“The Land Board behaves recklessly and without regard to the law,” said Wade Gruhl referring to the 640 acre Bull Canyon allotment in Power County where non-ranching applicants were denied a lease even though the prior lease holder had been revoked for non-payment.  No one else bid on the lease after the non-ranching bid was denied, so the allotment is not being grazed and is not earning any funds for the public schools. 

“By refusing to accept bids from non-ranchers, the Land Board is unconstitutionally, arbitrarily and capriciously swindling funds from Idaho school children,” said SEAC member Wade Gruhl. Section eight of the state constitution is not ambiguous. While the constitution does not specify that these lands must be grazed, it clearly states that endowment lands are to be managed “in such a manner as to secure maximum long term financial return” to the public schools. Besides the loss of potential funding incurred by denying non-ranching bids, SEAC contends that grazing degrades the land, and reduces its ability to provide “maximum long term financial return.” 

"We're a school group and we want to help fund schools and protect the land," said SEAC member Wade Gruhl.

The group is expecting a chilly reception from the Idaho Department of Lands and the State Land Board. Group members claim the land board has acted to subsidize ranching by turning down high bids from environmental groups such as the Idaho Watersheds Project.

"The land board behaves recklessly and without regard to the law," Gruhl said.  He noted the Bull Canyon allotment in Power County in which a bid from a nonranching applicant was denied despite the fact that the prior lease holder had been revoked for nonpayment. No other parties stepped forward to bid.  "By refusing to accept bids from nonranchers, the Land Board is unconstitutionally, arbitrarily and capriciously swindling funds from Idaho school children," Gruhl said.

The group also contends that public land is offered for lease below market value and far cheaper than leases on private land. Ranchers pay $4.16 per month per cow-calf pair on state owned land. Similar grazing rights on private lands often lease out at $10 to $20 per cow-calf pair, according to Gruhl.  "Those types of fees on public lands would mean great things for schools and the health of the land," he said.

Group members also complain that some lease holders sublease their allotments for double what they pay the state.  "It seems clear to me that they are violating the constitution and that they are more concerned with protecting vested interests than with funding schools or preventing degradation of endowment lands," Gruhl said. "It's shameful the people who are supposed to be representing us are representing a handful of private individuals that are really not the economic backbone of the state like they used to be."

Russ Schnitzer said SEAC is prepared to offer restorative efforts to lands if its bid is successful.  "If we had some allotments where we could do restorative efforts that would be a wonderful educational opportunity," he said.

Jon Marvel, who heads the Hailey group that first challenged leasing practices on state land, wished the group well but said it likely faces a tough time from the state.  "They should be prepared for a backlash and an unwelcome mat at the land board."

When individuals or groups apply to bid on state grazing leases they also must submit a management proposal.  Bryce Taylor, bureau chief for range management and surface leases at the Idaho Department of Lands, said the plans are used to determine if new applicants are qualified bidders. The board generally does not consider bidders who have no intention of grazing the land, he said.

The board looks for lease holders who will be around for 20 or 30 years and provide long-term economic returns to the beneficiaries of the endowment lands.  He said the cattle industry provides jobs and a tax base that nonprofit environmental organization do not.  "We want to know the land is going to managed properly," he said. "It's a very intensive process for us and it's a lot of paper we move but it's important that we do it."

Gruhl said SEAC's management plan would probably not include grazing and argued recreation is a growing industry in the state that provides a tax base,  jobs and economic activity.  "If the land is in good shape and not degraded the recreation dollars will continue to flow to businesses on Highway 12," he said. "If we trash the land people are not going to continue to come in the numbers they are now."

Taylor said the department of lands and the land board began requiring bidders to submit management proposals largely because of the efforts of Idaho Watersheds Project.  But he said the process is not intended to be discretionary. He cited two court cases that have upheld the action of the land board in overturning bids from the environmental group.  Those cases are on appeal before the Idaho Supreme Court, according to Marvel.