May 22, 2024
Jackson Hole News & Guide
Corner crossing. Think about this landscape: 8.3 million acres in 11 Western states, including more than 1 million in Wyoming. Those two simple words have that scale and magnitude of legal impact. They are in dispute in litigation now pending in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. In my opinion this is the most important case over land use and private property rights versus public access in a century.
Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty is pleased to announce that Steve Duerr has joined our team of trusted real estate advisors, bringing with him 35 years of real estate experience in Jackson Hole. Duerr is licensed in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho and is an experienced farm and ranch real estate specialist, while also closing many significant residential and commercial transactions.
In 2020, the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust, a statewide agricultural land conservation organization, invited Duerr to serve on their board of directors. Prior board appointments include positions with the Teton Board of Realtors® and Teton County Planning Commission. Duerr’s dedication to local organizations has extended to service as the Executive Director for the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce and for The Murie Center within Grand Teton National Park.
The Chamber of Commerce honored Duerr with the prestigious Power of Place trophy for his decades of dedication, working in Teton County to strike the right balance between commerce and conservation. This was exemplified by his work to successfully rename the North Park at the Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center to The Murie Family Park, in honor of Mardy and Olaus Murie. The renaming recognized their leadership legacy in founding the Wilderness Society, passing the Wilderness Act, and creating the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Duerr has practiced law for 42 years and is a member of the bar in Wyoming and in his former home state of Minnesota. He is serving in his 33rd year as General Counsel for Lower Valley Energy, the member-owned regional energy cooperative. He previously served as General Counsel for Paul McCollister, the founder of the Jackson Hole Ski Corp., and as Senior Vice President for a regional bank.
Professionally, Duerr has been frequently recognized as a top-producing agent by annual sales volume. A selection of his notable recent farm and ranch transactions includes:
Dodge Ranch | Medicine Bow, WY | Listed for $23M
VandeWater Ranch | Wilson, WY | Listed for $56M
Trails End Ranch | Wilson WY | Listed for $6.6M
Beaver Creek Ranch | Daniel, WY | Listed for $28M
Bear River Ranch | Georgetown, ID | Listed for $6M
Thunder River Ranch | Laramie, WY | Listed for $22.5M
Heart K Ranch | Livingston, MT | Listed for $32M
Duerr attributes his ranch success in part to living close to the land on a big cow-calf ranch near Eureka, Nevada and on his former horse ranch near Cora, Wyoming. Also, while working for a large regional law firm, he has used his tax law degree to help farm and ranch clients with business, tax, estate, family succession and conservation easement planning. He has just completed the rigorous course work to become an Accredited Land Consultant (“ALC”) as designated by the Realtors® Land Institute.
Duerr has climbed the highest peaks in most of the states of the Northern Rockies. Also, horses and rodeo have been a passion of his family for decades. Steve and his wife Emy can often be found traveling from their home in Buffalo Valley to be with their seven grown children and eight grandchildren.
Letter to the editor. By Steve Duerr
Dear fellow Wyoming Patriot & Member of the Legislature: Subject: Wyoming Legislature – 2021 – Convention of States Initiative
I hope to see you in Cheyenne during the 2021 legislative session in March. I will be calling you to discuss this email and to seek your support.
You may know that I have been a volunteer for the Convention of States initiative in Wyoming since 2014.
I’ve been a lawyer since 1980 working in NW Wyoming for about 36 years. I have traveled to Cheyenne to advocate for COS, in what will be my 4th legislative session: 2015, 17, 19 and now 2021.
I will not give up because I’m a grandpa and father of seven and I fear for my family.
I strongly believe that the remedy for Federal abuse our Founders created in Article V of the US Constitution, is the only remedy big enough to fix our current Constitutional Crisis.
The Presidential election, the Georgia Senate elections, the tragedy at the US Capitol, make it clear to me that We The People must use Article V to convene a convention of the states, for the purpose of considering amendments to the Constitution, that will increase self-governance and reclaim our Constitutional Republic. I summarize the current state of affairs for the national COS movement:
Presently, 15 of the required 34 states have, by a Resolution of the legislature, approved the uniform petition to Congress to call for a Convention of the States. COS Action was formed in 2014, based in Texas, Mark Meckler is the President (he was a founder of the Tea Party movement).
The COS uniform petition language for states to support by a Joint Resolution includes 3 issues:
1. Fiscal spending restraint
2. Reduce the size, power & jurisdiction of the federal government
3. Term limits for some federal officials
The COS petition and related state Resolution are perceived as conservative public policy. In that context, in 2017, the Wyoming Legislature did approve support for the balanced budget amendment initiative (BBA); conservative public policy.
Some WY legislators perceive that the COS petition issue 1, fiscal restraints, was accomplished by support for the BBA. But, the BBA does not go far enough to constrain the Federal Government.
In the Wyoming Legislature, in my opinion, the primary reason the petition has not succeeded is the fear of a so-called “runaway convention.”
There is no historic or legal precedent for a runaway convention. Each state shall have one vote at the COS, regardless of the population of the state. Attempts to discuss any matters outside the three described issues, shall be ruled inadmissible.
The most important safeguard is the extremely high bar for acceptance of any proposed amendments, in that ¾ or 38 states must ratify proposed amendments.
Therefore, it is virtually politically impossible for any amendments to be adopted that do not have overwhelming support of the American people.
As a practical matter, especially given that the vast majority of State power is in the Heartland Red States or the “fly-over states,” there are far more checks on a possible runaway convention, then presently in place, on our runaway Congress.
NOW, in these perilous political times, We the People have the power to take back our government and return power to the States.
It is critical to know that the Article V remedy was created by the Founders for precisely this time in our Nation’s history, when the Federal Government is the oppressor of the people. It’s time for action!
Full text of Article V of the US Constitution: “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter,
Note: Steve Duerr, a COS Action volunteer since 2014, Attorney at Law, 307.699.4920 Cellemail:steveduerr08@gmail.com, PO Box 11210 Jackson Hole, WY 83002 www.steveduerr.com
By Tim Craig
Photos by Ryan Dorgan
After working all day building multimillion-dollar lodges for wealthy retirees and second-home owners, it was never that easy for construction worker Milton Powell to return home to his 32-foot trailer.
But for more than two decades, Powell managed to enjoy his piece of paradise at the Hoback RV Park in Wyoming’s Teton County, which is made up of ski towns and national parkland.
REAL Trends has been a trusted source of news, analysis, and information on the residential brokerage industry since 1987. They are a privately held publishing, consulting and communications company based in Colorado, and an industry expert when it comes to real estate.
Every year The Wall Street Journal advertises the REAL trends top producers in the country, it’s with honor that Jackson Hole Real Estate Associates not only showed up on this list once, but have representation in four categories including six agents and/or teams. We are proud to hold a place among the top 1% of agencies nationwide.
Summer 2020
The 51st Annual Awards Celebration presented by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce was held on Friday, October 28 at Spring Creek Ranch. Awards were presented to Steve Duerr – Power of Place, Heather Carleton – Citizen of the Year, Snow King Mountain Resort – Business of the Year, Local Restaurant and Bar – Green-to-Green, and Chase & Cody Lockhart – Rising Stars. Find more information about the awardees below.
Director of Special Events Maureen Murphy commented, “The Annual Awards Celebration is one of the Chamber’s favorite traditions. We receive nominations from around the community written by people who wish to recognize the work of their friends and neighbors. It’s an honor to celebrate achievements that add to the strong community spirit of Jackson Hole.”
Congratulations to the Top Producers of 2019!
In the spring of 1630, nearing 400 years ago, while embarked on the Arbela and voyaging to America, Puritan John Winthrop delivered to his fellow seekers what became known as the “City on a Hill” sermon, then titled “A Model of Christian Charity.”
The passion propelling the dangerous ocean crossing was the desire for spiritual freedom and civil liberty: the Promise of America. By his faith, Winthrop professed a covenant with God for himself and his people. A covenant to be true to the core principles of their Judeo-Christian heritage, to love God and to love their neighbor as themselves, selfless love.
Winthrop believed that having this “bond of love” for one another would unite the group as they worked to establish a new society in America with spiritual moorings. To accomplish that he called upon his people: “We must bear one another’s burdens. We must not look only on our own things, but also on the things of our brethren.”
He warned them that “the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us” if they failed to fulfill their mutual covenant to put the interests of others above the interests of the colony and their own self-interests. He admonished them that “the only way to avoid this shipwreck” and to provide for their mutual posterity was “to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man.”
If the people remained committed together to these things, Winthrop was hopeful that they could indeed establish a new society that would become a role model for others. He said the God of Israel would remain among them, and “He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding generations, ‘May the Lord make it like that of New England.’ For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”
In 2020 we began a new decade. I am mindful that in 2030 we will reflect back upon the 400-year admonition by John Winthrop. We have 10 years to prove up. Ten years to demonstrate that we are committed to one another.
Today, what measure do we take of the promise of America, a city on a hill? Are we spiritual and caring or secular and selfish? Do we lift up our heroes for their examples of selfless love? Why does the 24/7/365 U.S. news cycle drone on about hate group killings (even in churches and schools) and political parties habitually placing self-interest and partisan victory above the best interests of We the People? If we are not “knit together,” if there is no unity, then how can the United States aspire to be an example for the world — a city on a hill?
Maybe the divide between the present sad state of affairs and the Promise of America can be explained by the recurring history of democracies. Scottish historian Alexander Tytler’s theory set forth a cycle that every democracy goes through. He wrote that the cycle starts out with a society in bondage and then follows this sequence: bondage, spiritual faith, courage, liberty, abundance, selfishness, complacency, apathy, dependence. Then starting over with bondage.
Are we entering again into bondage? Our federal government is spending $2 million a minute, the annual budget shortfall is $24 trillion, and the unfunded liabilities of the federal government may exceed $200 trillion. While the United States may still rank as the most blessed, successful and wealthy nation ever, then the loss of spiritual faith, courage and liberty may be the price of this abundance, fueling selfishness, complacency, apathy and dependence.
All of us know this path is not sustainable. We are anxious. When our government leaders, tending toward socialism, promise free everything, then anger, anxiety, complacency, apathy and dependence grow. With no accountability to We the People the out-of-control federal government is imposing debt on generations not yet born. This is a form of bondage or “soft tyranny.”
To continue to realize the Promise of America in the next decade I believe we all must come together in a commitment to self-governance, requiring our politicians to play by the same rules that our families must abide by: Nothing is free, constant fighting destroys unity.
In the next decade I resolve to be more engaged and caring. I am hopeful we will continue to realize America’s Promise for our families, our nation and the world. I am grateful for the opportunities of America and the luck to have been born in this amazing country, as described by Abraham Lincoln, “the last best hope of man on earth.”
Longtime Jackson Hole resident Steve Duerr is a grandpa, a lawyer and a volunteer for Citizens for Self-Governance, the Article V Convention of States Initiative, ConventionOfStates. com. Guest Shots are solely the opinion of their authors.
185 W Broadway
Jackson, WY 83001
307.699.4920
steve.duerr@jhsir.com
© Copyright – Steve Duerr
