Official Government Website

IDL timber sales help fund vital public institutions and services.  Our timber sales generate millions for beneficiaries like Idaho’s public schools, veterans’ homes, and colleges and universities.

Idaho’s forest products industry is the largest contributor to the endowments’ annual revenue. The trees we sell account for 25% of all timber harvested in Idaho. IDL foresters protect the endowments’ renewable timber resources by managing the land, selling the timber, planting new trees, and repeating the process.

Recent Timber Sale Notifications

Learn More About Endowment Land

Managed by Statewide Elected Officials

Idaho's constitution charges the State Board of Land Commissioners with managing endowment lands for the beneficiaries. The Board delegates its stewardship and daily management responsibilities to the Idaho Department of Lands.

Located Near Every Idaho Community

At statehood Idaho received sections 16 and 36 of each thirty-six square mile township to support public schools, plus additional sections for the other beneficiaries. This resulted in the ownership pattern initially being scattered across a checkerboard pattern. You can see the exact locations of all endowment lands on our interactive GIS maps.

Providing Vital Funding for Beneficiaries

We generate revenue from endowment lands by selling timber and leasing the land for grazing, farming, conservation, communication sites, recreation, residential/commercial use, minerals, and more.

Serving the Beneficiaries Financial Needs First

Endowment lands impact all of us in one way or another. But it’s the beneficiaries that have our undivided loyalty. This loyalty is core to the constitutional purpose of endowment lands. No matter how desirable a competing interests may be, we are constitutionally bound not to be swayed by anything that is not in the best financial interest of the beneficiaries.

Nine Beneficiaries Receive the Funding

Idaho’s public schools, Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind, University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Lewis-Clark State College, state hospitals for the mentally ill, state veterans homes, Capitol Commission, and state correctional system

Sole Mission to Produce Maximum Revenue

Endowment lands differ from other public lands. They are managed solely to generate revenue for the beneficiaries. Other public land managers have different missions. For endowment land, any use besides generating revenue is secondary because the Land Board, in its capacity as a trustee, must act with undivided loyalty in the interest of the beneficiaries.
ver: 3.5.1a | last updated:
Jump back to top of page button