The state’s assertion that counties have no authority to impose zoning and safety codes on lessees of state-owned lands creates a “legal void” that threatens the welfare of residents and wantonly ignores local knowledge about how to integrate activities within counties, a Teton County attorney argued before the Wyoming Supreme Court on Thursday. “There’s a dilemma our [county] commissioners have to deal with,” Teton County Chief Deputy Attorney Keith Gingery said. “If there are no laws on this property, do we send our fire trucks? Do we send our sheriffs there? Who is in charge of this property?” Gingery served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015 as a Republican. The county is asking the state’s highest court to overturn a 2023 district court ruling in favor of the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners, which clashed with the county over a glamping operation and self-storage facility it permitted on a section of state-owned land near Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The state is under no legal obligation, the board contends, to force its lessees to comply with local codes or land use regulations. What are state trust lands? Upon granting statehood in 1890, the federal government bestowed some 4.2 million acres of “state trust lands” to Wyoming, which currently manages about 3.4 million acres of trust land. The Wyoming Constitution mandates that the primary use of those lands, which are scattered throughout the state, is to generate revenue to support public schools. The Office of State Lands and Investments commonly leases those lands — often referred to as “school sections” — for grazing and industrial development such as mining and oil and gas drilling. “The state’s position is that those county regulations, the land-use zoning regulations, don’t apply on state trust land, and the county lacks authority to enforce those regulations against the state or its permittees,” Wyoming Senior Assistant Attorney General Jim Peters told the bench of five justices. The attorneys faced a litany of questions from justices to test and clarify litigants’ positions, including whether the state’s authority over school trust lands amounts to “sovereign authority,” and if the state does not enforce, or allow for the enforcement of local land use and safety codes, who does? “This court has said that local zoning ordinances cannot override state law in the policy supporting it,” Peters said in response. “Neither the [Wyoming Constitution] framers nor the Legislature has expressly said that these regulations apply on state land and that they may be applied or enforced against the state.” New allies in statewide fight The oral arguments in the appeals case, which took place in the Capitol Building’s Historic Supreme Court Room, attracted about two dozen Natrona County residents — some even rented a bus to travel from Casper to Cheyenne to attend in person. The Tammah glamping resort on state land in Teton County was constructed near a wetland. (Protect Our Water Jackson Hole) Until recently, Teton County officials felt they were alone — save for support from some conservation groups and the Wyoming County Commissioners Association — in their battle with the state. But the county won a key ally when, last winter, residents at the base of Casper Mountain rallied thousands of Natrona County residents to oppose a gravel pit operation on a cluster of state-owned lands on the west side of town. The Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance, which has collected nearly 20,000 signatures on a petition against the operation, joined with a group of Teton County homeowners to file an amicus brief supporting Teton County in the case. Though many who align with the alliance never imagined they’d get involved in a dustup over glamping at the base of the Tetons, the Casper Mountain controversy drove home that the state’s stance against local authority poses a threat to residents across the entire state. “All of us are getting an education on how all the systems work here in Wyoming,” Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance Chairperson Carolyn Griffith told WyoFile on Friday afternoon after a slow, weather-challenged journey back to Casper. Though she’s proud of the level of engagement that Natrona County residents have mustered in the face of difficult-to-move state bureaucracies, Griffith admitted she couldn’t decipher which side might have made the most convincing argument for the justices this week.  “Truly it will come down to the law,” Griffith said, adding that if the case doesn’t resolve concerns among residents and counties, “Maybe that’s something that the state needs to address through the Legislature.” The alliance filed its own suit against the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners in November for failing to notify neighbors and county officials when it granted mine exploration leases on the state lands adjacent to hundreds of homes. Natrona County commissioners in September shifted zoning for the conflict area back to non-commercial mining — a move that prompted the developer, Prism Logistics, to file suit against the county. As Teton County awaits a decision from the Wyoming Supreme Court, lawmakers will consider a measure that would force the state to at least provide public notice to counties prior to approving leases on state lands. House Bill 58, “State lands-notice for mineral leases,” would also require the Board of Land Commissioners to solicit public input. “It’s not anti-mining or anything else,” HB 58 sponsor Steve Harshman, R-Casper, told WyoFile in December. “It’s just to make sure this process doesn’t fail the people, and then they’re all pitching in 20 bucks in the hat to hire a lawyer.” Back at the Supreme Court on Thursday, Gingery also tried to assuage notions that Teton County wants to assert regulations that block or inhibit traditional revenue-generating activities on state-owned lands. “We’re not talking about minerals,” Gingery said of the scope of county authorities. “We’re not talking about grazing. We’re just talking about physical development … We want the schools to get money, too, off the state trust lands. We just want the physical development to comply with our [local codes].” The post Can the state ignore local regulations? Wyoming Supreme Court will decide. appeared first on WyoFile .