Idaho endowment lands described to WGA as forest management model

David Groeschl, administrator of the Idaho Forestry and Fire Division, described the “forest asset management program” that Idaho is following on its state trust lands that are part of the state’s endowment to the Western Governors Association, and offered it as a model for forest management. “The trust land model is really about sustainable forests, sustainable revenue that supports our education here in Idaho as well as benefit our local communities in perpetuity,” he said.

Unlike federal forests, Idaho’s state trust lands are required by the state Constitution to be managed for a single, specific goal: Maximizing long-term returns to the trust’s beneficiaries, the largest of which is the state’s public schools.