33 acres added to Grand Tetonfrom Casper Star TribuneMOOSE, Wyo. (AP) - 9/28/01 - The National Park Service has paid $4.97 million to add 33 acres at the southwest boundary of Grand Teton National Park. The price is far below the market value of the land owned by the Resor, Hauge and Laughlin families of the Snake River Ranch, according to Grand Teton officials. A decade has passed since the last purchase of a large private inholding within the park. Thursday, Park Service Director Fran Mainella called the acquisition important for land protection. "The acreage preserves the foreground of the Teton Range for park visitors entering from the southwest and protects important wildlife habitat," she said. Praise was also voiced by Rep. Barbara Cubin and Sen. Craig Thomas, both R-Wyo. "The purchase of this area has been critical to prevent any commercial development from occurring directly adjacent to the park's southwest boundary," Cubin said. Bill Resor, a principal of Snake River Associates, said the families had wanted to transfer the land for more than 20 years. Park officials say the land will soon open to the public. They also say the acquisition will help maintain water quality in Granite Creek, a popular fishing stream and cutthroat trout habitat. The acquisition money came in part from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is filled by royalties on offshore oil and gas production. Also, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation provided a $2.14 million grant. The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the Sonoran Institute, the Land Trust Alliance and the Institute for Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming were involved as well. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]
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