TITLE 58

PUBLIC LANDS

CHAPTER 1

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS

58-104.  State land board — Powers and duties. The state board of land commissioners shall have power:

1.  To exercise the general direction, control and disposition of the public lands of the state.

2.  To appoint its executive officer, the director of the department of lands.

3.  To perform legislative functions not inconsistent with law and to delegate to its executive officer and his assistants the execution of all policies adopted by it.

4.  To review upon appeal all decisions of the director of the department of lands in contested matters.

5.  To determine the policy, direct the work to be undertaken, solicit bids, contract for work to be performed, and appropriate from its funds the money necessary to carry out such work.

6.  To prescribe rules, not inconsistent with law, for the government of the department, the conduct of its employees and clerks, the distribution and performance of its business and the custody, use and preservation of the records, papers, books, documents, and property pertaining thereto.

7.  To engage in reseeding and reforestation programs on the public lands of the state.

8.  To exchange any public lands of the state, over which the board has power of disposition and control for lands of equal value, the title to which, or power of disposition, belongs or is vested in the governing body or board of trustees of any state governmental unit, agency or institution.

9.  (a) To regulate and control the use or disposition of lands in the beds of navigable lakes, rivers and streams, to the natural or ordinary high water mark thereof, so as to provide for their commercial, navigational, recreational or other public use; provided, that the board shall take no action in derogation of or seeking to interfere with the riparian or littoral rights of the owners of upland property abutting or adjoining such lands; except that when necessary to provide for the highest and best use of such lands for commercial, navigational, recreational or other public purposes, the board may acquire the riparian or littoral rights of upland owners by purchase or gift. The term "natural or ordinary high water mark" as herein used shall be defined to be the line which the water impresses on the soil by covering it for sufficient periods to deprive the soil of its vegetation and destroy its value for agricultural purposes. Provided that this definition shall not be construed so as to affect or change the vested property rights of either the state of Idaho or of riparian or littoral property owners. Lands lying below the meander line of a lake bed encompassing a national wildlife refuge as established under the authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of February 18, 1929 (45 Stat. 1222), as amended, or the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (48 Stat. 401), as amended, or the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (70 Stat. 1119), as amended (16 U.S.C. 742a through 742i), are not subject to the application of this act.

(b)  Revenue generated by the state from navigable waterways, except mineral royalties, shall be deposited in the navigable waterways fund, which is hereby created in the dedicated fund of the state treasury, and used for the state’s administration of navigable waterways, and may be expended only pursuant to appropriation. At the beginning of each fiscal year, those moneys in the navigable waterways fund that exceed two hundred percent (200%) of the current year’s appropriations for the state’s administration of navigable waterways shall be deposited in the waterways improvement fund established pursuant to section 57-1501, Idaho Code.

(c)  Royalties arising from extraction of minerals from navigable waterways shall be deposited in the public school permanent endowment fund established pursuant to section 33-902, Idaho Code.

10. To enter into a joint exercise of powers agreement with the United States forest service in the department of agriculture pursuant to section 67-2328, Idaho Code.

11. To direct and oversee the conduct and operations of the endowment fund investment board and the Idaho department of lands.

12. To appoint and consult with expert advisors for each critical function for which the state board of land commissioners has responsibility. In this context, the term "expert advisor" shall mean a person engaged in the business for which he holds himself out to be an expert and who is experienced in that field.

13. Strategically plan and establish policies to coordinate the management of state lands with the investment goals of the permanent endowment funds and earnings reserve funds.

14. To provide reports of the status and performance of state endowment lands and the respective endowment funds to the state affairs committees of the senate and the house of representatives within fourteen (14) days after a regular session of the legislature convenes.

15. To make distributions to endowment income funds as provided in section 57-723A, Idaho Code.

History:

[(58-104) 1919, ch. 81, sec. 4, p. 289; C.S., sec. 2869; I.C.A., sec. 104; am. 1955, ch. 61, sec. 1, p. 119; am. 1965, ch. 295, sec. 1, p. 785; am. 1967, ch. 236, sec. 1, p. 694; am. 1974, ch. 17, sec. 40, p. 308; am. 1996, ch. 281, sec. 1, p. 911; am. 1998, ch. 256, sec. 45, p. 841; am. 2004, ch. 154, sec. 1, p. 489; am. 2015, ch. 86, sec. 1, p. 212.]