The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is evaluating a $3 million parcel of Salem farmland to potentially double the size of the Portland Willamette National Cemetery.

The 307-acre property at 3515 Howell Prairie Road S.E. is east of Salem and north of Aumsville in the Waldo Hills off Highway 22. The land is currently owned by a Washington vineyard property management company, Winemakers Investment Properties LLC.

A cemetery expansion would create more burial options for veterans in the Willamette Valley, and ensure veterans in the region continue to have “reasonable access” to burial options, according to a Sept. 16 letter from VA Project Development Services Division Director Glenn Elliot.

The VA is conducting an environmental assessment of the site, according to the letter. The ti

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