Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Land Exchange

proposed trust lands exchange with washington department of fish and wildlife

The proposed exchange would help DNR and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) meet their respective missions and management goals. In addition, each agency would be able to consolidate more of the lands it manages.

DNR is evaluating up to 84,000 acres of state trust lands – much of it shrub-steppe – to exchange for up to 38,000 acres of WDFW-managed land, much of which is forestland above 3,000 feet in elevation.

The exchange may involve properties located in the following counties: Asotin, Chelan, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Lincoln, Okanogan, Thurston, Whatcom, and Yakima.

If approved by the Board of Natural Resources, this exchange’s consolidation of ownerships would help both agencies more effectively manage important forest and wildlife habitats—providing for healthy and sustainable forestland and shrub-steppe landscapes. In addition to enhancing revenue for state trust beneficiaries and reducing management costs, this exchange would help consolidate the management of state trust lands in eastern Washington, which still reflect the checkerboard pattern of the original federal land grant in 1889.

Updated Exchange Maps & Parcels

2008 Parcel Lists - Current Exchange Candidate Parcels
WDFW Parcel List
DNR Parcel List

2008 Maps – Current Exchange Candidate Parcels
2007 Maps - Replaced by June 2008 Maps
Revised and Updated Maps - June 2008

2009 Pre-Post Map Index
Revised and Updated Maps - June 2009

NEPA & SEPA
During the summer of 2008 this exchange will be reviewed for potential environmental impacts under the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA). It is anticipated that WDFW will be the lead agency for this review, which will include an opportunity for public comment. WDFW may also ask federal agencies that provided past grants to WDFW to also review the exchange under the National Environment Protection Act (NEPA).

Details
The exchange would involve eight trusts:

Common School T rust—helps build public kindergarten through 12th grade public schools statewide.
Agricultural School Trust—supports Washington State University.
Scientific School Trust—supports Washington State University.
Charitable, Penal, Educational and Reformatory Institutions Trust—funds building schools for the blind and deaf, prisons, and other institutions.
Capitol Building Trust—supports construction on the state capitol campus.
Normal School trust—supports construction of buildings at Central, Eastern, and Western Washington state universities, and the Evergreen State College.
Escheat Trust—helps build public kindergarten through 12th grade public schools statewide.
University-Transferred Trust—supports construction of buildings at the University of Washington.

For more information, see the WDFW Land Exchange Summary Sheet

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