The Dalles City Council took the next step toward buying 3,445 acres of land within the municipal watershed, approving moving forward with an over three-year option to make the purchase.  The option agreement with Lupine Forest LLC comes at the cost of $1.  The non-profit Conservation Fund is currently seeking a grant of just over $2 million to supplement $675,000 in City funds to buy the land.  The Dalles Public Works Director Dave Anderson told Councilors owning watershed land makes it easier to protect water quality by controlling timber harvest practices to use selective techniques rather than clearcuts, avoiding herbicide use, and closing the land to public entry except on a permit basis to prevent human-caused fires and illegal dumping.  Anderson notes the City already owns 5,000 acres of its watershed, and this represents the last significant piece of private land in the watershed.