The Washington State Board of Natural Resources has green-lighted a series of land transfers aimed at boosting funds for school construction. The transactions, conducted Tuesday, pivot on shuffling parcels between the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Land Bank and the Common School Trust, which provides financial support to K-12 education statewide.
According to a statement from the DNR, the board sanctioned the Parcel W exchange, shifting 40.95 acres in the hilly regions of Okanogan County out of the Common School Trust and into the DNR’s Land Bank for potential public sale. Notably, the mentioned property, considered part of the Land Bank, bears steep and mountainous terrain with limited income potential for the Trust.
In addition to Parcel W, the Crab Creek exchange navigates 9.75 acres from the Trust into the Land Bank, simplifying a future ownership handover to its current lessee. This transfer unfolds in Lincoln County, pivoting around a tenant currently under DNR’s roof who, in time, will become the landowner.
The Jones Creek exchange plays out similarly but in reverse. A portion of land encompassing 40.34 acres of a larger 641-acre plot in Clark County slides from the Land Bank into the Trust. The shift is expected to grow the Trust's cash flow, thanks to the timber harvesting opportunities on the land. On a similar note, the Parcel H exchange reintroduces 40 acres in Okanogan County back to the Trust fold, a stretch of land complete with a grazing lease and a past in Common School Trust management.
In sum, these exchanges are said to mirror each other in value, as asserted by the DNR, culminating in a net gain of 29.64 acres to the Common School Trust. The DNR articulates the role of the Land Bank as a conduit for prime real estate, buffering lands on their way to becoming trust parcels or awaiting their turn under the auctioneer's hammer. The recent approvals ensure that these land transactions serve the enduring mission of funding educational infrastructure, continuing a legacy of support to Washington's schools.
