Forest Service mulls selling Dowd Junction parcel

EAGLE — The U.S. Forest Service is asking Eagle County if it wants to buy some land.

Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams and District Ranger David Neely met with Eagle County commissioners and staff, and a representative from Eagle County Ambulance District on Tuesday for a work session to explore future possible land deals, especially pertaining to a site at Dowd Junction.

“We need money to reinvest in our aging facilities,” Fitzwilliams said. “Right now, we have two offices in Eagle County to staff and maintain. I can't afford it anymore, period.”

Fitzwilliams said that the conveyance program passed and recently extended by Congress allows the Forest Service to sell land and keep and reinvest money from those sales. Counties, cities and the state have a right of first refusal to buy such land for its appraised value before it is offered on an open market.

Read full text: Vail Daily