Valley County Commissioners gave some early feedback Monday morning to a proposal to swap nearly 16,000 acres of state endowment land around Payette Lake with the U.S. Forest Service.
Endowment lands are parcels managed by the state, which is constitutionally required to get the best return from the property for beneficiaries like public schools.
Dustin Miller, the director of the Idaho Department of Lands, said the real estate has skyrocketed in value over recent years.
“It’s highly sought after,” said Miller. “McCall loves that ground. We love that ground, too, but we’ve got an obligation to produce revenue on [that land].”
Selling logging leases on that land, he said, isn’t producing as much of a return on investment as the department could otherwise.
“We’re producing roughly half a million dollars on an asset that’s roughly valued at $230 million,” Miller said.
The nearly 16,000 acres up for grabs would not include any part of Ponderosa State Park on the peninsula nor the portion on the northern shore of Payette Lake.
The size and location of the land the state would receive in return hasn’t been identified. Miller suggested it could include nearby forest service property, along with parcels in North Idaho near the Saint Joe River.
Valley County Commissioners offered few comments during the meeting.
Commissioner Katlin Caldwell said she worries about how responsive federal officials will be to a potential fire around the lake. State fire officials, Caldwell said, prioritize putting out wildfires quickly compared to the Forest Service.
“That would be very important for the water quality of Payette Lake to make sure that that forest doesn’t burn down behind that lake with all the sediment and erosion that would happen,” she said.
This isn’t the first time in recent years that the state has considered offloading the valuable, lakefront real estate.
A private company, Trident Holdings, tried to swap its timber land for 28,000 acres of state endowment lands around Payette Lake in 2020. The proposal sparked significant opposition from residents and politicians alike.
The state land board, whose members are made up of Idaho’s statewide elected officials, ultimately rejected the deal at the time.
Department officials are holding informational sessions in Cascade, McCall and New Meadows beginning June 23.
Any potential deal could take years to finalize.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
