All but one of the 15 Priest Lake cabin sites in the third batch have sold for their appraised value; the one exception was the one where competitive bidding pushed the price up $9,000 above the appraisal, but the current lessee ended up the high bidder. All told, the auctions today so far have raised $20,078,812 for Idaho’s public school endowment. There still are 15 sites to go in the final batch, plus one that drew no bids earlier and is being held open for possible bids.

Denny Christenson walked out of the back room where he signed contracts to take ownership of the ground under his family cabin, and said, “It feels good. It’s going to be a while to sink in.” He added, “Twenty-three years as a lessee and having a landlord – now we don’t have a landlord. Now, we have a mortgage.” He chuckled, but said, “It went really smoothly.”

Another lessee who successfully gained ownership of the ground under her family’s cabin said, “We’re just happy to have this over with – and no comment.” Said another, “It’s been a mess for a couple of years.”

Billy Symmes accompanied his beaming mother out of the contract-signing room after finalizing the purchase of the ground under their family cabin, which they’ve had since 1994. “Getting to hold onto the cabin is great – the process, no comment,” he said.