Idaho Land Department rejects proposal to privatize Payette Lake land. Here’s why.
The Idaho Department of Land has denied a controversial proposed land swap by Trident Holdings LLC that would have privatized large tracts of state-owned land around Payette Lake in McCall.
The department announced its decision in a Tuesday letter to Trident written by Deputy Director Bill Haagenson, who said the more than 21,000 acres around Payette are worth significantly more than land Trident offered to trade.
“The Endowment Land is appreciating at a rate that exceeds the appreciation of the proponents’ land, more than offsetting any potential revenue gains from the exchange,” Haagenson wrote.
Trident, a Boise-based company founded in 2020 and managed by Alec Williams, had offered to trade 21,000 acres of timberlands in North Idaho. Department documents obtained by the Statesman show that land had an assessed value of $71 million, far less than the $366 million appraised value of the Payette land.
Department of Lands Communications Director Scott Phillips told the Idaho Statesman the deal did not make financial sense because of the large financial gap.
“A prudent investor could not in good faith do an exchange that would leave nearly $300 million of value on the table,” Phillips said.
Trident, though, disputes the assessed value of the Payette land. In an email to the Statesman, the Boise company said the land around Payette had been erroneously overvalued and that IDL had not done enough to gauge third-party opinions during the process.
Specifically, it noted the Payette Endowment Land Strategy, a group created by the department to develop strategies for the property, valued the land at $40 million in March and that no information was provided to justify the 915% increase.
“Any professional appraiser can see this was not an accurate valuation of the Endowment lands and we are disappointed,” the email said.
Phillips said the $40 million value was based on old information that was not originally intended to serve as transactional data. IDL documents also show the value of Valley County property had increased by 13% from 2019 to 2020.
Trident also claimed the department did not hire an independent third party during the review process, although Phillips noted that Seattle real estate consultant Century Pacific and natural resource consultant Mason, Bruce and Girard were hired as third parties to review work done by the department’s Real Estate Services Bureau.
Williams told the Associated Press the company could still file legal action against the state.
Trident had hoped to acquire land to help conserve the property around Payette Lake, and by doing so increase public access and develop affordable housing for local McCall residents, according to the company’s website.
The company’s proposal has long been a contentious topic in Idaho. While some have supported Trident’s plan to preserve the land under private ownership, others say keeping the land public is best for the local economy that relies heavily on outdoor recreation.
Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Idaho Conservation League, which has opposed the Trident proposal, told the Statesman by phone that he wasn’t surprised the proposal fell through, but that it doesn’t eliminate the possibility of private investors.
“We are concerned development interests could come in and seek to purchase or exchange lands surrounding Payette Lake,” Oppenheimer said.
BoiseDev first reported the state’s rejection of Trident’s proposal.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 3:21 PM.
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