At yesterday’s auction of state-owned Priest Lake cabin sites at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, many in the crowd were wondering if the state really was getting a better deal for the state’s schoolchildren – the beneficiaries of the Priest Lake state endowment lands – by divesting itself of the cabin sites. The 59 cabin-site renters are currently being charged rent at 4 percent of appraised value for the ground under their cabins, which came to a total this year of $1,070,857. Last night, the state endowment’s take from the auction was $26,903,812. That’s more than 25 years’ worth of rent that it collected in a single night, at today’s rental rates. In the past year, the rent collected on the properties was actually significantly less, somewhere around $700,000/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. More here. (SR Photo by Jesse Tinsley: Tom Wielgos celebrates after entering the one winning bid for the Priest Lake cabin site where he has a home)

Question: Do you agree that the state of Idaho did the right thing by auctioning off cabin sites Thursday?