A Bush administration proposal to fund rural schools by selling off 309,000 acres of mostly Western national forest lands also has implications closer to home in Sumter National Forest.

According to a preliminary list of parcels that could become eligible for sale, there are 10 tracts in Edgefield and McCormick counties in South Carolina that could become available.

"This all happened really fast and we don't yet have a lot of details on these parcels," said Stephanie Neal Johnson, public affairs officer for Sumter and Francis Marion national forests.

Federal authorities announced last week a plan to sell surplus forestlands to finance rural school construction in 41 states. The Associated Press reported that such sales, with parcels from an acre to more than 1,000 acres, would generate up to $1 billion.

The proposal includes 4,522 acres in Georgia, mostly in the northern part of the state; and 4,665 acres in South Carolina - including five McCormick County parcels totaling 666.23 acres and five Edgefield County tracts totaling 678.83 acres.

"We expect a final list would be on the U.S. Forest Service national Web site by the end of the month, so there could be some added or removed," Ms. Johnson said.

The area sites are mostly smaller tracts isolated from larger lands under public ownership, she said.

"Forests in the east are more fragmented than the ones in the west," she said. Parcels desirable for acquisition are the "swiss cheese holes" that can fill in existing holdings; similarly, tracts isolated from other public lands rank higher on the list of sites that could be sold.

Under current policies, potential surplus lands are identified through a "land ownership adjustment strategy" used by the Forest Service.

The proposal to sell the land will be advertised soon in the Federal Register, triggering a 30-day comment period on potentially offered tracts. If the plan were to proceed, an appraisal process would be followed that would lead to a competitive sale, Ms. Johnson said.

Reach Rob Pavey at 868-1222, ext. 119 or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.