Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Teton Range and the lakes immediately below. Distressed at Jackson Hole's commercial development, John D
Rockefeller Jr surreptitiously purchased more than 55 sq miles of land to donate to the park (but retained rights to
all park concessions), but political bickering prevented the philanthropist's tax write-off until President Franklin D
Roosevelt interceded.
Rockefeller's 32,000-acre bequest finally came under NPS jurisdiction when Roosevelt declared Jackson Hole
a national monument in 1943. With post-WWII tourism booming in 1950, legislation conferred national park
status and expanded the boundaries to include most of Jackson Hole. A final piece of the puzzle slipped into place
in 2008 when the Rockefellers' private retreat, the former JY Ranch, was handed over to the park service to be-
come the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve.
Today, the Rockefeller-founded Grand Teton Lodge Company remains the park's major concessionaire.
