Firefighters train in blazing Sisters house

A 40-acre parcel of national forest land near the junction of Wilt Road and Buffalo Road northeast of Sisters is the only parcel near Sisters that might be sold as part of a massive proposed sale of public lands by the Bush administration.

The property, covered with pine trees, is surrounded by forest subdivisions about 1/2-mile north of Hinkle Butte. It should be attractive to potential developers.

The Sisters area parcel is part of what has been called the largest sale of public lands since the days of homesteading. The national plan calls for the sale of over 300,000 acres of isolated public lands in 42 states. About 10,568 acres of these lands are in Oregon.

The purpose of the proposed program is to sell isolated parcels of public lands and to provide funds to pay counties in lieu of revenues from federal timber sales. For many years, counties received 25 percent of federal timber sale revenues to offset a lack of property taxes. When federal timber sales declined in the 1990s, federal legislation was passed to provide other funds.

Under the proposed budget for 2006-07, as much as $800 million could be realized from the sale of these lands, enough to provide counties in 38 states with funding for the next five years.

Oregon counties would be a major benefactor of the plan.

Administration officials have stated that making these sales may be the only way that counties can continue to receive funding with the competition for federal dollars in the proposed budget.

Selection of lands to be sold was initially developed at the local level and then reviewed at the forest and regional level, according to Joe Walsh of the Forest Service’s national media office. All inquiries were directed to him.

“The process by which the lands will be sold will be determined by the final legislation approving the sale,” Walsh explained.

Some six sales are proposed within the Deschutes National Forest with the other five near Bend and Sunriver in tracts smaller than the one near Sisters. Some 23 sales are proposed within the Crooked River National Grassland and Ochoco National Forest, all east of the Deschutes River. These tracts range in size from 10 to 200 acres with most being 40 acres each.

Another 24 tracts are within the Fremont-Winema National Forest ranging in size from 10 to 160 acres, mostly near Silver Lake and Lakeview.

Drawing much attention in the Pacific Northwest is the proposed sale of 700 acres within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, most on the Washington side of the river.

In the past, other isolated tracts have been exchanged with private lands to consolidate ownership within boundaries of national forests. However, preparing federal land exchanges is a costly and time-consuming process requiring appraising the properties and going through a public review process.

The public will have a 30-day comment period on this proposed plan starting in March.

Maps were to be posted on the Forest Service Web site about February 28.