SILVERDALE — The state Department of Natural Resources plans to trade 27 acres of Common School Trust forest land in Silverdale for a 1.5-acre property in Arlington that contains a Bartell Drugs store.

Evergreen Housing Development Group currently owns the Arlington property, but after the trade, it would own the 27 acres of forest in Silverdale while DNR manages the Bartell Drug in Arlington.

But how is trading 27 acres for 1.5 acres fair?

Rich Scrivner, DNR planning manager, says it’s because of the smaller property’s commercial value and ability to generate revenue. That revenue will go to the state Common School Trust.

“We think it’s certainly a great opportunity for the trust to generate revenue and convert a property that’s not generating any revenue into long-term revenue,” Scrivner said.

The 1.5-acre Bartell property is on a credible long-term lease, so there’s guaranteed money coming in, Scrivner said. The Silverdale property, referred to as Bucklin Hill, generates no revenue for the trust.

“It’s the value that really drives the exchange,” Scrivner said.

“Acres to acres doesn’t really apply when you’re trading residential land for commercial land,” said Rod Rennie, commercial property manager for DNR. “It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.”

The property is not actually on Bucklin Hill Road but north of Highway 303 behind Anchor of Hope Church and near Ridgetop Middle School.

In Washington, DNR manages 3 million acres of trust land. These lands are meant to create revenue for beneficiaries like schools and correctional facilities.

The Common School Trust generates revenue for construction of K-12 schools in the state from about 1.8 million acres of land and properties. Some of these properties are forestland or agricultural land, which generate revenue from timber sales. Others, like the 1.5-acre property DNR is trading the 27 acres in Silverdale for, contain businesses that generate revenue for DNR through their lease.

Scrivner said DNR hasn't done a trade like this in a little while, but it’s not out of the ordinary. DNR owns properties with Costcos, a Fred Meyer, Lowe’s and Walgreens. DNR purchases these properties with a designed purpose of generating revenue, he said.

Commercial properties like the Bartell parcel are more difficult to acquire than agricultural or forest lands, said Julie Armbruster, DNR property acquisition specialist.

“When we can get one it’s a good thing,” she said.

The forested Bucklin Hill property in Silverdale will likely be developed into market-rate multi-family housing by Evergreen Housing Development Group.

A representative from Evergreen Housing was unavailable for comment on Thursday.

Scrivner said the Bucklin Hill property has been managed by a commercial real estate group for several years. Kitsap County has worked on the rezoning of the property as part of the Bucklin Ridge Community Plan.

Clear Creek Trail currently runs from Old Mill Park to Trigger Avenue in Silverdale through both public and private property. A portion of the trail goes through the property being exchanged by DNR. The trail is to be retained in the exchange, according to the exchange proposal.

“The potential future owner has said that they want to incorporate the trail into whatever design is on the property,” Armbruster said.

Mary Earl, a member of the Clear Creek Trail Task Force, said the development of the Silverdale property will likely affect the ecological health of the salmon-bearing stream, but it’s also the responsibility of the county's Department of Community Development to protect those waters.

“Right now there’s a huge move to make cool, clean, calm waters so salmon can spawn so orcas can eat,” Earl said. She said the state mandates protections for salmon-bearing streams, like Clear Creek.

“They have to do something about it,” Earl said. “They can’t just put down a huge amount of impervious pavement without making some kind of development to make the water clean and cool.”

It’s a heavily traveled trail already, she said. Adding housing near the trail will likely increase its use as a pedestrian route to the commercial area of Silverdale.

While forestry protection is a big part of DNR’s mission, Armbruster said DNR is also expected to maximize the use of its properties for the various trust beneficiaries, like the Common School Trust. She said it also keeps in mind what the best use for the land is, which may not always be a protected forest.

“Being just 27 acres, it’s not really sustainable for a forest by itself,” Armbruster said.

DNR will sometimes dispose of properties with too much development nearby to be a real forest and instead focus on other bigger forest lands.

In the 32 years Rennie has worked at DNR, he said there has been no revenue generated from the 27 acres in Silverdale. It can’t be logged because of the surrounding residential development. The state decided to sell these types of properties to instead purchase revenue-generating commercial or agricultural lands or forest lands large and rural enough to log.

“(Bucklin Hill) is in an urban area zoned for urban uses,” Armbruster said. “It makes sense to move it to another use.”

The timeline of the trade is not yet determined, but the properties must first be appraised and taken to the board of natural resources for approval. During the appraisal it must be determined that it’s an equal exchange, otherwise the board won’t approve it, Armbruster said.

DNR will hold a public hearing on Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. to share information and listen to concerns and questions from the public at the Kitsap Mall Community Partner Room, 10315 Silverdale Way NW.

DNR is accepting written comments about the proposed land exchange until 5 p.m. Sept. 27 at exchanges@dnr.wa.gov.

More information can be found at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/managed-lands/land-transactions/bucklin-hill-land-exchange.