Federal Government Working to Clear Ledger with Oregon
Organization:
BLM Office:
Media Contact:
Salem, OR – The State of Oregon, Department of State Lands (DSL), and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today the transfer of 240 acres of land to the State. The lands approved for transfer, referred to as the Cline Buttes parcels, are located in Deschutes County, Prineville BLM District. These parcels were previously classified by the BLM for disposal in its Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan.
The BLM and the State have a long-standing relationship in Oregon. When Oregon was admitted into the Union in 1859, the federal government granted sections 16 and 36 within every township to the state for support of public schools. However, if the federal government had already disposed of these specific sections or reserved them for some other purpose, the state was allowed to select other public lands “in-lieu” of the unavailable sections. A 1991 federal court decision ruled that the State of Oregon was entitled to an additional 5,202 acres through this provision.
DSL has been working with the BLM since the early 1990s to resolve the State’s entitlement under a joint Memorandum of Understanding. In addition to the Cline Buttes acreage, approximately 200 acres of BLM lands, located in the Roseburg District in western Oregon, was recently transferred to the State. The BLM and DSL are currently working towards the transfer of approximately 2,200 acres in Crook and Deschutes Counties selected by the State in their current application.
“We’ve selected parcels with potential to produce income for the Common School Fund,” said DSL director Louise Solliday. “We have a responsibility to current and future generations of school kids to grow this fund over time, and we’ve proposed lands with a high probability for appreciation in value.”
The school fund sends investment earnings to Oregon’s 198 K-12 public school districts twice yearly. Approximately $55.4 million will be distributed in 2008.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.