A Special Program for Special Places

DNR manages state trust lands to produce revenue for trust beneficiaries through timber harvest, agriculture, and other activities. Revenue pays for essential public services such as schools, roads, hospitals, and libraries.

However, some of these lands have limited potential to generate income in the reasonably foreseeable future due to physical, legal, access, or other constraints. Many of these lands also have high ecological values and public benefits such as opportunities for hiking, horseback riding, bird watching, or fishing.

Established in 1989, the Trust Land Transfer (TLT) program enables DNR to keep these special places in public ownership while also improving the financial performance of the state trust lands portfolio. Through TLT, DNR:

• 
  Transfers economically underperforming lands with high ecological values and public benefits to a receiving agency. Many transferred parcels become parks, open space, nature preserves, or similar designations.
• Purchases real property replacement lands that can be managed for timber production or leased for agriculture, grazing, or other uses to generate long-term, sustainable revenue for trust beneficiaries.

The TLT program is funded through the Washington State Legislature. DNR has created a high-level overview that describes how the TLT program works.

Visit the following pages to understand the steps of the program: Selecting a Parcel for Transfer, Selecting a Receiving Agency, Preparing an Application, Eligibility Determination, Prioritization, the Advisory Committee, and Transfer and Replacement. Visit the Proposed and Current Transfers and Success Stories pages to learn more about proposed, current, and past transfers.

Announcements

Four 2025-27 Applications Funded by Legislature

The Board of Natural Resources approved the ranked list of applications provided by the Trust Land Transfer Advisory Committee during its September 2024 meeting. The Legislature fully funded the Beckler 6, Okanogan G, and South Lake Ozette applications during its 2025 session and partially funded the Yakama Tract C North application. 

The 2025-27 Trust Land Transfer Booklet includes brief descriptions of the Trust Land Transfer process, as well as maps and descriptions of each of the eight TLT applications that DNR submitted to the Legislature for funding for the biennium.

TLT Program Manual Updated

DNR has updated the Trust Land Transfer Program Manual and application for the 2027-29 biennium to incorporate feedback from staff and Advisory Committee members to create a better application process for future years. The most significant change is encouraging applicants to reach out to Tribes before submitting their application to foster more meaningful collaboration between Tribes and prospective receiving agencies as proposals are designed.

Parcels Funded for Transfer in the 2023-25 Biennium

As part of the revitalization effort, DNR and the second TLT work group conducted a pilot project in August 2022 to test some of the improvements to the TLT program. After the pilot project, DNR submitted a list of 10 proposed parcels to the Washington State Legislature, all of which have been approved by the Board of Natural Resources: Eglon, Devils Lake, Upper Dry Gulch, Chapman Lake, Morning Star, West Tiger Mountain, Blakely Island, Rustlers Gulch, Lake Spokane Campground, and Moses Lake Dunes.

Refer to the Proposed and Current Transfers page for more information.