Letter Urges Interior to Complete Land Sale

All three members of Wyoming’s Washington delegation have signed a letter urging Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to find a way to keep the Interior Department’s commitment to Wyoming to purchase state inholdings in Grand Teton National Park.  The delegation’s letter acknowledges that the Interior Department has moved forward with the purchase of a small parcel of subsurface mineral rights and the National Park Service has set aside $5-million in fiscal year 2011 money to help purchase the second parcel of three involved in the agreement.  However, money from this fiscal year is still needed to complete the purchase of that second tract.  The letter warns Salazar that the legislation authorizing the agreement sunsets at the end of 2015. Last August, Salazar told reporters that the funds for the purchase are to come out of the Land and Water Conservation Fund which has been significantly cut by the current congress.