By JAYSON JACOBY

Baker City Herald

The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest plans to sell two of its three properties in Unity as soon as next spring, and eventually transfer four of the five permanent employees from Unity to the forest’s offices in Baker City.

The Wallowa-Whitman no longer needs either its lower or middle compound in Unity, said Ken Anderson, ranger for the forest’s Whitman Unit.

andquot;We’re always looking for ways to trim costs based on our actual needs,andquot; Anderson said.

He did not have an estimate for how much money the Wallowa-Whitman spends each year on its Unity operation.

Anderson said Wallowa-Whitman officials do not plan to sell any part of the forest’s ranger station at Pine, about two miles southeast of Halfway.

The middle compound at Unity covers 1.33 acres and includes four homes where Wallowa-Whitman employees live, as well as several outbuildings.

The property has a market value of $200,130, according to a 2006 appraisal from the Baker County Assessor’s Office.

The lower compound is 6.56 acres and includes three homes and several storage buildings.

The Assessor’s Office estimates the parcel’s market value, as of 2006, at $135,470.

Anderson said forest officials have no intention of selling the upper compound at Unity, which includes the ranger station, four homes (two of them historic), a bunkhouse, a fire tower and several accessory buildings.

The Wallowa-Whitman probably will remove the modular buildings at the upper compound, however, Anderson said.

Although officials have not set any timelines, their goal, Anderson said, is to convert the Unity station from a year-round operation to a seasonal one.

After the four permanent workers have been transferred to Baker City, one seasonal firefighter will be stationed at Unity, Anderson said. That employee probably would work from about mid-April through October.

Anderson said he has talked with the current employees at Unity about how best to deal with the changes.

An employee at the Unity office referred questions to Anderson.

Unity Mayor Debbie Gregg said the impending loss of four Forest Service workers will weaken the city’s already sluggish economy.

Unity, with a population of 115, is the second-smallest of Baker County’s incorporated cities.

The Forest Service in past decades employed more than two dozen people in Unity, but the number has declined during the past 20 years or so.

About five years ago one of the city’s main businesses, Stratton’s Store, closed.

andquot;We don’t have much left in Unity, andquot;Gregg said. andquot;We’re still hanging on.andquot;

She hopes someone will buy the two Forest Service compounds, but she’s not optimistic.

andquot;It would be wonderful if the housing would sell and we could bring in some new famlies,andquot; she said. andquot;But I don’t know what where the jobs would be.andquot;

Anderson said that based on the Wallowa-Whitman’s current schedule, the forest could try to sell the two compounds probably by Internet auction next spring.

But the federal law that allows the forest to sell surplus properties also afford officials flexibility in when they put properties on the auction block.

andquot;We can’t wait forever, but we could decide to wait a few years depending on the market conditions,andquot; Anderson said. andquot;Obviously it’s not to the taxpayers’ advantage to give (the properties) away.andquot;

Anderson thinks the Unity compounds, which are inside the city limits and connected to the city’s water and sewer systems, could attract buyers.

andquot;It is a good site for development in Unity,andquot; he said.

He said he received a couple of phone calls from people interested in the properties even before the Wallowa-Whitman published a public notice in March to announce the possible sale.

andquot;The rumor mill was running,andquot; Anderson said.

Besides the Unity compounds, the Wallowa-Whitman pans to sell a two-bedroom home on Hudspeth Lane at the west end of Phillips Reservoir.

That property probably will be auctioned later this year.