure to the National Park Service, not the highest private bidder

Pronghorn migrate through the Kelly Parcel, Wyoming.
(Photo by Savannah Rose, Writers on the Range)

A potential public auction of a coveted piece of land within Grand Teton National Park has outraged some Wyoming residents who feel the pristine 640 acres should remain a public holding. "Simply put, this small inholding, known as the 'Kelly Parcel,' should never be privatized — never. It is one of the most awe-inspiring and important pieces of open space remaining in America," writes Savannah Rose in her opinion for Writers on the Range. "Its borders include the National Elk Refuge and Bridger-Teton National Forest. Its value was appraised in 2022 at $62.4 million. However, the director of the Office of State Lands and Investment just recommended a starting bid of $80 million."

The money aside, Rose insists that privatizing the Kelly Parcel threatens wildlife that has thrived there for centuries. '"The land is a vital migration corridor for elk, moose, big horn sheep antelope, pronghorn, and mule deer traveling into and out of the national park. It also hosts 87 other 'Species of Greatest Conservation Need'. . . . And the annual, 200-mile-long migration corridor known as the Path of the Pronghorn — from Grand Teton National Park to the upper Green River Basin — passes right through the Kelly Parcel at the crux of what’s recognized as the longest mammalian migration in the contiguous United States."

"Wyomingites have been resolute in their opposition to selling the state-owned parcel. The publicity generated by the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance collected more than 2,600 comments from people opposed to an auction, and hundreds of opponents turned out at each of four public hearings in November. Many others contacted the state directly for a total of more than 10,000 people opposed to a state auction," Rose writes. 

Auctioning off the Kelly Parcel would provide $4 million a year for Wyoming public schools. But at what cost? Rose writes, "There is a better approach. Selling the parcel to the National Park Service — as Wyoming did with its other three parcels within the park — is projected to generate up to $120 million over 30 years."

State officials recently tabled the Kelly Parcel auction until 2024. "But the State Board of Land Commissioners didn't take the idea of an auction off the table," reports Billy Arnold of Jackson Hole News & Guide. "In the meantime, they will explore swapping the Kelly parcel for other federal lands in Wyoming specifically for oil and gas development."