The state of Wyoming has agreed to sell 640 acres of state land located within Grand Teton National Park to the Interior Department for $46 million, if the money can be raised by the end of the year/Patrick Cone

A two-pronged approach has been mounted to purchase 640 acres of land contained within two tracts of state land that lie within Grand Teton National Park from the state of Wyoming for $46 million.

On Monday officials for the state and the U.S. Interior Department announced an agreement by which the National Park Service will have until year's end to buy the two remaining state school sections, known as the Antelope Flats Parcel and the Kelly Parcel.

To support the agreement, the Grand Teton National Park Foundation and the National Park Foundation have launched a $23 million private fundraising campaign to help the Park Service purchase the Antelope Flats tract. At the same time, the Park Service is working to secure the other half of the purchase price, $23 million, from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. 

“We are committed to work together to raise private funds to preserve the beauty, grandeur, and wildlife of Grand Teton National Park,” said Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation, during an appearance in Jackson, Wyoming. “If we are successful, we can leave a lasting conservation legacy to the American people as we commemorate the centennial of the National Park Service.”

Grand Teton National Park Foundation President Leslie Mattson said that so far her organization has secured "commitments of $5 million in private dollars, or just over 20 percent of our goal toward the acquisition of the Antelope Flats parcel. Interest in this project is high. We have donors who care deeply for Grand Teton and for Wyoming, and they want to be part of the solution that greatly benefits both the park and the state school system.” 

Wyoming has a constitutional obligation to earn income from its state school lands, even those within Grand Teton National Park, leaving them vulnerable to potential commercial development. Under agreements previously reached in 2010 and 2014, the National Park Service had a deadline of January 5, 2016, to complete a land exchange with Wyoming for the Antelope Flats and Kelly parcels. Under Wyoming state law, the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners is authorized to put the parcels up for public, competitive auction if they are not conveyed by December 31, 2016.

The land acquisition is the Department of the Interior’s highest priority for the National Park Service, and the Department is working with Congress to appropriate the requested funding in Fiscal Year 2017 for the project.

In 2003, the late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas passed legislation that would authorize the NPS to acquire the lands by donation, purchase, or exchange. If completed, these agreements would fulfill the goal of Senator Thomas’ legislation and provide Wyoming with much-needed funds for public education.

"We greatly appreciate the efforts of Grand Teton National Park Foundation and the National Park Foundation. The generosity of private citizens continues the tradition of philanthropy initiated by John D. Rockefeller Jr. who acquired and donated over 33,000 acres of land to help create the park in 1950. Private contributions such as these are inspirational and help to create and maintain these special places for future generations," said Grand Teton Superintendent David Vela.