State completes Moskee acquisition

The State of Wyoming has completed a transaction to purchase a sizeable chunk of land within the Moskee, near the Grand Canyon area. The acquired land is estimated at around 4349 acres in size, around seven miles east of Sundance.

The now-state owned land is accessible via the Moskee road and varies from steep forested canyons to meadows populated with native grasses and forbs. An estimated 90% is forested and Cold Springs Creek runs through the property.

In 2018, the Office of State Lands and Investment (OSLI) Forestry Division was awarded $6 million via a Forest Legacy Program (FLP) grant towards the acquisition, which has been valued at $11,525,000. The use of this grant means that the BLC must administer the lands in a manner consistent with FLP objectives.

This means a multi-resource management plan must be created to protect and manage resources including soil, water, timber, wildlife, aesthetic quality and recreation. Only uses approved by FLP will be allowed, which means timber harvesting and livestock grazing are permissible, but commercial development and strip mining are not.

The acquisition was originally proposed by the Forestry Division due to the land being within one of the most productive timber areas in the state. The expectation is that the land will produce revenue through grazing and logging, according to Jessica Murkin, Real Estate Analyst for OSLI.

The initial application, approved by the State Board of Land Investments in December, 2018, suggests the 1075 AUMs available for grazing could generate $38,700 annually at a rate of $36/AUM, which had recently been received on a competitive bid for grazing land nearby. Meanwhile, State Forestry estimated there are around 10,000 merchantable board feet of timber valued at $900,000 available on the property.

It was also considered a good investment because of the federal and donated funds used for the purchase, which the preliminary analysis suggested would allow the state to receive $12,965,000 worth of property for between $1.04 and $5.4 million.

Meanwhile, the proposal claimed that the acquisition would “permanently protect…scenic canyon lands comprising a rich assemblage of diverse habitats adjacent to Black Hills National Forest”.

On April 4, 2019, the board authorized the director of the Office of State Lands and Investments to enter into an option to purchase the property. A detailed analysis had been prepared by November and the acquisition went before the Board of Land Commissioners on February 6 for a final decision.