The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources outbid two other contenders at an auction Friday of 356 acres of land owned by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, near Little Hole on the Green River not far from Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

The parcel sold for $1.6 million, about $375,000 more than the minimum bidding price.

DWR director Jim Karpowitz said he is happy about the purchase.

"I'm really excited and a little bit relieved that the land is going to remain in public ownership," he said Friday.

The auction had drawn criticism from the division, anglers and environmentalists, who feared the land would be sold to a Georgia-based developer, Flint Timber, that wanted to build a lodge and cabins there. The DWR said the land is important habitat for wildlife, especially in winter.

The division said in a letter last July that it would not allow a road to pass through DWR land to the parcel, which presented a major hurdle for potential developers. The lack of access led SITLA to delay the auction that previously had been scheduled for early January.

For the auction Friday, SITLA could not guarantee road access to the parcel and made a disclaimer on its Web site, stating that the parcel would be sold "as is." SITLA went forward with the sale after receiving a letter from Daggett County on May 8 that said the county would fight to make road access available.

Flint Timber did not bid during the auction. Company officials did not return a phone call seeking comment late Friday.

The division said in a news release that the purchase "culminates more than two years of effort by the DWR and sportsmen's groups to protect this vital property, which, if developed, would have seriously compromised the scenic and wildlife values of the Little Hole region below Flaming Gorge Dam."

Questar Exploration and Production gave the DWR $400,000 of the money used to make the purchase, Karpowitz said. The rest of the money came from the Utah Reclamation, Mitigation and Conservation Commission and from hunting and fishing license fees.

The energy company gave the money purely to preserve the land, said Tammy Kikuchi, director of communications and marketing for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the DWR.

"Questar's purpose was simply to help DWR be able to purchase the land and keep it undeveloped forever," Kikuchi said. She said the Nature Conservancy brought the DWR, which was looking for help to purchase the land, and Questar E&P together. She could not give details of the size of the energy company's contribution.

Karpowitz said the parcel will be managed like other DWR lands, preserving it for wildlife.