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Land Board Hearing Recap

• All board members present
• Review the Final Agenda
• Download the Meeting Materials

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Department Report

Timber Sales Revenue

• Attachment: Trust Land – Timber Sales

• Attachment: Trust Land – Leases and Permits

• FY2026 Non-Timber Gross Revenue (through Nov. 30, 2025)

  • $2.29M actual, $1.59M forecast, $8.75M total expected
  • Estimates based on historic billing timing and projected lease and permit activity
  • Earnings Reserve (Real Estate Services): $2.29M actual; excluded from forecast
  • Minerals (Permanent Fund): $1.58M; excluded from forecast

• Endowment Transactions

  • November: 9 instruments issued (leases, lease assignments, land use permits)
  • Real estate: One Priest Lake cottage site sale completed

• Leasing & Permanent Fund Revenue

  • Leasing revenue ahead of projections and three-year average at $2.3M
  • Gains driven by late cropland payment, UI CAES lease extension, range permits and premium solar lease option
  • Permanent Fund: Nearly $1.6M in mineral revenue and royalties deposited since July 1

Endowment Fund Investment Board

• Attachments:
  • EFIB Manager's Report
  • EFIB Investment Report

• Investment Performance (through Nov. 30, 2025)

  • Monthly return: 0.3%
  • FYTD return: 6.2%

• Market Conditions

  • Equity markets experienced volatility amid concerns over AI stock valuations and returns on large AI infrastructure investments
  • Markets rebounded following strong earnings from Nvidia
  • Investor confidence improved after the end of the longest-ever government shutdown
  • Markets anticipated a Federal Reserve rate cut at the early December meeting

• Endowment Fund Reserves

  • FY2026 and FY2027 distributions are well secured

• Portfolio & Governance Notes

  • Board approved hiring a third international equity manager
  • International equity allocation: 17%, previously split between two managers
  • Search underway to improve diversification and reduce concentration risk
• FY2026 and FY2027 distributions are well secured.

Regular Agenda

Rulemaking Petition: Idaho Code § 38-1304(1)(f)

• Attachment: Rulemaking Petition: Idaho Code § 38-1304(1)(f)
• Approved 5-0

• Petition & Review Process

  • April 22, 2025: Farm Bureau petitioned IDL to initiate rulemaking
  • IDL directed petition to Forest Practices Advisory Committee (FPAC)
  • Special FPAC meeting: Aug. 26, 2025; subcommittee formed
  • Subcommittee met Oct. 6 and Nov. 7, 2025
• Key Findings
  • Agreement that forest health issues exist on federal lands
  • No consensus that Forest Practices rules are effective or enforceable on federal lands
  • 1992 AG opinion: Rules under this statute likely unenforceable

• FPAC Recommendations (8–0)

  • Continue addressing forest health through Shared Stewardship and Good Neighbor Authority
  • Do not initiate rulemaking; existing rules already allow timely salvage

• Land Board Questions & Discussion

  • Would not entering rulemaking conflict with statute?
  • Could narrow rulemaking strengthen collaboration without compelling federal action?
  • How would rulemaking affect staff capacity and ongoing Shared Stewardship and GNA work?
  • Where does this fit within the eight-year negotiated rulemaking cycle?

• Outcome

  • Motion approved to schedule limited rulemaking, narrowly focused on § 38-1304(1)(f) and aligned with Shared Stewardship agreements

Fire Strategic Plan

• Attachment: Fire Strategic Plan
• Approved: 5-0

• Overview

  • Wildfire risk in Idaho is increasing, threatening communities, resources and the economy
  • Land Board directed IDL to develop a strategic wildland fire plan

• Strategic Plan 

  • Focuses on organization, staffing, training and equipment
  • Designed as a living, adaptive document
  • Updated based on Land Board, partner and staff input
  • Adds emphasis on partnerships, prevention, mitigation and workforce mental health

• Next Steps

  • Upon approval, IDL will develop a near-term implementation plan
  • Identified future costs are planning assumptions only, not funding approvals

• Questions & Discussion

  • Request for a redline comparison to prior draft
  • Should the plan include a regular review/update schedule?
  • Clarification that future cost figures do not commit funding

Information Agenda

Endowment Ownership History

• Attachment: Endowment Ownership History

• Endowment Origins & Governance

  • Federal land grants began in 1863; Idaho received ~3.6 million acres at statehood
  • Idaho Constitution created the Land Board
  • 1982 amendment clarified mandate to maximize long-term financial returns
  • 1996 review led to today’s unified trust model (IDL land assets + EFIB financial assets)

• Land Disposition & Management History

  • Founders chose a mixed strategy: sell some lands, retain and manage others
  • Lieu land selection process completed by 1998
  • Early sales focused on productive agricultural lands
  • Later sales shifted to isolated or underperforming parcels
  • Since 2015, about 800 acres sold, primarily cottage sites and small commercial tracts
• Financial Evolution
  • EFIB established in 1969; major reforms approved in 1998
  • Financial assets grew from ~$800M (2000) to ~$3.8B (2025)
  • Land assets valued at ~$1.93B
  • Combined trust value: ~$5.7B
  • Annual distributions increased to $103M+, supported by long-term reserves

• Key Themes

  • Endowments managed as a diversified, fiduciary-driven portfolio
  • Focus on value-for-value transactions, consolidation and diversified income
  • Historical perspective helps address misconceptions about acreage vs. value

• Questions, Discussion & Responses

  • Why did Idaho receive more land than some states?
    • Response: Land grants were based largely on land productivity and negotiations, not uniform acreage.
  • How many acres remain today compared to the original 3.6 million?
    • Response: Roughly 2.3 million acres remain, but acreage alone does not reflect economic value due to consolidation and higher-value lands retained.
  • How many acres went to the federal government versus being sold?
    • Response: IDL will follow up with detailed figures.
  • How do railroad lands factor into endowment history?
    • Response: Early timber-era practices included temporary deeds and rights-of-way, contributing to later boundary corrections and checkerboard patterns.
  • How does this history inform current policy?
    • Response: It supports ongoing efforts toward consolidation, exchanges and value-based decisions, not simple acreage retention.

Remote Sensing (LiDAR)

• No attachments

• What LiDAR Is & Why It Matters

  • Uses aircraft-mounted sensors to create high-resolution 3D point clouds
  • Enables single-tree inventory (trees ≥3 feet tall) with attributes such as species, height and volume
  • IDL has modeled ~1.46 million acres statewide, beyond just timber assets
• Program Development & Investment
  • Program began 2012–2013; scaled through partnerships starting in 2016
  • Collaborative flights with federal agencies and industry reduce per-acre costs
  • Total IDL investment: ~$300,000, averaging well under $1/acre (about $0.20/acre on modeled lands)
  • Estimated ~$2M in avoided costs compared to traditional field cruising

• Operational Benefits

  • Strong correlation (~90%) between LiDAR-based inventory and traditional field methods
  • Improves accuracy in timber appraisal, sale design and fiduciary valuation
  • Supports planning for harvest timing, growth cycles, insects, disease and wildfire risk
  • Data refreshed on a five-year cycle

• Data Use & Management

  • Data stored on IDL servers in Boise and Coeur d’Alene (not cloud-based)
  • Standard state IT security protocols apply
  • Tools allow staff to generate on-demand reports for volume, species, size class and spatial analysis

• Questions, Discussion & Responses

  • How is LiDAR data actually used?
    • Response: Integrated into GIS tools for inventory, appraisal, harvest planning, pest detection and risk modeling.
  • How often is the data updated?
    • Response: Planned five-year refresh flights to track growth, harvest and disturbance.
  • Can AI be used with this data?
    • Response: Yes. AI shows strong potential for spatial modeling and pattern detection, though large data volumes require careful scaling.
  • Is data shared with other agencies (fire, water, emergency services)?
    • Response: Not yet formally, but IDL agreed this is a strong opportunity to pursue, especially for wildfire risk and GNA work.
  • Where is the data stored and how secure is it?
    • Response: Stored on IDL servers; security handled under standard ITS protocols.
  • Why is this critical for fiduciary responsibility?
    • Response: Without LiDAR, IDL would be at a disadvantage when buyers already have detailed data—“a knife to a gunfight.”

• Key Takeaway

  • LiDAR is a high-value, low-cost investment that improves accuracy, reduces risk, strengthens wildfire and forest health planning and enhances IDL’s fiduciary management of endowment lands.

Logging Day with Constitutional Officers

• No attachments

• Logging Field Tour Video

  • Land Board viewed a video from a logging operation near Council hosted by Mark Mahan
  • Purpose: highlight modern logging practices, safety and technology
• Key Discussion
  • Idaho timber sales have generated $1B+ for public schools over 70 years
  • Modern equipment allows one operator to replace many workers, improving safety
  • Idaho’s local mills and contractors enable effective forest health work
  • Contrast noted with states lacking mills, limiting treatment options
• Questions & Responses
  • Why is modern logging technology important?
    • Response: Improves safety, efficiency and project feasibility.
  • Why does Idaho’s timber industry matter?
    • Response: Supports forest management, rural jobs and endowment revenue.

Executive Session

None

Adjournment