JACKSON — When a reporter from The Washington Post called Teton County Commissioner Luther Propst to discuss the potential for construction of a baseball field in Grand Teton National Park, Propst thought it was an “elaborate prank.”

So, as not to fall prey to the gag, Propst looked up the phone number online. It did, in fact, belong to a reporter.

“It’s just peculiar,” Propst said of the proposal.

According to the Post’s reporting, National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands last week scouted potential locations in Grand Teton for a temporary baseball field that could host a special Major League Baseball game, similar to the league’s Field of Dreams games in Iowa.

Emily Davis, a spokesperson for Grand Teton, declined to comment. The Park Service and U.S. Department of Interior did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time, despite responding to other News&Guide inquiries in the same time period.

An official for Major League Baseball confirmed via email that the league approached the Trump administration about potentially playing a game in a national park, following the success of the Field of Dreams and other special event games. The idea is one of many being explored by the league, the official said.

Neither President Donald Trump nor the Interior Department are driving the process, a White House official said over email. The league has not made any decisions, and the Park Service has not granted any permits, the official added.

Local and state officials across the political spectrum have denounced the idea. 

On Monday, the Teton County Board of Commissioners and the Jackson Town Council co-signed letters to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, drafted by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, opposing the idea.

Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., do not support the idea, nor does Gov. Mark Gordon or Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who last month secured the Republican nomination for Wyoming’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Grand Teton National Park is spectacular,” Gordon wrote in a statement. “I cannot imagine, however, losing the night sky, the sound of elk bugling or just the joy of sitting and taking in the beauty of an evening in that valley that God made almost perfect. It is not the place.”

Unity between the governor, Wyoming’s senators and Teton County officials on public lands issues is not always the norm. The county has split from state-wide elected officials on issues including the repeal of the Roadless Rule, which the county opposes, and a public lands sale proposed by Congress last year.

Gordon, Lummis and Barrasso all support the repeal of the Roadless Rule. Lummis and Barrasso backed the public lands sale. Gordon expressed some level of support for the sale, according to reporting from the Associated Press.

Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, who secured the Republican nomination for governor in August and has been running on a pro-public lands platform, took a less hard-line stance.

“There is a process for considering something like this, and it should be followed to ensure the activity is a fit for the mission of the park,” he wrote in a statement. “As a stakeholder, Wyoming must be at the table as any discussions move forward.”

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time.