Is it too late to transplant it? It seems it would be a better alternative than waiting for it to get too big, which will be soon. Butternut can make for a nice tree, especially if outside its natural range to avoid the dreaded Butternut canker, which I’m assuming Wyoming is. What have you got to lose?

You could try root-trimming it gradually over several yrs & finally move it. But pretty sure they have a big taproot. But then I transplanted baldcypresses & had to chop thru big, orange taproots and all survived. As maackia says, nothing to lose.

Perfect time of year to do it, as soon as any frost is out.

Just keep it consistently moist during the season.

It'd be fun to see it grow.

So what’s the idea? sever the roots all around it, allow it time to grow some new ones that are hopefully closer to the trunk, then dig it out and transplant it?

This might be anathema, but I’d remove some of the pavers to allow for a larger root ball to be dug. If you installed the pavers yourself (Nice job!), this should be no problem and they could easily be reinreinstalled. The fact you grew this tree from seed would be reward enough to make the effort worthwhile IMO.

L Clark, yes, that's the general idea. Move the dig line alittle closer each yr for 3-4 yrs (make it deep enough -- a foot at very least). And as maackia suggests, remove the pavers temporarily to do a circular dig line, then replace until the next time. Your final dig-out, of course, would involve a tap root cut. Tap roots on my baldcypresses were so thick that a shovel wouldn't work -- had to use a sharp-edged digging iron.

You just might end up with the Wyoming champion J. cinerea. 🤩

Ben- does this process have to take several years?

Maackia - yeah, I did install the pavers. turned out OK. Need re-apply that polymeric sand again.

the other juglans cinerea ( I’m only 85% sure it’s a cinera and not a nigra) that I’m aware of is about 30 foot tall, however, it’s not doing well because it’s at a house close to the university that’s obviously a rental and they never water or take care of the yard, so it’s slowly dying. Sucks. This little guy might be the next champion lol

PS, I also sowed black cherry seeds at the same time, but nothing came up from them. I had a different butternut in a differemt spot that could have lived where it was, but the fiber internet people killed it. I was not happy. That’s why I was in no hurry to do anything about this tree. interesting that the black cherry didn’t come up. I think about why sometimes