By a split vote last week, Schuylkill County commissioners approved the sale of 975.5 acres of land to the Nature Conservancy of Pennsylvania for $1,375,000.

The conservancy bought the two parcels, which straddle Porter and Tremont townships, for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“The game commission is limited in what they can pay,” said County Administrator Gary R. Bender. “The conservancy can purchase for them without that limit.”

Commissioner Gary J. Hess and Chairman Barron L. Hetherington voted in favor of the sale; George F. Halcovage Jr. was opposed.

Halcovage was concerned that selling the land at a price of about $1,409 an acre - below the traditional $2,000 an acre that had been in place before he became commissioner in 2012 - would “lower the bar” on land sales for the county.

Further, he said, there are mineral reserves in the ground. They have not been mined because of the proximity of the Lebanon Watershed. However, that may change given modern technology.

He asked Assistant County Solicitor Paul J. Datte whether easements for the county if needed were addressed in the agreement of sale, which he had not seen.

Datte said that he would have to ask First Assistant County Solicitor Glenn T. Roth Jr. because he had not seen the agreement either.

Hetherington said had not seen it, either.

Hess said a lawsuit a few years ago led to the determination that the land cannot be mined because of the possibility the Lebanon Watershed would be contaminated.

Halcovage also said that were the land sold to a non-governmental entity, it would generate property tax revenue.

Halcovage said the proceeds should be applied to the $7,341,000 price tag of the property reassessment the county is undergoing, the county’s first since 1996.

“That will save additional costs to the taxpayers,” he said.

Halcovage acknowledged that the land, which is used for hunting and other outdoor activities, would continue to be open to the public for those uses.

Hess said he thoroughly researched the sale.

“Yes, maybe we could have gone out and looked to see if there was another buyer,” perhaps a hunting club. “But then, it would be closed” to the public, he said.

Hess said he spoke with Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation president Frank Zukas about the sale. He learned that the topography of the land prohibits development, and there is no infrastructure.

“This is preserving it for future trails and future hunting,” Hess said.

Hetherington agreed, saying the game commission was “not in the business of strip mining,” and that if sold to a private entity, the land would be “posted,” keeping the public out.

“As far as what the money is used for, we’ll discuss that at a later time,” Hetherington said.

He needled Halcovage for opposing the sale, saying that in 2018, Halcovage approved the sale of land to the Schuylkill County Airport, known as the Joe Zerbey Airport in Barry and Foster townships.

Halcovage said that sale was conditional in that the county could at any time ask that the properties be subdivided so that the Airport Authority could give them back.

The airport is governed by the county Airport Authority.

The proposed sale surfaced at a workshop session last Wednesday.

Then, Nicole Wooten of the Nature Conservancy said the parcels had been appraised by an independent appraiser who determined the fair market value, and hence the sale price.

As a nonprofit, the organization cannot make money from the sale, she told commissioners at last week’s meeting.