The legislature finds that from time to time it may be desirable for the department to sell state lands which have low potential for natural resource management or low income-generating potential or which, because of geographic location or other factors, are inefficient for the department to manage. However, it is also important to acquire lands for long-term management to replace those sold so that the publicly owned land base will not be depleted and the publicly owned forestland base will not be reduced. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a means to facilitate such sales and purchases so that the diversity of public uses on the trust lands will be maintained. In making the determinations, the department shall comply with local land use plans and applicable growth management principles.