Migrations, Not Mansions: Speaking up for the iconic Kelly Parcel
KELLY PARCEL UPDATE
On December 7, 2023, the State Board of Land Commissioners unanimously tabled the Kelly Parcel auction until fall 2024. The auction is not completely off the table, but this decision provides much needed time to develop a plan and secure funding for a purchase approach that protects wildlife, migrations, public land interests, and funding for Wyoming's schools.
Ideally, the state will sell the Kelly Parcel directly to Grand Teton National Park. But this is not a forgone conclusion. Over the next year, GYC will continue working with Wyoming legislators, the National Park Service, the Office of State Lands and Investments, and NGO partners to recommend the best solution for conservation and Wyoming's schools.
We applaud the State of Wyoming, the State Office of Lands and Investments, and the State Board of Land Commissioners for their efforts to keep the Kelly Parcel off the auction block, honor Wyomingites’ visions for conservation, and support Wyoming public schools.
To stay up to date with any future opportunities to speak up for the Kelly Parcel, make sure to sign up for our emails.
It’s always a challenging decision when friends and family come to visit Jackson Hole, to which of the many incredible places do I take them to showcase this magical valley?
There’s one special place that helps make this decision easy, the Wedding Tree. Perched above the Wild and Scenic Gros Ventre River in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, the view from the Wedding Tree looks across Bridger- Teton National Forest into Grand Teton National Park with the Tetons perfectly framed and soaring into the sky. It’s iconic, stunning, and the perfect place to both get married and show off the majesty of Wyoming.
The Wedding Tree, with the Teton Range in the background. (Photo Jared Baecker/GYC)
Unfortunately, an indescribably important parcel of land smack in the middle of the view from the Wedding Tree is under imminent threat of being transformed into mega-mansions, ruining not only a spectacular view, but also important habitat for elk, bison, mule deer, and pronghorn.
In western Wyoming we have a long and proud history of working together to stop bad ideas and conserve special places for wildlife. We’ve worked together to keep oil and gas drilling out of the Cache Creek drainage and the northern Wyoming Range, stopped a water slide amusement park and a shopping mall adjacent to the National Elk Refuge, and built wildlife crossings in near Jackson, La Barge, and Pinedale. Now, we need to work together and do it again.
You’ve probably already heard about the movement to prevent the Kelly Parcel – a sweeping and scenic 640-acre parcel of land embedded in the eastern side of Grand Teton National Park, home to elk, bison, and mule deer, in the middle of the storied Path of the Pronghorn, and just below the Wedding Tree – from becoming a luxury subdivision littered with mega-mansions.
The view from the Wedding Tree with the Tetons on the horizon. If the Kelly Parcel is auctioned off to a developer, this view could soon be threaded with roads and dotted with luxury mansions. (Photo Craig Benjamin/GYC)
Currently, the Kelly Parcel is owned by the State of Wyoming, which has a mandate to generate income from the land to support our public schools. And currently, the State Board of Land Commissioners is poised to auction off this special place to the highest bidder, with a likely outcome of this parcel being sold to a real estate developer and carved into a private development for the ultra-wealthy.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Hundreds of your friends and neighbors have already spoken up and told the State Board of Land Commissioners to sell the land to Grand Teton National Park, which is a ready and willing buyer. Selling the land to Grand Teton National Park, which borders the Kelly Parcel on three sides, would conserve this vital wildlife habitat while providing crucial financial support to Wyoming schools and students for generations to come.
It’s no surprise Wyomingites are fired up and speaking their mind on the issue – in Wyoming we believe our government should ensure our public lands, water and wildlife are protected so we can pass them down to future generations.
If you live in Wyoming, we need your voice added by December 1, 2023, to the growing chorus calling for the State Board of Land Commissioners to sell the Kelly Parcel to Grand Teton National Park.
If you have already written a letter or attended a public meeting – thank you. If not, you still have time. Check out this list of upcoming public meetings to find one near you and feel encouraged to use our handy tool to write and submit your own personalized letter.
Thank you for speaking up for wildlife migrations and our Wyoming values,
— Craig Benjamin, Director of Conservation (Jackson, Wyoming)