SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Moose, elk and pronghorn antelope roam an unspoiled expanse of state-owned land in Wyoming known as the Kelly Parcel. There is a proposal to fold that land into the Grand Teton National Park next door, but it has become something of a bargaining chip for state leaders who are asking for money and a few other things. And unless they are satisfied, it could wind up in the hands of developers. Wyoming Public Radio's Chris Clements saddled up for a tour of what's at stake.
CHRIS CLEMENTS, BYLINE: Under a chrome-colored sky ribboned by rain clouds, local outfitter, Jake Hutton, leads a horseback tour of the Kelly Parcel, telling stories all the while.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRUNCHING)
JAKE HUTTON: I got charged by a grizzly bear right here last spring - woo. And then she came barreling out of the trees, and bluff charged for a second, stopped at 50 yards, stood up and growled and then made up her mind and took off right off for me again.
CLEMENTS: He outran the bear on his horse. Luckily, he's still alive to take me on a horseback tour.
As we set off down the trail, we're surrounded by sagebrush, butterflies, birds. My horse is named Bud.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORSE SNORTING)
CLEMENTS: The sagebrush sea stretched out before us is broken up only by shimmering aspen groves. We see the occasional moose, a reminder that this is a critical migration route for them and for elk and pronghorn. Lupine, larkspur and wild roses simmer underhoof in the humid late afternoon heat.
(SOUNDBITE OF HOOFSTEPS)
CLEMENTS: But here's the dilemma. Wyoming, like many Western states, is constitutionally obligated to raise money from public lands. In Wyoming, it's used mostly for schools. The revenue can come through leasing land for grazing, for recreation or by selling it off. And that's what Wyoming commissioners considered last year for the Kelly Parcel, which is attractive land for developers. That prompted opposition from thousands of Wyomingites, who sent letters and crowded into public hearings.
LESLIE MATTSON: Over 10,000 folks across Wyoming wrote letters.
CLEMENTS: That's Leslie Mattson, the president of Grand Teton National Park Foundation, a fundraising arm of the park.
MATTSON: To have folks outside of Teton County in Cody, in Casper and to show up at these public meetings and really say, make sure it gets to the park service. My point of view, that was incredibly meaningful for us to know that folks across the state value this piece. And that was a real motivator for us.
CLEMENTS: After the uproar, the legislature passed a bill allowing two years for the federal government to buy the land for $100 million and make it part of the park. Her foundation will have to come up with nearly 38 million. The federal government will kick in the rest.
MATTSON: This is a heavy lift for us to raise $38 million, basically from early winter until hopefully sometime during calendar '24, would be our hope.
CLEMENTS: It's the largest figure the foundation has ever had to raise. And while Mattson says that she and the foundation are cautiously optimistic they'll find the funds in time, the nail-biting isn't nearly over.
MATTSON: People say, well, congratulations, you got it done. I'm like, no, we didn't get it done yet.
CLEMENTS: That's because there are several other obstacles. For one, there's a deep-seated distrust of the federal government in the Cowboy State.
GREG CAWLEY: It's a fairly common problem throughout the West wherever there's federal land.
CLEMENTS: That's Greg Cawley, a professor who studies environmental politics at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He says a state's political atmosphere comes into play - especially in a solidly red state like Wyoming - in cases like the Kelly Parcel, where state lands run up against federal lands.
CAWLEY: Just talking about how the federal government is interfering with our lives in the abstract doesn't get anywhere. But when it comes to something like land policy, there's a certain kind of tangibility to it.
CLEMENTS: And there are things the state wants besides money. In the bill passed by the legislature, there's a line tying the fate of the deal for the Kelly Parcel to something else lawmakers wanted - more access to an area in the southwest corner of the state owned by the federal government.
The Federal Bureau of Land Management, under the Biden administration, wants to conserve it. But Wyoming leaders want it open for natural resource extraction and grazing. Eventually, any deal would go before the state's board of land commissioners for approval. And some of its members still want more in return.
MEGAN DEGENFELDER: We cannot allow the federal government to get a sweetheart deal on the backs of Wyoming students, which these state lands fund.
CLEMENTS: That's Megan Degenfelder, Wyoming's superintendent of public instruction and one of five members on the board. She wants the state to get access to oil and gas resources on federal lands in yet another part of Wyoming. Degenfelder knows that that could jeopardize the Kelly Parcel deal.
DEGENFELDER: That's too bad. I mean, we have to do what's best for Wyoming. I will always, always do what's best for Wyoming, rather than the federal government.
CLEMENTS: Of course, if any of these complications block the sale to the national park, the parcel could wind up right back where this all began, with the board putting it up for auction. It would be desirable land for homes and private development. But that would...
JARED BAECKER: Absolutely fragment and hinder some of the greatest migrations of hoofed mammals in the lower 48 states.
CLEMENTS: That's Jared Baecker at the conservation nonprofit Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and others point to the unique geography of the parcel and the mountains surrounding it.
BAECKER: Physically, the landscape is a bottleneck. It's a choke point between two mountain branches. It also serves as a migration path.
(SOUNDBITE OF HOOFSTEPS)
CLEMENTS: Back on our horseback ride through the Kelly Parcel, the sun sets behind the Tetons, which jut up from the earth like the teeth of some ancient beast. Outfitter Jake Hutton stops the group to take a moment to look at the mountains.
HUTTON: And I'm pretty convinced this is the best view in Wyoming right here.
CLEMENTS: He could go out of business if this land is sold to the national park, which might not let his private tours continue. He'd prefer things stay as they are, but, again, Wyoming needs to make money off this land. And Hutton says he'd be outraged if it was sold to developers.
HUTTON: And you look around, like, what is wild sage worth, or what is all these wild animals having somewhere to roam around worth, or what's it worth to go to walk your dog in an open space?
CLEMENTS: Grand Teton National Park Foundation has a little less than two years to raise the money.
For NPR News, I'm Chris Clements in Teton County, Wyo.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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