Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel announced today a 354-acre land swap that will help protect the route that one of the Nation's largest elk herds uses to migrate from the Wyoming high country to .winter habitat on the National Elk Refuge at Jackson, Wyoming.
The trade was worked out among the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Wendell Wilson family, owners of the Teton Valley Ranch properties at Kelly, Wyoming, north of Jackson.
"This exchange of public lands for private property is an example of how the federal government can accomplish its wildlife objectives without always resorting to costly land purchases," Hodel said. "Through a creative swap, we've shown there are other avenues to incorporate valuable wildlife habitat into the National Wildlife Refuge System.
