BOISE, ID – A state commission chaired by Idaho Gov. Brad Little once again voted Tuesday to proceed with selling off a 160-acre parcel of land near the Teton Range that is leased for grazing through 2032.
During a meeting Tuesday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners – or Land Board – voted 4-1 to move forward with auctioning off a 160-acre parcel of state land, which is located in eastern Idaho near the town of Driggs.
The Land Board previously voted 5-0 on July 15 to auction off the same plot of land, which is being leased for grazing by fifth-generation rancher Nick Beard and his family, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
The sale of the land would result in breaking the grazing lease, which would be legal under the fine print terms of the contract, the Sun previously reported.
The Land Board took the issue up again Tuesday after two-thirds of Idaho’s Teton County commissioners and several members of the public voiced opposition to selling the state land and breaking the grazing lease with the local ranching family.
State officials said they want to auction the land off to the highest bidder because the Idaho Constitution requires the state to manage state endowment lands in such a way as to maximize the highest long-term financial return to endowment beneficiaries. The state currently generates about $960 a year off the land through the grazing lease. But by selling the land in Driggs, where property values have been increasing for decades and millionaires have been buying up land that had historically been used by local ranchers and farmers, officials believe they could make millions of dollars for the state.
Two-thirds of Teton County Idaho commissioners oppose sale of land
On Sept. 12, two of Idaho’s Teton County commissioners wrote a letter to Little and the Land Board asking them to not sell the land. They said hundreds of local people spoke out against the sale, sticking up for the Beard family and calling on the state to preserve agricultural land that is accessible to the public in a community that was built on agriculture.
“Our Comprehensive Plan (p1-8) states … ‘We will strive to … maintain, nurture and enhance the rural character and nature of Teton Valley,’” Commissioners Brad Wolfe and Dan Powers wrote. “It is hard to picture a more striking depiction of this mandate than the Beard family ranching on this property.”
“With the overwhelmingly strong opposition we have received from the public, we as the commissioners of Teton County and representing our constituents, have unitedly come to the decision that we respectfully request that the ‘Driggs 160’ not be considered for sale at this time,” Wolfe and Powers added.
However, Teton County Commissioner Ron James did not sign the letter and sent his own letter to Little and the Land Board urging them to complete the sale.
“I understand the passion surrounding this issue, including the value of public lands for agriculture, wildlife and community heritage, as highlighted in the numerous public comments we have received,” James wrote. “However, I remain convinced that respecting the state’s authority in this instance is the proper course of action.”
Rancher leasing state lands was not notified in advance of planned sale
One of the issues surrounding the planned sale of the property is that Beard and his family were not notified in advance before the Land Board considered approving the sale in July, the Sun previously reported. Instead, Beard’s wife found out about the sale through a post on Facebook, and it took until July 21, about a week after the first vote July 15, for someone from the Idaho Department of Lands to notify the Beards that they would be losing the land his family has leased from grazing since the 1990s.
Beard’s lease runs through 2032, but the language in the lease agreement allows the state to break the lease in the event the state decides to sell the property.
Idaho preparing to sell 160 acres of state-owned endowment land near the Tetons
Several Land Board members, including Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, were highly critical of the Idaho Department of Lands staff for failing to notify Beard of the planned sale in a timely manner. McGrane made an unsuccessful attempt to put the land up for sale under the condition the new buyer honor the terms of Beard’s lease through its end date, but McGrane’s motion failed on a 2-3 vote. Just McGrane and Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf supported the move, while Little, Attorney General Raúl Labrador and Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield opposed the proposal.
Moments later, the Land Board voted 4-1 to authorize the sale as planned, which will end the lease. McGrane cast the lone vote against moving forward with the sale as planned.
Idaho Department of Lands officials previously told the Sun there is interest in the property from prospective buyers, who they declined to identify. State officials said they don’t know who will end up buying the land because it will be sold at auction that anyone can participate in.
Earlier this year, Beard told the Sun that lawyers representing a neighboring land owner, Thomas Tull, have reached out to him with interest in acquiring the land.
Tull is a billionaire businessman and movie producer. According to campaign finance records Tull contributed $25,000 to the Friends of Brad Little political committee in 2023. Tull also contributed $100,000 to the Idaho Victory Fund Political Action Committee in 2022, which supported a variety of Republican candidates including Little, McGrane and Critchfield.
Neither the Land Board nor the Idaho Department of Lands set a date for the auction during Tuesday’s meeting.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
