04-14-2015, 07:48 PM
This is the only precedent that is set on how the state of Idaho will manage its land.
From the Idaho department of Land's website.
"Brief History of Idaho’s Endowment Trust Lands
As it was deliberating the Idaho Admissions Act in 1889, the United
States Congress displayed uncommon wisdom by granting what would
become the Union’s 43
rd
member approximately 3,600,000 acres of land
for the sole purpose of funding specified beneficiaries.
The Idaho Constitution was crafted to include Article IX,Section 8, which mandates that the lands will be
managed “…in such manner as will secure the maximum long-term financial return tothe institution to which
[it is] granted.”
(basically state land must be managed for profit or sold)
Chief among the beneficiaries are the public schools, which received two sections of every township in the
state (1/18 of the total land base). Beneficiaries of the other funds include the University of Idaho, State
hospitals for the mentally ill, Lewis-Clark State College, State veterans homes, Idaho State University, the
Capitol Commission, Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind, and Idaho’s juvenile corrections system and prison
system.
The prescribed income isgenerated in a number of ways: the sale of land; the sale of timber; leases for
grazing, farming, conservation, commercial buildings, recreational homesites, and mining; and earnings from
invested funds.
(amended in 1998 to allow the sale of land)
The Endowment Fund Investment Board is charged with managing the invested revenues from
the endowment lands.
Management activities on state endowment trust land are not intended to benefit the general public, but are
directed solely to the good of the beneficiaries of the original land grants. Money generated from the
management of these lands is deposited into the earnings reserve fund from which the costs of management
and payments to the beneficiaries are made. Revenue from mineral royalties is deposited into the permanent
endowment fund. Both the earnings reserve and permanent fund are invested by the Endowment Fund
Investment Board. The investment return is distributed to the beneficiaries. Land sale revenue is deposited
into the land bank and is available to purchase other land. If not expended for that purpose within five years,
the land sale revenue is deposited into the permanent fund.
Management of endowment trust lands is entrusted to the State Board of Land Commissioners. The Idaho
Department of Lands is the administrative arm of the Board and carries out the executive directives of the
Board to meet the constitutional trust mandate.
Until 1968, it was limited to a “buy-and-hold” investment strategy as dictated by the original legislation that
created the fund. Subsequent constitutional amendments approved in 1968 and 1998, enabled the board to
take advantage of all the modern investment tools available to it.
("Modern investment tools"= sale the land and invest the money to earn interest)
As a result, the fund’s assets rose
dramatically — from $77 million when the board was created to more than $1.4 billion today —with a
corresponding increase in the financial resources available to the beneficiaries."
None of this looks good for the sportsman and women of Idaho. anyone care to guess how much state endowment land has been sold since 1998?
[signature]
From the Idaho department of Land's website.
"Brief History of Idaho’s Endowment Trust Lands
As it was deliberating the Idaho Admissions Act in 1889, the United
States Congress displayed uncommon wisdom by granting what would
become the Union’s 43
rd
member approximately 3,600,000 acres of land
for the sole purpose of funding specified beneficiaries.
The Idaho Constitution was crafted to include Article IX,Section 8, which mandates that the lands will be
managed “…in such manner as will secure the maximum long-term financial return tothe institution to which
[it is] granted.”
(basically state land must be managed for profit or sold)
Chief among the beneficiaries are the public schools, which received two sections of every township in the
state (1/18 of the total land base). Beneficiaries of the other funds include the University of Idaho, State
hospitals for the mentally ill, Lewis-Clark State College, State veterans homes, Idaho State University, the
Capitol Commission, Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind, and Idaho’s juvenile corrections system and prison
system.
The prescribed income isgenerated in a number of ways: the sale of land; the sale of timber; leases for
grazing, farming, conservation, commercial buildings, recreational homesites, and mining; and earnings from
invested funds.
(amended in 1998 to allow the sale of land)
The Endowment Fund Investment Board is charged with managing the invested revenues from
the endowment lands.
Management activities on state endowment trust land are not intended to benefit the general public, but are
directed solely to the good of the beneficiaries of the original land grants. Money generated from the
management of these lands is deposited into the earnings reserve fund from which the costs of management
and payments to the beneficiaries are made. Revenue from mineral royalties is deposited into the permanent
endowment fund. Both the earnings reserve and permanent fund are invested by the Endowment Fund
Investment Board. The investment return is distributed to the beneficiaries. Land sale revenue is deposited
into the land bank and is available to purchase other land. If not expended for that purpose within five years,
the land sale revenue is deposited into the permanent fund.
Management of endowment trust lands is entrusted to the State Board of Land Commissioners. The Idaho
Department of Lands is the administrative arm of the Board and carries out the executive directives of the
Board to meet the constitutional trust mandate.
Until 1968, it was limited to a “buy-and-hold” investment strategy as dictated by the original legislation that
created the fund. Subsequent constitutional amendments approved in 1968 and 1998, enabled the board to
take advantage of all the modern investment tools available to it.
("Modern investment tools"= sale the land and invest the money to earn interest)
As a result, the fund’s assets rose
dramatically — from $77 million when the board was created to more than $1.4 billion today —with a
corresponding increase in the financial resources available to the beneficiaries."
None of this looks good for the sportsman and women of Idaho. anyone care to guess how much state endowment land has been sold since 1998?
[signature]