2010 Idaho Code
TITLE 58 PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 3 APPRAISEMENT, LEASE, AND SALE OF LANDS
58-310B TWO OR MORE APPLICANTS FOR SAME LAND -- AUCTION OF LEASE.

TITLE 58

PUBLIC LANDS

CHAPTER 3

APPRAISEMENT, LEASE, AND SALE OF LANDS

58-310B. Two or more applicants for same land -- Auction of lease. (1) The legislature of the state of Idaho finds:

(a) That state endowment lands are a valuable resource to the people of Idaho, supporting employment opportunities and creating a significant source of income to the state and endowed state institutions;

(b) That many state endowment lands have few alternative uses, except for grazing livestock, that provide a stable long-term source of income to the endowed institutions of the state and contribute to tax revenues from all sources;

(c) That maximum long-term financial returns to the institutions to which granted are best obtained through stable leases;

(d) That long-term productivity of state endowment grazing lands and maximum long-term financial returns to the endowed institutions and the state are encouraged when lessees engage in cooperative grazing planning and management with the state of Idaho and federal land management agencies;

(e) That the promotion of good stewardship through the cooperative development and implementation of written grazing management plans, which meet department standards, on state endowment lands should be encouraged.

(2) It is hereby declared that the purposes of this section are:

(a) To support the endowed institutions and the state by encouraging a healthy Idaho livestock industry so as to generate related business and employment opportunities on a state and local level, thus supporting additional sales, income and property taxes;

(b) To enhance the long-term financial returns to the endowed institutions and the state from the state endowment lands available for grazing leases.

(3) When two (2) or more qualified applicants, as determined by the state board of land commissioners apply to lease the same endowment land that is currently leased for grazing, the director of the department of lands, or his agent, shall hold an auction.

(a) At least fourteen (14) days prior to the date of such auction, the director, or his agent, shall give notice by letter, which notice shall be sent in the course of regular mail to each of the qualified applicants for the lease, notifying them of the time and place such auction is to be held. The notice shall be sent to the name and address exactly as it is given in the application.

(b) Each qualified applicant who appears in person or by proxy at the time and place so designated in said notice shall be deemed to have participated in the auction. To be awarded the lease, a qualified applicant must participate in the auction.

(4) To be a qualified applicant and therefore entitled to participate at an auction for a lease under this section:

(a) The conflict applicant must have provided payment of one (1) year’s rental on the lease payable at the time of application to lease;

(b) The applicant must be capable of and willing to fulfill all provisions of any existing written grazing management plan which meets department standards associated with the parcel;

(c) The conflict applicant’s proposed use of the state land must be compatible with the purpose and terms of a written grazing management plan which meets department standards;

(d) The applicant must have filed applications in the manner and at the time provided for by statute and rules duly promulgated thereunder.

(e) Nothing herein shall limit the state board of land commissioner’s discretion to consider other qualification criteria, including but not limited to applicable criteria contained in subsection (6) of this section.

(5) The state board of land commissioners is expressly authorized to reject conflict applications, filed under section 58-307, Idaho Code, and this section, to lease parcels of grazing land.

(6) Criteria that may be considered by the state board of land commissioners, in deciding to whom the lease should be awarded, include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) Whether the participant satisfies the requirements of subsection (4) of this section;

(b) Whether the current lessee owns or controls sufficient real property to adequately feed the livestock in the lessee’s agricultural operation when the lessee is not utilizing the state lands for grazing purposes;

(c) The importance of the state grazing lands to be leased upon the current lessee’s total annual livestock operation, and the ability of the lessee to remain economically viable without the lease;

(d) The future revenues reasonably anticipated to be generated for the beneficiaries of the endowment and the state as a result of awarding the lease to one (1) applicant over others. If a conflict auction has been held, the board also may consider the premium bids resulting from the auction.

(e) The indirect benefits to the beneficiaries of the endowment from tax revenues from all sources generated by the lessee’s proposed activities on the leasehold and those activities related thereto, and the long-term stability or appreciation of such tax revenues;

(f) The impact on endowment land or the return to the endowment if the leasehold is not managed in conjunction with adjacent grazing lands;

(g) Whether the current lessee has managed the conflicted parcels in accordance with a written cooperative grazing management plan which meets department standards;

(h) Whether the current lessee has applied in writing to the director for the development and implementation of a written cooperative grazing management plan which meets department standards;

(i) Nothing herein shall limit the state board of land commissioner’s discretion to consider other criteria in deciding to whom the lease should be awarded.

(7) (a) For the purposes of subsection (6)(h) of this section, the qualified applicant status of a current lessee having applied in writing to the director for the cooperative development and implementation of a written grazing management plan, meeting department standards, shall remain in force until the director notifies the lessee in writing that the department is ready to develop a written grazing management plan;

(b) The failure of the lessee to enter into a cooperative grazing management plan within eighteen (18) months following the director’s written notice shall constitute a breach of the lease;

(c) Upon written request by the lessee, filed before the expiration of the eighteen (18) month period, the department may authorize additional time to complete the plan, provided that development of the written grazing management plan is progressing to the satisfaction of the director;

(d) The department shall prioritize all written requests to establish grazing management plans, with such priority list in writing to be made available at appropriate department offices.

(8) (a) If the board awards the lease for the conflicted parcels to the former lessee, any existing written grazing management plan shall be incorporated by reference in the lease;

(b) If the board awards the lease for the conflicted parcel(s) to the former lessee who, prior to said award, has applied in writing to the director for the development and implementation of a written grazing management plan which meets department standards, then said written grazing management plan shall, upon its development, be incorporated by reference into the lease as a matter of law, as if it had existed and been approved when the board awarded the lease;

(c) If the board awards the lease for the conflicted parcels to a conflict applicant, a written cooperative grazing management plan which meets department standards shall, upon its development, be incorporated by reference into the lease as a matter of law, as if it had existed and been approved when the board awarded the lease.

(9) The state board of land commissioners shall review all bids and shall have the power to reject any and all bids made at such auctions, when in their judgment:

(a) There has been fraud or collusion;

(b) The criteria listed in subsection (6) of this section have not been satisfied so as to support the findings and purposes of this section; or

(c) For any other reasons which, in the judgment of the state board of land commissioners, justify the rejection of said bids.