Governor Gordon Discusses Land Bid at News Conference

After four hours of public comment and discussion earlier this week, the State Loan and Investment Board approved plans to bid on Houston-based Occidental Petroleum’s holdings in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. The SLIB Board consists of the five statewide elected officials: the governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer and state superintendent of public instruction.

Governor Gordon, at a news conference Wednesday, said that if the bid is accepted, SLIB’s intention at this time is to use funds already invested through Wyoming’s Permanent Funds for the purchase.

Gordon talked about the process if the bid on the Connecticut-sized area of private land and mineral rights is successful.

The Governor said the non-binding bid is only another step towards the purchase and is not final, and that the bid authorized by the board is confidential at this time to protect the integrity of the bid process.

According to the Associated Press, Occidental’s holdings along a wide stretch of former Transcontinental Railroad route in the three states, could generate revenue from cattle and sheep grazing, oil and gas drilling and wind and solar development. Approximately 80 percent of the land for sale is mineral rights, and 20 percent both surface and mineral rights, a separation called split estate common in the West.