Whenever application is made to the department by any department of the United States government for the use of any state-owned tidelands or shorelands and adjoining and bordering on any upland held by the United States for any of the purposes mentioned in RCW 79.125.760, upon proof being made to the department, that the uplands are so held by the United States for such purposes, and upon payment for the land, it shall cause the fact to be entered in the records of the department and the department shall certify the fact to the governor who will execute a deed in the name of the state, attested by the secretary of state, conveying the use of the lands, for such purposes, to the United States, so long as it shall continue to hold for the public purposes the uplands adjoining the tidelands and shorelands.