Sold: Pristine views in Grand Teton National Park for $46M

FILE - This June 24, 2010 file photo shows a view across land the state of Wyoming owns inside Grand Teton National Park. A deal between Wyoming and the Interior Department will help prevent a square mile of Grand Teton National Park from being developed by putting the property in federal hands. The $46 million sale completed Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, ends years of drama in which Wyoming officials sought to be rid of the land, for a price, while federal officials and environmentalists fretted the land could end up in private hands and potentially developed. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File) FILE - This June 24, 2010 file photo shows a view across land the state of Wyoming owns inside Grand Teton National Park. A deal between Wyoming and the Interior Department will help prevent a square mile of Grand Teton National Park from being developed by putting the property in federal hands. The $46 million sale completed Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, ends years of drama in which Wyoming officials sought to be rid of the land, for a price, while federal officials and environmentalists fretted the land could end up in private hands and potentially developed. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File)

By Associated Press December 12, 2016 3 min read

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – A $46 million deal between Wyoming and the Interior Department put a square mile of land inside Grand Teton National Park into U.S. government hands Monday, eliminating the possibility that the pristine property with breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains’ Teton Range might be developed.

The sale ended years of drama in which Wyoming officials sought to sell the land called Antelope Flats in the Jackson Hole valley while federal officials and environmentalists worried it could end up privately owned.

“The acquisition of Antelope Flats accomplishes a longstanding goal of the National Park Service by ensuring that this land will forever provide habitat for antelope, elk, moose, wolves, and grizzly bears as well as preserving the outstanding vistas of the Tetons for future visitors to enjoy,” National Park Foundation President Will Shafroth said in a statement.

Wyoming had owned the land surrounded by park lands since it became a state in 1890. The land was among hundreds of parcels statewide designated for sale to raise money for public education.

The open area of sagebrush was among a number of private and state-owned land called inholdings that never became part of Grand Teton when the park was established with its current boundaries in 1950.