04:09 PM EST on Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Gov. Mike Easley opposes the sale of nearly 10,000 acres of national forest land in the state, even though some of the profit could help pay for education in rural parts of North Carolina.

"We don't like it," said Easley, who has used conservation money in the past to offset budget shortfalls. "We're hoping to acquire more (land) at every opportunity."

The Bush administration has proposed selling off 300,000 acres of public land to pay for rural schools and roads. The total land sales, ranging from less than an acre to more than 1,000 acres, could net more than $1 billion and would be the largest sale of forest land in decades.

In North Carolina, the plan includes 9,828 acres in four national forests: Nantahala and Pisgah in the mountains, Uwharrie in the central part of the state, and Croatan on the coast.

"This is not a routine thing," said Heidi Valetkevitch, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service. "There has not been a sale this big in (a long time.)"

Forest Service officials say the sales are needed to raise $800 million over the next five years to pay for schools and roads in rural counties hurt by logging cutbacks on federal land. The Bureau of Land Management has said it also plans to sell federal lands to raise an estimated $250 million.

Some rural school districts in North Carolina said they have mixed views on the proposal, which requires congressional approval.

"On a personal level, I get a little wary of us selling off federal land to private individuals," said Dave Ackerman, chairman of the Cherokee County school board. At the same time, Ackerman acknowledged the mountain district with about 3,700 students could use all the money it can get.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources may consider buying the land, said Richard Rogers, director of the department's office of conservation and community affairs.

"We don't see the need to sell it in the first place," Rogers said, adding that he hopes it is removed from the list.

North Carolina would get first crack at buying the land, but Bill Holman, executive director of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, said it's unlikely the state would do so. The state's resources are limited because it wants to acquire land this year from International Paper and power companies, he said.

Some environmentalists who oppose the deal say it could interrupt delicate ecosystems or obstruct views if the land is eventually developed.

Also, they say North Carolina would receive only about $1 million in sale proceeds this fiscal year while Oregon would get $162.8 million for selling a similar number of acres, said David W. Carr Jr., a senior attorney and forestry project leader for the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The government would offer the land at a "fair-market value," determined by its location, size and resources, Mark Rey, an undersecretary for natural resources with the Department of Agriculture, told a Senate panel on Tuesday, the start of a 30-day public comment period.

Rey estimated that only 175,000 acres of the proposed 304,370 acres would need to be sold to finance the schools program. Once proceeds hit the $800 million mark, the government would stop the sale, he said.