Grand Teton is one of the most protected, most visited landscapes in America, famous for wildlife, solitude, and the jagged peaks of the Teton Range. The Trump administration just sent a top Park Service official to scout three spots inside it for a Major League Baseball stadium. The White House says it’s not their idea. Their own official was out there picking locations anyway.
The Trump administration has scouted locations inside Grand Teton National Park to build a baseball park for a Major League Baseball game, after MLB approached the White House about hosting a game on national park land.
A Top Park Official Was Already Walking the Sites
According to two people familiar with the matter, National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands visited Grand Teton this week and looked at three potential locations for a game within the park’s boundaries. An MLB official said the idea grew out of the league’s Field of Dreams games in Iowa.
No MLB game has ever been played inside a national park. Pulling it off would mean constructing a stadium in the middle of protected wilderness. Whether it would be torn down afterward or stay permanently hasn’t been said. The Field of Dreams site in Iowa was supposed to be temporary too. It became permanent.
The White House Says “Not Us.” The Scouting Trip Says Otherwise.
The White House moved fast to distance itself, calling the plan “not a Presidential directive” and “not a White House or Administration priority,” and noting no permit has been granted.
That’s hard to square with the administration’s own second-ranking Park Service official physically touring the park to evaluate where the stadium could go. You don’t send a deputy director to scout three sites for something that isn’t on the table.
Locals and Conservationists Weren’t Even Asked
Teton County Commissioner Luther Propst said federal officials haven’t sought any local input, and that Lands never mentioned a ballpark when they met during his visit. “Grand Teton National Park is about wild America, wildlife, opportunity for solitude, not for more amusement,” Propst said, calling it “a radical departure from the tradition of national parks.”
Betsy Buffington of the National Parks Conservation Association called the idea “ludicrous” and “ridiculous,” pointing to the park’s irreplaceable habitat.
It Fits a Pattern
This isn’t happening in a vacuum. The Trump administration has slashed the National Park Service’s budget and staff and has explored selling or handing park land over to private development. A 2025 executive order directed the Interior Department to find ways to squeeze more revenue out of the parks. Building a pro sports venue in one of the country’s crown-jewel parks would set a precedent for how protected federal land in the West gets used.
The Bottom Line
For now, it’s in the idea stage. MLB’s 2027 schedule is already set, so no new specialty game could happen before 2028. But the scouting has already happened, and the people who live next to the park found out from a newspaper.
The Trump administration, which has already gutted the Park Service and floated selling off public land, sent a top official to scout three places to put a baseball stadium inside Grand Teton National Park. The White House insists it isn’t driving the idea. The locals weren’t told, conservationists are furious, and the only people who seem to have been consulted are MLB and the administration’s own scouts.
Mar a lardo would be a great location for MLB stadium.