At the end of 2024, the Interior Department finalized a $100 million purchase of land to add to Grand Teton National Park. The Kelly Parcel, a 640 acre property with a magnificent view of the Teton Range, was the largest inholding remaining within the park boundary.
The acquisition of the Kelly Parcel from the State of Wyoming is an addendum to the long and often tenuous story of the creation of Grand Teton National Park. Plans to protect the Tetons and Jackson Hole have changed many times over the course of three decades. In light of the recent expansion of the park, let’s take a look at the timeline of its many transformations.
The original idea: An expansion of Yellowstone
In 1917, the Secretary of the Interior asked the leadership of the National Park Service to develop a list of their most pressing policy priorities. Among their “seven urgent needs,” Stephen Mather (NPS director) and Horace Albright (his assistant), listed the protection of the Teton Range and Jackson Hole. They suggested it should be added to Yellowstone National Park.
Despite its outstanding and otherworldly scenery, Yellowstone was missing a crucial asset in the eyes of Mather and Albright. The geysers, hot springs, and herds of bison weren’t enough. As Horace Albright noted in his autobiography, adding the Teton Range would “supply Yellowstone’s greatest need, which is an uplift of glacier-bearing peaks.”
A bill to expand Yellowstone was introduced in 1917. Fearing limits that a national park would impose on their grazing permits, the extension was defeated by sheep-grazing interests. Not one to give up easily, Horace Albright traveled to Jackson Hole after becoming superintendent of Yellowstone in 1919. Somewhat naively, he hoped he could convince the locals that the imposition of national park boundaries and regulations was in their best interest.
The locals—particularly dude ranchers who made a living off rustic tourism—shouted him down. Albright left the valley tail-tucked and somewhat embarrassed, but not ready to forfeit.
Taking steps forward by gaining local support
After being laughed out of town in 1919, Horace Albright worked hard demonstrate the good will of the National Park Service to the residents of Jackson Hole. As a result of the Yellowstone expansion scheme, president Woodrow Wilson had reserved national forest lands around the Tetons. Though there was not yet a national park, the NPS was given jurisdiction over them. As a result, the NPS had the power to veto development proposed by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Reclamation.
By blocking dams and other development, Horace Albright gained significant favor in the eyes of the valley’s dude ranchers. Their livelihoods depended on maintaining the rugged wilderness character of the valley. The remoteness of Jackson Hole was precisely what attracted the clientele of the dude-ranchers: wealthy easterners.
In the summer of 1923, Albright met again with prominent dude ranchers and local leaders. The economy of the valley was suffering from crashes in the cattle industry. Together, Albright and the dude ranchers agreed that the best future for the valley and its residents was to have it set aside for tourism and recreation. Unfortunately for Albright, the group of locals was still cold to the idea of a national park and the government regulation that would follow.
To circumvent the federal government, those privy to the 1923 meeting agreed to seek a philanthropist patron for the valley. If found, this individual would be tasked with purchasing defunct properties in the valley for the sake of preservation. In 1926, Albright was able to pitch the idea to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The Standard Oil heir was already a significant benefactor of the parks, having already contributed funds to the preservation of many American landscapes like Acadia, Mesa Verde, and Yellowstone.
Through Albright’s petitions, Rockefeller became firmly committed to the preservation of Jackson Hole. He organized the Snake River Land Company to begin secretly purchasing failed ranches in the valley. Altogether, Rockefeller purchased approximately 35,000 acres of land in Jackson Hole, spending $1.4 million. The whole time, Rockefeller’s sole intention was to donate the land to the National Park Service.
Bringing the park together
While Albright, Rockefeller, and the dude ranchers of Jackson worked behind the scenes, the NPS bureaucracy was at work trying to save the Tetons. In 1928, the federal government came to an agreement with the residents of Jackson Hole. The following year, a somewhat anemic version of Grand Teton National Park was established, protecting only the eastern face of the mountain range and the glacial lakes at its feet.
The secrecy of the Snake River Land Company was intended to prevent the inflation of land prices. In 1930 it was revealed, flaring into controversy. Though their dealings were entirely above board and good-hearted, the actions of Albright and Rockefeller prompted a new wave of anti-park sentiment. Only after rumors of impropriety had been disproven (and tempers tamed) could a bill be introduced in 1934 to accept the donation of the land from Rockefeller and combine it with the national park.
Through a series of local issues, the bill failed. John D. Rockefeller was stuck holding the property and suggested that he would sell it to the highest bidder. In 1943, Franklin Delano Roosevelt boldly ignored any blows that might be dealt to his popularity and accepted the land. He combined it with national forest land to create a massive 221,000 acre Jackson Hole National Monument bordering the park.
This bold move would be decried by Wyoming locals as clear government overreach. For the next seven years, there would be an impasse between the federal government and the state of Wyoming. Finally, with tensions cooled by time, legislation was passed to combine the Jackson Hole National Monument with Grand Teton National Park.
Together they form the park we know and love today–a park that is a little more complete with the addition of the Kelly Parcel.
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