Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the state Land Board's decisions today about state-owned lake cabin sites at Priest Lake and Payette Lake. The state will take public comments for 90 days, starting Thursday, on a plan to get out of owning lots on which private owners build and own cabins, in some cases by giving the lessees a chance to get ownership of the land. The board also voted to extend current lease terms for one year, but move leases after that up to 4 percent of the land value for annual rents, from the current 2.5 percent.

Bud Belles, president of the Priest Lake State Lessees Association, said, "It's all about getting the money for the kids, and we're not opposed to that. We just don't want to pay a lot more money than the market value. ... That's what we've been saying all along." Belles, 69, whose family has owned his cabin since he was 8 years old, said, "I want to own my lot." More than 300 cabin-site lessees at Priest Lake have expressed interest in a land exchange, Belles said.