At its regular monthly meeting this September, the state Board of Natural Resources authorized the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to complete the direct transfer (sale) of 153.3 acres of agriculture land northeast of the junction of the Lewis and Columbia rivers in Cowlitz County.
The purchaser, the Port of Woodland, will pay DNR $1.7 million based on the tract’s current appraised value. DNR will use the transaction proceeds to purchase more productive revenue lands for the Common School Trust elsewhere in the state. The Port will assume an agricultural lease on the property that generates about $11,000 a year.
In other action, the board in its role as the Washington State Board on Geographic Names approved new official names for two geographic features whose names were considered offensive to Native Americans. The first is Reef Net Bay in San Juan County, formerly known as Squaw Bay. The new name is intended to recognize the historic and current use of the bay for reef net fishing.
The second, Walaluuks Creek, is in Klickitat County. Formerly known as Squaw Creek, proponents of the new name say it honors Walaluuks, a Yakama woman, who lived most of her life along the 16-mile-long waterway. Names approved by the Board are published in the Washington Administrative Code and forwarded to the United States Board on Geographic Names for its consideration.
The Board adopts policies, approves major commodity sales and makes decisions about transactions of state lands managed by DNR. Its membership represents the major beneficiaries of state trust lands, including public schools, universities and prisons as well as 21 counties that use trust land revenues to support hospitals, libraries and other services. Since 1972, DNR-managed state trust lands have provided nearly $8 billion to trust land beneficiaries.
