Washington sets ways to advertise and sell state land and timber

The department must advertise covered state land sales in a newspaper and post sale information on its website and at the regional headquarters handling the sale. This applies to sales of land covered by RCW 79.11.130. The notice must give the sale’s place, date, and time, the land’s appraised value, and a detailed description of each parcel. The newspaper notice must appear at least twice during the four weeks before the sale.

The department must make lists of public land and valuable materials for sale available to buyers. The lists cover public land and valuable materials scheduled for sale. The lists are organized by county and include sale information for buyers. The department keeps free copies at regional offices. The valuable-material list is available upon request; the department may also share it on its website or through other means. The public land list must be available at least four weeks before a sale. The valuable-material list must be available upon request at least four weeks before a sale.

The department may use alternate locations and advertising methods for sales, and may reoffer a valuable-material sale that received no bids. The alternate advertising rule covers non-direct valuable-material sales appraised at $250,000 or less. The department may designate an alternate sale location. A non-direct sale of valuable materials appraised at $250,000 or less may be advertised in a newspaper, on the department website, or through another method the department considers most practical. A sale with no bids may be offered again under the specified sale rules. The notice for a covered smaller sale must appear at least ten days before the sale.

With natural resources board approval, the department may offer certain state lands at auction or transfer them to public agencies, and may use approved commercial sale methods. This applies to state lands managed under RCW 79.11.340, except land conveyed or devised to the state for a particular purpose. The department must appraise the land and sell or transfer it for at least fair market value, and the transaction must be in the best interest of the state or affected trust. Necessary marketing costs may be paid from sale proceeds. These options apply when the department decides to sell or transfer covered lands.