Wyoming is one step closer to adding a major wrinkle to the Interior Department’s ongoing aspiration to purchase a state-owned parcel inside Grand Teton National Park.
The state Legislature on Friday approved a $10.6 billion biennial spending bill that includes an amendment directing the governor to reject the sale of the so-called Kelly Parcel to the federal government if the Bureau of Land Management approves its land-use plan for southwest Wyoming. That BLM plan has been criticized by state officials for adding conservation designations across 1.6 million acres.
The amendment to the state budget bill, which the state House approved last month, now goes to Republican Gov. Mark Gordon for his signature.
The Wyoming governor has the power of line-item veto, meaning Gordon could remove the amendment from the bill before signing it into law.
