The Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) has proposed the sale of hundreds of acres of land in Wallowa County to raise money for the Common School Fund. That means more money to Enterprise, Joseph and surrounding schools for teachers, programs, or equipment.

Wallowa School District received its first 2008 payment (there are two each year) for $13,134 in January; Joseph SD received $13,094; and Enterprise received $21,470. The amount of the payment is based on the number of students the school serves.

It is not a lot of money, but it is a “significant” amount all the same according to Enterprise School Superintendent Brad Royse. “Any little bit we can get, helps,” Royse said. “It’s pretty minimal, but it helps fund a position – so without it we’d be hurting.”

Since 1982, the Common School Fund has sent nearly $400 million to Oregon public schools.

Money from the management and sale of state lands has been paid out to schools since Oregon was granted statehood in 1859, and although the acreage owned by the state has shrunk from nearly 3.4 million acres to 773,000 acres over the years, the payout to schools had reached $48.5 million annually in 2007.

DSL has banked the money it raises through land leases, waterway management and occasional sales to create a nearly $1.2 billion dollar investment portfolio. Income from that portfolio both allows DSL to purchase lands better able to return an income, and add to the Common School Fund that supports Oregon schools. The department distributes approximately 2 to 5 percent of the market value of the portfolio each year.

The properties proposed for sale will not go on the block for at least a year- giving time for environmental studies to be completed. Furthermore, if DSL has its ‘druthers most of the properties will not be sold at public sale at all, according to John Lilly, asset manager for Oregon DSL.

“Our preference would be to keep these properties with an agency that would manage them for their conservation value – so we’re willing to wait and see what we can work out with an agency that would share those values,” he said. “(For instance) the Bureau of Land Management has expressed an interest in the Courtney Creek parcel (240 acres near Troy, just upstream on the Grande Ronde).”

The selected properties are often landlocked inside federal or private holdings and are difficult for the state to manage.

Selling those off allows DSL to invest in property that is both easier to manage and generates a yearly income.

Often, Lilly said, only two to three of the dozen or so properties initially considered for sale will be available to the public.

Land value is determined when a private contractor appraises land offered for sale, the timber is cruised, and foresters evaluate that number, Lilly said.

For instance, the 40-acre plot in the Wenaha Wildlife Management area is valued at $220,000. That appraised value is usually the minimum bid at auction. Of all the Wallowa County parcels on the list recently published by DSL the 160-acre Bear Creek parcel has the highest value – $390,000.

“This land is south of Lostine sitting up next to national forest pinched between BLM and Forest land,” Lilly said. “It has a good bit of timber on it but is very steep. It has possible value to both federal agencies, but neither is showing a strong interest – this may come up for sale.”

The following three sites also may come up for public sale next fall according to Lilly. All three are small, not very high-priced, and surrounded by private land. None have water rights. State-listed plants may be on the property – the properties are being surveyed to discover that:

l 40-acre S Fork Lightning Creek parcel

l 23.9-acre Crow Creek rangeland parcel

l 80-acre Fence Creek rangeland parcel

Values have yet to be determined on these lands.

Other parcels considered for sale include:

l 40-acre “Somers Creek 2” rangeland parcel in Hells Canyon Wilderness Area

l 80-acre “Somers Creek 1” rangeland parcel in Hells Canyon Wilderness Area

l 44-acre Imnaha River rangeland parcel in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

l 40-acre Wenaha Wildlife Management forest parcel surrounded by ODFW and USFS and currently leased to ODFW

l 240-acre Courtney Creek rangeland parcel surrounded by Forest Service and BLM.

In all DSL has proposed the sale of 24 parcels or 1,790 acres in Baker, Union, Umatilla and Wallowa counties.

For more information, maps, and updated information, visit (www.oregonstatelands.us/DSL/LW/land_sale_mult_co.shtml).