JACKSON (WNE) — Grand Teton National Park is 35 acres larger after the park purchased a parcel just north of Teton Village.

It’s the last of six parcels that the park has purchased from the Resor family near the Granite Canyon entrance. In all, the park has purchased the tracts over about 25 years. 

Over that time, more than 200 acres have been transferred from the family into public ownership. That land is now permanently conserved.

Members of the Resor family, park officials, Gov. Mark Gordon, state lawmakers, conservation advocates, Teton County commissioners and Jackson town councilors gathered July 15 to celebrate the acquisition.

The Conservation Fund, an organization dedicated to buying and conserving land, served as an intermediary on the sale and hosted the event.

“Here we are sitting in this beautiful place that millions of visitors will be able to enjoy for years to come,” Turner Resor said.

The park paid $10,995,000 for the land, according to a warranty deed filed with Teton County. The park used Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars to fund the purchase, park spokesperson Emily Davis said. That’s money from royalties from federal offshore oil and gas leases. The land officially changed hands March 27.

The parcels are east of Saratoga Bowl at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and north-northwest of the Snake River Ranch’s existing ranch lands. The Resors are one of the families that own the Snake River Ranch. The parcel includes prime wildlife habitat and has unobstructed views of the Teton range to the north. 

“The threat to this parcel could be considered extreme given its location and its topography,” said the Conservation Fund’s Wyoming State Director Dan Schlager. “Future generations, people we will never meet, will experience this landscape the same as we are now, because of the decisions the Snake River Ranch families made.”

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