The owners of a 307- acre vineyard east of Salem are interested in selling the property to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for a proposed expansion of Willamette National Cemetery.   The VA is pursuing plans to develop a new cemetery on the land at 3515 Howell Prairie Rd. S.E. The prope rty is owned by a Washington vineyard property management company, Winemakers Investment Properties LLC. Company manager Paul Lukas confirmed interest in the property sale Monday, March 30, to Salem Reporter. County records show the land is currently valued at $3.3 million. The VA first announced its proposal to expand the Willamette National Cemetery in a Sept. 21 letter disclosing the site would be surveyed for the potential environmental impacts. The existing Willamette National Cemetery outside of Portland is located 60 miles north of the property.  That cemetery is still taking burials and it is unclear when it will reach capacity. The National Cemetery Administration at the VA aims to ensure veterans have burial options within 75 miles of their last known residence.  Members of the public have about a month to weigh in on the proposal.  Lukas said the property was previously on the market around 3 years ago, but was taken off due to a lack of interest. “I don’t know how they got my number,” he said of the VA. New documents from the VA provide more detail about the agency’s plans for the property, which has raised concerns from neighbors about traffic, groundwater use and taking usable farmland out of production. They also show the agency wants to demolish a historic pioneer home on the property. The agency briefly published a draft environmental assessment on its website before removing it on Wednesday, March 25. Salem Reporter downloaded a copy. The timeline for the project is still unclear. VA spokesman Gary Kunich did not respond to Salem Reporter’s inquiry about the timeline of the potential development or the publication of the assessment. The property was home to Daniel and Melinda Waldo, who came to Oregon by way of the Oregon Trail in 1843. Their home, called the Waldo House, was built in 1854 and still sits on the property, according to a city report. It’s believed to be one of the oldest houses in Marion County remaining from that era. It is not currently listed on any historic registry.  The historic two-story wooden home has been unoccupied for several decades. Its windows and entryways are boarded up, the original front porch is missing and moss appears to be growing on its roof. The city’s report found the home still “retains substantial integrity despite being in poor condition.”  The Waldo House is pictured in 2025. (Terracon photo) The Waldo property includes a section of an old railway that will not be affected by the proposed cemetery development. It also has a historic graveyard where about three dozen people are buried. In a March 2 letter sent to stakeholders with an attached historical assessment, the VA announced its intent to demolish the Waldo House. It asked consulting parties, including neighbors and the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission, to weigh in. The city commission is recommending the department relocate or repurpose the home for the cemetery’s use, rather than demolish it, said Kimberli Fitzgerald, the city archaeologist and Historic Preservation Program manager.  “It’s a significant property, and its loss would be very detrimental to the overall, our understanding of the history of the Willamette Valley in the mid-19th century,” Fitzgerald said.  Neighbors who have contacted the VA remain overwhelmingly opposed to the project. The environmental assessment logged 91 comments spanning environmental concerns, the historic preservation of the property and inquiries about why the land was selected.  Tina Herman co-runs the Macleay neighbors group, which regularly alerts residents by email about project updates and arranges neighborhood meetings. She said neighbors have had difficulty getting more information about the project despite multiple inquiries to the VA. “We just, we don’t hear back from anyone,” Herman said. Among their concerns is taking active farmland out of production. “Once you convert 290 acres of prime Willamette Valley farm, exclusive-use soil to something other than farming – you will never get that back,” Herman said.  The VA’s draft assessment concluded turning the land into a cemetery would have “negligible impacts to farmland resources” in Marion County, which has 275,483 acres of farmland according to 2022 data. Between 2017 and 2022, Oregon lost 667,000 acres or 4% of its farmland, Census of Agriculture data showed. Macleay homes rely on well water drawn from underground aquifers. Many neighbors have reported that their wells recently dried up, forcing them to pay to drill new wells on their properties. They worry a new cemetery could further strain the town’s water supply. The assessment said the current permitted groundwater allowance for the Howell Prairie Road property will “likely” be enough for the cemetery’s use. The existing Willamette National Cemetery uses about 70,000 gallons of water each year.  Neighbors also had concerns that traffic would increase on the narrow, winding roads surrounding the property. The assessment found the cemetery would draw about 275 drivers each day to those roads based on a traffic study.  The report noted that there could be minor noise caused by construction, and later by ceremonial rifle salutes that would occur periodically during open hours. It also found the land’s soil and geology suitable for cemetery development. With the historical assessment and draft environmental assessment coming out, Herman is concerned the VA has invested too much to back out. “The government has invested so much money in this,” Herman said. “Whereas, had we gotten involved earlier, there’s an easy way to bow out gracefully without too much revenue loss. But now that they’ve gone so far in this process, it’s almost going to be an act of desperation on their part to keep going.” State Rep. Paul Evans, whose district includes much of West Salem, Monmouth and Independence, penned a letter to the VA asking the department to consider the shuttered Mill Creek Correctional Facility as an alternative site for the cemetery. His district does not include the Howell Prairie Road land or the unincorporated community of Macleay.  The VA has arranged a Thursday, April 30 public hearing in the Salem Library Loucks Auditorium at 12:30 p.m. to receive public comment for the final environmental assessment. The library is at 585 Liberty St. S.E. Public comments can be made by email at [email protected]. Previous reporting: Plans in motion to expand Willamette National Cemetery to Salem  Residents raise concerns about potential national cemetery in Salem  Contact reporter Hailey Cook: [email protected]. SIGN UP: Independent reporting gives Salem a stronger voice and holds those in power accountable on issues ranging from homelessness to health care. Be part of that work by becoming a subscriber. Subscribe today. The post Vineyard owners interested in selling farmland outside Salem for VA cemetery expansion appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less