The Coos County Board of Commissioners is the latest in a growing list of groups to express interest in purchasing a former Air National Guard base at the scenic Coos Head site near Cape Arago.

Closed since 1996, when the Oregon Air National Guard moved operations to Klamath Falls, the 40-acre Coos Head site has piqued the interest of tribes, tourism promoters and now the county's governing body.

"I think we'd be remiss not to" go after the property, Commissioner Nikki Whitty said. "It would just be a beautiful, beautiful site for some sort of campus, a research facility, I don't even know what it might be."

Tourism promoters say the land, situated on a forested bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is invaluable for developing eco-tourism attractions, a resort and an interpretive center. The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, meanwhile, have had a short-term goal of moving their tribal headquarters to the site and a long-term vision of developing a business venture.

The county commissioners, in contrast, are the first to voice a strictly economic development interest for the property.

Commissioner John Griffith, while declining to address specifics, said current proposals simply haven't suggested they would use the site to its potential.

"It's a fabulous piece of property and the county would like to see some sort of economic-positive stream," Griffith said. "We wouldn't want to see it turned into something that would be underused. A piece of property like that should return a very positive economic function to this area."

Griffith said ideally, the private sector would return the greatest potential on the property but it's unclear how far federal guidelines will allow industry to get. The land, nestled among state parks and beaches, is currently being auctioned to public benefit interests by the General Services Administration.

James Biederman, GSA project manager, said the public benefit screening process typically considers homeless shelters, parks, schools, airports, ports and correctional facilities first.

"Homeless shelters have first priority. Everyone else can get sponsorships," Biederman said. "Entities interested in the property for a public-benefit purpose can then submit an application to a federal sponsoring agency."

Whitty said the county does not yet have a federal sponsor and the board needs to discuss the issue further before deciding how to approach the land deal. She said some economic development prospects may be able to fit under the GSA's definition of public interest and surmised Coos Head would be a prime location for a public health research facility, a campus for pharmaceutical companies or a homeland defense research business.

Whatever the business, Whitty said the county must still work out whether it would want to partner with an enterprise, sell or lease the land.

"I'd really like to see private investment out there so whatever is built would be on the tax rolls," Whitty said.

The GSA has ordered an appraisal on the property, which should be completed within 90 days and Griffith agreed that the potential for a tax benefit exists.

"Taxes on it could be considerable if it were developed to its full potential," Griffith said. "That would be for schools and all the other taxing districts."

That would not have been the case if the Confederated Tribes had purchased the land.

The tribes were once considered the top prospect for acquiring the property because the process to sell surplused land gives federal agencies first right to bid.

The tribes would have been a lock to get the land but the failure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to submit the required application initiating the land transfer may have cost the tribes the property.

Tribal officials, furious at the BIA's handling of the matter, have said they are considering filing a lawsuit against the agency for missing the deadline and hope that they still may be able to negotiate a deal with the GSA.

Meanwhile, the sale process has moved to the second stage, in which any agency that can garner federal sponsorship and has a proposal that would benefit the broader public can bid on the land.

Tourism developers have eyed Coos Head for years and had already entered an application for the property from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

In 1998, the Coos Head Working Group, which included representatives from the port, Coos County, South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Coos Bay and North Bend and the Coquille Indian Tribe as well as the Confederated Tribes, developed a lengthy study that included numerous proposals for the land.

Alternative uses for the site all were largely based on the concept that eco-tourism could be profitable for the area. Ideas were discussed about using the site for a resort, for an educational interpretive center, or a center combining lodging and learning.

Prior to becoming a commissioner, Whitty helped to develop the Working Group study that promoted the site for tourism, but said much has changed since the document was completed.

"I just think the economy has changed," she said. "The needs of the county have changed. People need to sit back down and say what really benefits the entire county with the development of this property."

Whitty said she hasn't discounted a tourism-based development but added there are additional opportunities that offer more than seasonal economic growth.

"I also think it's important to have something where people have family-wage jobs or something where they live here year-round," she said.