# Want to buy part of Wyoming? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252 "2023-12-07T17:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/1 "2023-12-07T17:01:32Z")
All you need is to raise at least 80 million dollars once it comes up for auction. Though the price will likely increase. > **[Wyoming may auction off huge piece of pristine land inside Grand Teton](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wyoming-auction-off-huge-piece-pristine-land-inside-105447694)** > > Wyoming officials will decide whether to auction off a valuable and pristine piece of state land located within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/2 "2023-12-07T17:06:37Z")
If I had the money, I’d buy it and put a conservation covenant on it. And name it “The Gov. Mark Gordon Is An Asshole Park” ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/3 "2023-12-07T17:08:11Z")
Tough to fit on a t-shirt, but I approve, ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/4 "2023-12-07T21:07:49Z")
Grand Teton? You guys have some strange names for places… ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/5 "2023-12-07T21:10:52Z")
> [@FrenchDunadan](#): > > Grand Teton French(-ish) for ‘big nipple’ (or breast?). ETA: I was telling others. I _knew_ that _you_ knew 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/6 "2023-12-07T21:13:13Z")
Yeah, I know 😉 that’s just strange to have a mountain in USA with a French name, more so a sexy one. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/7 "2023-12-07T21:28:28Z")
Not even gonna ask what the _Catskills_ refer to. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/8 "2023-12-07T21:39:05Z")
> [@FrenchDunadan](#): > > Yeah, I know 😉 > that’s just strange to have a mountain in USA with a French name, more so a sexy one. I grew up in a town called Belle Fourche, in South Dakota, the capital of which is Pierre (named for Pierre Chouteau Jr, a fur trader); that whole Louisiana purchase thing means we have lots of French place names! ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/9 "2023-12-07T22:03:53Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I grew up in a town called Belle Fourche, in South Dakota The … the geographic center of the lower 48 (or very close to it)?? We have a friend _from_ there. After living in our town for a number of years, she moved back to Spearfish. No wonder you don’t complain about the WY cold 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/10 "2023-12-07T22:09:29Z")
It’s an interesting offer but I’d have to sell my 2 square inches of Billings Montana first. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/11 "2023-12-07T22:14:09Z")
$80 million for one square mile is a very steep price. I was expecting this to be something like a hundred square miles. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/12 "2023-12-07T22:21:04Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > my 2 square inches of Billings Montana I’m not sure exactly where the silos are, but if your 2 square inches is a launch button they might give you $80 million for it. ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/13 "2023-12-07T22:22:30Z")
Me too. I looked at realtor dot com for Wyoming land, and found some 640 acre parcels for well under 1% the price. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/14 "2023-12-07T22:30:38Z")
I’m happy with the parts of Michigan that I own, and I can get to them in a car. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/15 "2023-12-07T22:38:48Z")
Wait, why is Wyoming deciding this? Doesn’t the federal government own the National Park? ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/16 "2023-12-07T22:45:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why is Wyoming deciding… Without doing ANY research on this one, once upon a time the federal government set aside federal lands under the control of several western states. These lands are called State Trust Lands and are to be used specifically to raise money for things that the state needs, usually public schooling. At least that’s how it came about here in Arizona. I’m sure nobody considered the possibility that the lands would eventually end up with people who don’t have the best interests of The Public at heart. Some State Trust areas are incredibly scenic, but the State is required by law to get the most money for them, aesthetic value not withstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/17 "2023-12-07T22:54:14Z")
It’s complicated: > **[The Private Islands Inside National Parks](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/swiss-cheese-national-park/405865/)** > > Not all of the land inside America’s most iconic public places is publicly owned. There are a lot of federal lands (National Parks, Monuments, Preserves, et cetera, federally-managed National Forests, and BLM lands) that are jointly maintained with or through states or interstate compacts. This makes sense when you understand that the roads running through the are frequently county or state highways, and fire/rescue/infrastructure services provided by state or local authorities, as well as reservoirs, areas where the states claimed mineral and property rights prior to the land being designed as Federal land, and leased out rights to private individuals or corporations (which the federal government also often does with BLM land). There is an entire subfield of property law dedicated to these issues which sometimes go all the way back to claims made prior to statehood. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/18 "2023-12-08T04:51:11Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > The … the geographic center of the lower 48 (or very close to it)?? The geographic center of the whole 50; I believe the center of the lower 48 is in Kansas. (just looked, it is Lebanon, Kansas) > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > We have a friend _from_ there. After living in our town for a number of years, she moved back to Spearfish. > > No wonder you don’t complain about the WY cold Lived in Spearfish for quite a while! Got married there, actually… and divorced as well, both before I could legally drink to celebrate either event 😛 I’m definitely used to the weather around this place. It’s pretty amazing how different it is here; I’m only 100 miles away from Belle Fourche now, but there was actually WATER there, and here we have… practically none. And to make my post on-topic… I already own a very small part of Wyoming… only a quarter-acre… but it isn’t nearly as scenic as the Tetons. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-buy-part-of-wyoming/994252/19 "2023-12-08T16:52:17Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > The geographic center of the whole 50; I believe the center of the lower 48 is in Kansas. > > (just looked, it is Lebanon, Kansas) D’OH! So … I doubt we had anything to do with it, but Wyoming has hit pause: > **[Wyoming holds off on auctioning huge piece of pristine land inside Grand Teton](https://news.yahoo.com/wyoming-may-auction-off-huge-051656591.html)** > > Wyoming's governor and other top leaders decided Thursday to hold off on auctioning a big chunk of state-owned land within Grand Teton National Park, choosing instead to continue negotiations with the U.S. government on a purchase or land swap for...