Trading Away the West Home


Part 2 / The Speculators

Copyright © 1998 The Seattle Times Company

Posted at 06:38 a.m. PDT; Monday, September 28, 1998

How a typical land trade works


THE OVERTURE: A private landowner or third-party broker approaches the local U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management supervisor with a proposal to trade property. Agency officials also may initiate talks.

PUBLIC NOTICE: The parties draw up an agreement to begin the exchange process. The first public notice goes out and comments are accepted, although formal input comes much later.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The law requires that local agency staffers arrange for an environmental analysis to determine if the trade will have any significant ecological, social or economic impacts. For example: Will any endangered species be helped or hurt by the exchange? If the analysis finds potentially significant impacts, the agency is to arrange for a more extensive study, called an environmental-impact statement.

PUBLIC COMMENT: After the agency publishes a draft EIS, the public gets 45 to 60 days to review it and submit written comments.

THE APPRAISAL: The law says both sides of an exchange must be of equal value as determined by an appraisal. The law also says the value of both public and private land must be based on the highest and best commercial use. A limited amount of cash, up to 25 percent of the land value, can be included to even out the trade. The public gets to see BLM appraisals but not Forest Service or National Park Service appraisals prior to completion of the deal.

THE DECISION: An agency official signs off on a decision that explains the basis for approving, disapproving or modifying the exchange proposal. The Forest Service often lets local supervisors make the call, while BLM now requires approval by the national office on deals over $500,000.

THE QUICK-AND-DIRTY VARIATION: Congress can order a land exchange and waive any or all of the above requirements. Congressional approval is a must for multi-state swaps.



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