DNR Sells Land to WDFW

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has sold nearly 1,300 acres of land in the Stemilt Basin to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

DNR Spokesman Bob Redling said the land was in a good location for agricultural use potentially for cherries or apples, but there were too many challenges.

“We didn’t have any water rights there so we would have had to pipe in water from a pretty far distance, maybe 9 or 10 miles, and that just didn’t pencil out.”

DNR often rents agricultural land to producers to generate revenue for a school construction fund that are part of.

Redling said they will use the money from the sale, nearly $2 million, to look for other land and a major part could be more agricultural properties.

“With the current commissioner it’s been a big part of diversifying the portfolio, as we call it, of trust lands. We have about a million acres of grazing and ag land in the state.”

Redling said there is no guarantee they will buy ag land, but rather they will look for the most profitable land.

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