The Department of State Lands (DSL) is seeking public comment on a proposal to sell nine parcels of state-owned rangeland and forest land totaling about 2,460 acres in four counties, with over half of the total – 1,417 acres – located in five parcels in Wallowa County.

Other counties involved in the sale proposal are Jackson, 200 acres in one parcel; Malheur, 800 acres in two parcels; and Wheeler, 40 acres in one parcel.

A meeting is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Nov. 16 in the jury room of the Wallowa County Courthouse to accept public input.

The land the state is proposing to sell in Wallowa County is all located in the Blue Mountain Ecological Province, in the Joseph Creek, Wildcat Creek and Horse Creek areas. The North End locales of Paradise and Promise are given as reference points. The parcels are described as containing rugged and steep terrain, with rugged and unimproved, or unknown, access. The Wallowa County parcels range in size from 80 acres to 480 acres.

“The meetings will serve a dual purpose,” DSL Director Ann Hanus said. “We want to hear what people think about the sale of state land, and we will provide information about each parcel for people who may be interested on the land should the land sales proceed.”

Comments from the meetings will be presented to the State Land Board at a meeting early next year. “If the land board approves, the sale process would begin later and we’d aim for a sealed bid auction in the spring or summer,” Hanus said.

Information about individual parcels, including directions, vegetation, range and forest conditions, soils, wildlife and authorized use, is available by visiting www.oregonstatelands.us or calling the DSL Region Office in Bend at (541) 388-6112, Ext. 221.

Hanus said the parcels were selected for sale because they are inefficient or uneconomical for the state to manage.