Governor Gordon Expresses Disappointment in Wyoming Lands Going to Another Buyer

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon Wednesday formally withdrew the State’s bid for land owned by Occidental Petroleum. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

Governor Gordon and the members of the SLIB Board participated in the bid process to purchase land for the public and diversify Wyoming’s investments.  According to the Governor’s office, the goal was to bring the lands originally given to the Union Pacific Railroad under state control and bring in additional revenue to the state. The land for sale included roughly 1 million acres of  surface land and 4 million acres in mineral rights.

On Wednesday, Occidental Petroleum, the owner of those lands and minerals, announced that it has signed a purchase agreement with Orion Mine Finance for those land and minerals in southern Wyoming. Although not a final sale, Governor Gordon said he has formally withdrawn Wyoming’s bid.  The Governor expressed disappointment that Wyoming was not the ultimate buyer of the Union Pacific Land Grant lands and minerals, saying that they worked hard to prepare a responsible, good faith bid, which they believe would have augmented Wyoming’s investment returns, bringing in more revenue to keep taxes in Wyoming low. Gordon said that had Wyoming’s bid been accepted, the rate of return was expected to be in the range of 8 to 12 percent, depending on the assets and how quickly the economy recovers. 

The purchase also would have provided many other benefits to Wyoming citizens by making it easier to manage checkerboard lands in southwestern Wyoming, furnishing more and better public access for recreation and hunting, and giving Wyoming more tools to oversee development assuring multiple use, including grazing and development of traditional and non-traditional energy resources.