The state of Idaho has lost a legal dispute with a ranching company over rights to sand and gravel on a parcel of land the state endowment sold back in 1941; the winning company happens to be the family company of Lt. Gov. Brad Little. Today, based on legal advice from the Idaho Attorney General’s office, the Land Board voted unanimously not to appeal the 3^rd District court decision.

The case, Little Enterprises LLLP v. State of Idaho, was a quiet-title action over the sand and gravel rights to Little’s property, which the state endowment sold to Bud Spoor in 1941, who transferred it to C.R. Suitter in 1966, who later transferred it to Little Enterprises. The 1941 land sale agreement reserved mineral rights, including oil and gas, to the state. The 1966 deed added the phrase “including sand and gravel” after “mineral rights.”   

Judge Susan Weibe noted that in previous cases, Idaho courts had held that “the legislature did not intend for sand, gravel and pumice to be among those mineral rights reserved by the State when endowment lands were sold.” She wrote, “The Idaho Supreme Court has concluded that as a matter of law, reserved minerals did not include sand and gravel,” and added, “Although in the past it was debatable whether sand and gravel was a statutorily reserved mineral right, it is now clear that they are not.”

She noted that the law regarding reserved state mineral rights was changed in 1986.