In 1890, when Idaho became the 43rd state in the Union, the United States government granted 3,672,000 acres of land to Idaho. The federal government granted this land to Idaho to support state institutions, primarily the state’s public-school system, and conditioned the grant upon the land being "managed in perpetuity as a trust for the beneficiary institutions." This was included in the Idaho Admission Bill which is attached as a PDF. These lands are now known as state endowment trust lands.  

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The Idaho Constitution provides that the State Board of Land Commissioners (Land Board) comprised of Idaho’s Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and State Controller, is the trustee and decision making authority for the endowment lands.

 

Under Article IX, Section 8 of the Idaho Constitution, the Land Board has the duty to "provide for the location, protection, sale or rental" of the endowment lands to “secure the maximum long term financial return” for the beneficiaries. The Land Board provides direction and oversight to the Idaho Department of Lands, which manages these lands on a daily basis.  Article IX of the Constitution is provided as a PDF to the left.

 

Due to the sale and trade of endowment lands over the years, Idaho currently has  approximately 2.5 million acres of endowment trust lands.  

There are nine state endowment funds connected to the endowment lands, and the following nine entities are the beneficiaries of these funds: 
•    Idaho public schools
•    University of Idaho
•    State hospitals for the mentally ill
•    Lewis-Clark State College
•    State veterans homes
•    Idaho State University
•    Capitol Commission
•    Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind
•    Idaho’s juvenile corrections system and prison system 

 

The Idaho Department of Lands manages the Idaho endowment lands through ten supervisory areas. The McCall area endowment lands are included in the Payette Lakes supervisory area. A map showing the location of the Idaho endowment lands within the supervisory areas is provided below.  The Adobe Hot Key provides a higher resolution PDF that can be magnified.

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(Information partially extracted from State of Idaho Department of Lands public website)