The Idaho Land Board has adopted a new policy that allows continued recreational access on state endowment lands.
The panel this week also approved an agreement with the Idaho Fish and Game Commission for continued access for hunting, fishing and related uses on some 2.3 million acres of endowment lands. The new recreation policy recognizes the Land Board is meeting its fiduciary obligation to maximize long-term financial returns from the use of endowment lands, consistent with the Idaho Constitution, while continuing to allow recreational access where it does not interfere with those obligations.
Fish and Game would pay IDL 25 cents per endowment acre to compensate public schools and other endowment beneficiaries for public hunting, fishing, and other recreation uses. Funds will come from the Fish and Game’s share of the federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition, and from Sportsman Access Fees paid by buyers of Idaho hunting, fishing and trapping licenses. Some of the payment will be in-kind through the services of conservation officers providing enforcement on endowment lands.
Under the new policy, the public will continue to enjoy recreational access on a little over 96 percent of endowment lands. The rest is not legally accessible for recreation because those lands are locked in by neighboring private landowners, or because they are leased under contract provisions that do not allow public access for safety or security reasons. (Idaho Department of Lands)
