Guest Column: How Much Federal Land Is Too Much?
Rep. Harriet Hageman writes, “Although there are certain individuals who seem hell-bent on selling this invaluable property (Kelly Parcel) to the National Park Service for $100 million dollars, it is obvious by every metric that its value is significantly higher. It is also apparent that the NPS itself believes this parcel is worth substantially more than $100 million.”
Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman
Cowboy State Daily
For our federal government, and regardless of the issue, “the sky’s the limit.” Applying this adage to ownership of real property “out west” is well-known, which is why I have introduced the No Net Gain in Federal Lands Act of 2024.
My bill will prevent the USDA and DOI from increasing the number of acres under their jurisdiction in any fiscal year. Now, if either of these agencies want to acquire additional lands, they can still do so, but they must relinquish a similar amount or value of acreage to the particular state at hand. The federal government already owns 640 million acres, and it is time to push back against the ever-expanding authority of federal land agencies.
I recently signed onto an amicus brief supporting Utah’s Petition to the US Supreme Court to return unappropriated lands to the state. Governor Gordon and members of the Wyoming legislature have signed on to similar briefs. We must address the issue of federal land ownership, particularly in the west, and I commend Attorney General Reyes for challenging the federal government’s holding of 18 million acres of unappropriated BLM land—which doesn’t include national parks, forests, monuments or tribal lands. The outcome of this case could be significant for Wyoming and all western states, including in our quest to rebalance our relationship with Washington, DC.
The federal government owns over 48% of Wyoming’s surface estate, and an even greater 65% of underlying mineral rights. Federal land ownership in Teton County is far worse, with only 3% being privately held, which is one of the reasons that housing costs are so high. Federal ownership of this magnitude wreaks havoc on affordable housing, the cost of providing services, and property taxes for county citizens.
There is, however, a solution at hand, one that could produce long-term revenue for the benefit of all of Wyoming, while also reducing the reach and burden of federal regulators.
The Kelly Parcel, which is comprised of 640 acres of land located within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park, provides that opportunity.
Although there are certain individuals who seem hell-bent on selling this invaluable property to the National Park Service (NPS) for $100 million dollars, it is obvious by every metric that its value is significantly higher.
It is also apparent that the NPS itself believes this parcel is worth substantially more than $100 million.
It is thus time for the State to leverage the value of this property for the best interests of our citizens, which I believe involves exchanging it for other federal lands within the State, most likely BLM lands in the Powder River Basin (PRB). If, however, DOI, the umbrella agency encompassing both the NPS and the BLM, does not want to engage in such discussions, the State must explore selling the Kelly Parcel at fair market value.
Why am I willing to explore and discuss alternative ownership of the Kelly Parcel? It is quite simple: in addition to revenue concerns associated with an outsized federal footprint, DOI has been increasingly and actively working to restrict access to and use of BLM lands in southwestern Wyoming and to block all coal mining in the all-important PRB in northeastern and central Wyoming.
