Some of the untouched, remote corners of the province could soon be yours – for the right price.
The Saskatchewan government is in the final stages of preparations for an online auction in which 48 parcels of Crown land province-wide, over 7,000 acres, will be up for sale to the highest bidder.
Natural forests, natural prairie grasslands, and natural wetlands are some of the parcels that will be sold off.
This is a controversial idea to some. Environmentalists worry that these natural pieces of property will be converted by the new owners into ploughed fields, more profitable for the owners, but not suitable for natural wildlife to live in.
The province says they have assessed these parcels of land, and determined that they are somewhat less environmentally sensitive than some others.
This isn’t the first time Crown land has been on the auction block.
This past spring they put 80 parcels of farmland up for sale on an online auction for the first time ever.
"We have just found it to be an effective and modern way to sell crown land,” Wally Hoehn of the Ministry of Agriculture told CTV News. “The client response has been very positive, very transparent. It allows people to bid. They do not have to show up with a tender."
The auction is set to begin in less than two weeks. Bidding will close the first week of November.
