Editor’s note: This story was jointly reported, written and edited by the Jackson Hole News&Guide and Idaho Capital Sun. Click here to read the Jackson Hole News & Guide version of the story.
BOISE, ID – Officials with the state of Idaho sold 160 acres of state-owned endowment land located in the shadow of the Teton Range for $5 million at a public auction Friday in Garden City.
The so-called “Driggs 160” property sold to a bidder identified initially as “bidder 218” for the minimum reserve bid of $5 million.
An Idaho Department of Lands spokesperson told the Idaho Capital Sun the winning bidder was TR Lot Holdco LLC. The LLC is one of the limited liability companies owned by billionaire Thomas Tull.
There were no competing bidders for the property, which is located near the city of Driggs in eastern Idaho’s Teton County.
In the months leading up to the auction, there was considerable opposition to auctioning the state-owned property off to the highest bidder, in part because the grazing lease already established for the land was not up until 2032.
More than 2,000 people signed an online change.org petition opposing the sale of the property, which has been leased by fifth-generation rancher Nick Beard’s family for more than 30 years. Two county commissioners from Teton County, Idaho, also wrote letters to Idaho Gov. Brad Little urging the state not to tell the property.
A press release issued by the auction house prior to the sale described the property as boasting “breathtaking and uninterrupted views of the Tetons” and “an outstanding opportunity to shape your own place in this scenic region of the United States.”
“Properties like this are getting harder and harder to come by,” Jacob Bottles, a principal/agent at Bottles Real Estate Auctions, said at the beginning of Friday’s auction.
Grazing lease will be offered to Beard family for continued use
The property was sold as one parcel of land, not divided up into smaller parcels or lots.
Beard said he was glad to see Tull purchase the parcel.
“Honestly, I’m glad that he got it because I’m pretty sure it won’t be developed,” Beard said. “I would rather have someone that is going to conserve the land and not try to put up a mini subdivision there.”
However, Jessica Jaubert, spokesperson for Tull, said the grazing lease will be offered to the Beard family for continued grazing on the parcel. She added that the land will not be developed.
“The land will remain undeveloped, consistent with how Mr. Tull has managed other land he owns in Teton Valley,” said Jaubert, in a phone call after the auction. “The current grazing lease terms will be offered to the Beard family.”
Beard was unaware of the agreement on Friday.
Beard said on Friday that he will be able to continue grazing on the parcel until July 15. After that, he’s going to take things “day by day,” figuring out where he’ll graze his cattle next summer.
Why did some members of the public oppose the sale of the land?
The Jackson Hole News&Guide first broke the story that the state was selling the land, even though the Beard family still held a valid grazing lease on the land through 2032.
State officials have said that the fine print in the lease allowed them to break the lease to sell the property.
The auction was set in motion last summer.
On July 15, the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners first voted 5-0 to sell the property at auction, to maximize revenue to the endowment. Beard was paying $950 per year to graze on the parcel, but the land was worth millions of dollars. Lands department staff at the time said that a local landowner had expressed interest in the parcel, which initiated the sale.
The parcel is bordered on two sides by the sprawling estate of Tull, a billionaire who owns at least 8,000 acres of land in Teton County, Idaho, with a total value of nearly $100 million, according to the county’s land records. Tull, a financier and founder of a film production company, helped bankroll “The Dark Knight,” the second movie in director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.
The vote sparked a backlash from Idahoans who oppose selling state-owned land, as well as many Teton County residents who live near the property.
After public opposition broke out, the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners took the proposal up again on Nov. 18 and voted again to proceed with the sale, this time via a 4-1 vote.
State officials previously told the Sun they were selling the property because the Idaho Constitution requires them to manage state endowment lands in such a way to maximize the highest long-term financial return for endowment beneficiaries. Officials said the state generated about $960 per year off the property through the grazing lease, while the sale generated $5 million.
Friday’s auction took place at the Riverside Hotel in Garden City, a suburb of Boise.
In addition to the $5 million bidding price, the winning bidder was responsible for paying a buyer’s premium equal to 5% of the purchase price and responsible for paying $10,090 to reimburse the Beard family for a fence the family put up on the property while they held a grazing lease, state documents show.
Under state law, money from the sale will be deposited into the state’s Land Bank Fund, where the money can be used to purchase new land within five years.
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.
