IDL reports record endowment earnings and warns budget holdbacks threaten eastern Idaho fire staffing

Dustin Miller, Director of the Idaho Department of Lands, delivered the department’s annual update to the committee, reporting that IDL manages 2.5 million acres of endowment lands, distributed more than $100 million to beneficiaries in FY25, harvested 315.4 million board feet of timber, planted almost 2 million seedlings, and managed nearly 1,587 leases. He said timber accounted for roughly 90% of endowment income and FY25 was a record year for endowment earnings driven by a sustained 330 million board foot harvest level and a Delivered Products Sales Pilot Program.

Miller told senators IDL plans to expand work with the U.S. Forest Service under a Shared Stewardship Agreement and to double Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) timber production from 50 to 100 million board feet over the next five years. He warned that proposed additional holdbacks from JFAC that would cut Eastern Idaho Fire District funding would force IDL to rely on deficiency-warrant spending authority (described as a short-term borrowing mechanism) and could lead to slower response or larger incidents if staffing cannot be maintained. He noted that despite a high number of ignitions (132% of the 20-year average), firefighters limited total acres burned to about 4,900 last year.