Thorpe parcel in Spokane among 6 proposals included in $30 million budget request to Legislature for 2027-29 Biennium

The Washington State Board of Natural Resources approved a priority list of six parcels for legislative funding to conserve via the Trust Land Transfer program during its meeting Tuesday.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources will submit the prioritized list of properties as part of agency funding requests for the next legislative session. The lands are proposed to be transferred to the Yakama Nation and public agencies, including DNR's Natural Areas Program and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The Legislature must fund the transfers before they can be completed.

The $30 million request, the highest allowed by state law, would fully fund five of the applications and provide partial funding toward the sixth-ranked proposal, the Tract C proposal to the Yakama Nation.

"Trust Land Transfer is a vital tool to respond to community needs and conserve important lands while keeping our schools and counties whole," said Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove. "I am especially proud that these proposals would make a meaningful impact across our state, including transferring land back to the Yakama Nation, protecting a popular community space in Spokane, and adding to a natural area in Jefferson County."

An 11-member volunteer advisory committee ranked the applications based on five weighted criteria - community involvement and support, ecological values, economic values, public benefits, and tribal support - adopted with the help of beneficiaries, tribes, industry, and conservation groups. The department considered their recommendations before presenting the final proposal to the Board.

DNR generates more than $250 million each year through the management of trust lands, which are required to generate revenue to support schools, colleges, and critical local services across Washington state. That revenue comes from sustainable forest management, agricultural leases, clean energy leases, and commercial real estate leases.

The Trust Land Transfer tool is designed to transfer trust lands that produce no or minimal revenue but do provide important ecological values or public benefits. If funded by the Legislature, DNR will transfer these lands to public agencies for conservation or recreation purposes and then replace them with lands better suited to generate money to support school construction and local governments.

The program has existed since 1989 and has conserved more than 130,000 acres of Common School Trust lands that support K-12 school construction statewide. Since 2024, the program has been available for all types of DNR-managed trust lands.

Maps and more information on each proposed Trust Land Transfer parcel are available on the Board of Natural Resources webpage.

TRANSFER PROPOSALS

Elger Bay, Island County: This 173-acre parcel on Camano Island would be transferred to Island County to continue to be managed as a park. The parcel has been managed as a county park under lease since 2001, but the lease expires in 2031 and includes no buyout clause.

The parcel is currently designated to benefit the Common School Trust, which supports K-12 school construction across Washington state.

Dabob Bay A, Jefferson County: These three parcels, approximately 10 miles south of Port Townsend, totaling 1,096 acres, would be transferred into the adjacent Dabob Bay Natural Area managed by DNR's Natural Area Program. The transfer would conserve wetlands, streams, and structurally complex forests, including a globally imperiled forest type.

The parcels are currently designated to support public services in east Jefferson County as State Forest Transfer Trust lands.

Babcock Bench, Grant County: These two parcels, about 6 miles southwest of Quincy, totaling 1,071 acres, would be transferred to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to be managed as part of the Quincy Lakes Unit of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area. The parcels include habitat for a host of plant and animal species of concern, including shrub-steppe ecosystems and roosting for at least eight species of bats.

Both parcels, currently managed to benefit the Common School Trust, are leased to and managed by WDFW, and their transfer would eliminate an inholding and an edge-holding to the Quincy Lakes Unit.

Toutle Ridge Fen, Cowlitz County: This 174-acre parcel 22 miles east of Castle Rock would be transferred to DNR's Natural Areas Program to be the Department's newest Natural Area. Conserving the parcel would protect an intact wetland complex, including five rare plant associations and two rare plants.

The parcel is currently designated to benefit the Common School Trust; the Agricultural School Trust, which supports Washington State University; and the Normal School Trust, which supports Western Washington University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, and The Evergreen State College.

Thorpe, Spokane County: This 199-acre parcel within the Spokane city limits would be transferred to the city to become a park. This transfer will preserve rare plant communities present on the parcel and provide park services in a neighborhood with limited infrastructure.

The parcel is currently designated to benefit the Common School Trust.

Tract C, Yakima County: The approved funding request would seek $3 million toward the estimated $11.2 million remaining in trust lands to be transferred to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The parcels are on the western edge of the Ahtanum State Forest, approximately 25 miles west of Yakima, and much of the 10,420 acres are in a checkerboard ownership with Yakama Nation lands. The parcels are in the usual and accustomed areas of the Yakama Nation, and they have minimal potential to generate revenue for DNR's trust beneficiaries.

The Legislature provided partial funding toward the Tract C proposal in the 2025-27 Capital Budget, but not enough to complete it.

These lands are currently designated to benefit the Common School Trust.

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