An interesting battle is lining up between the state of Wyoming and the Federal Park Service. You see, Wyoming owns 2 square miles in the middle of the Grand Teton National Park and they want the government to buy it or trade it for other land.
But the government rents it now for $3,000 a year and has not moved on the offer for 10 years. This is not making a cash strapped state happy. At all.
So the Governor of Wyoming, Dave Freudenthal, is telling the Feds to buy the land or we are going to sell it.
For a cool 125 million dollars.
2 square miles in the middle of the Grand Teton National Park would be the perfect size for a mighty fine resort. 3 developers are already interested in the first 24 hours of the governor making this public.
This will be an interesting battle between an out of touch park service, a cash strapped state government, and private developers sensing a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Wyoming is trying to force the Interior Department to trade land, minerals or mineral royalties for 1,366 acres it owns within the majestic park. If the foot-dragging feds don’t agree to a deal—soon—Freudenthal threatens to put a For Sale sign on the property.
Wyoming has owned the land since statehood in 1890, when the federal government set aside land in new Western states to be mined, logged or leased to raise money for public education. Wyoming kept its so-called “school sections” after Grand Teton National Park was established in 1950.
The state has tried for a decade to negotiate some kind of trade. Saying that his patience is running out, Freudenthal, a Democrat, sent an ultimatum recently to park Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott. via the Mercury News
