Land Sale of The Century

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The criteria for determining what can be sold are straightforward. Lands in the National Park and National Wildlife Refuge systems are exempt from consideration. So are Indian Trust lands and Wilderness areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Trails, national conservation areas and certain other lands designated by Congress. This adds up to 400 million acres. Everything else can be put on the block. The surplus lands first will be assessed to determine their market value. Next they will be offered to other federal agencies, which may want to use them for different purposes. If there are no federal takers, the lands will be offered to state and local governments. Only after all government agencies have been given an opportunity to bid will the tracts be offered to the general public.

Exactly how the lands will be sold to the public remains to be determined. The White House has not decided whether to do it by sealed bids, public auction or some other method. "It is clear that we'll have to go beyond what's been done in the past," says Edwin Harper, the President's assistant for policy development and chairman of the Property Review Board. "We can't just put an ad in the newspaper and see what responses come in."

Such ads would certainly be interesting. In the first batch of 307 parcels, there is something for everyone. Care for a piece of out-of-the-way America? An abandoned Air Force radar installation station on an acre at Cottonwood, Idaho, could be just the ticket. Prefer something in the East? The 105 acres adjacent to the Saint Albans Air Force Station in northwest Vermont might be worth a look. Feeling urban? The Frankford Arsenal, an 87.7-acre complex of 167 buildings, sheds and loading docks in Philadelphia, has all kinds of possibilities. The sale will offer property in every state but Alaska. Real estate dealers with a bankroll and real estate dreamers without one are sure to be enthusiastic over the choicer parcels. Some enticing examples:

Point Sur Light Station. Perched on a gumdrop-shaped rock on the spectacularly scenic northern California coast, this is one of the most exciting pieces being offered. Often shrouded by fog, and surrounded on three sides by surging seas, the gray stone lighthouse looms like a medieval keep above the 33-acre site. The Coast Guard, which runs the station, is keeping the lighthouse, but the Interior Department is putting the surrounding property on the block anyway. The State of California would like to lease the site for use as a park or youth hostel, but does not want to buy it. Whoever does buy it will need to negotiate a right of way with a local rancher whose land abuts the lighthouse property. But anyone who can afford the price, estimated to be at least $1 million, can probably afford to pay for an easement as well.