Athol land exchange near completion

A deal between the state and Idaho Forest Group to trade 400 acres of Panhandle land is nearly complete, despite a neighboring property owner offering roughly double the asking price. 

In June 2020, Idaho Forest Group applied to exchange 320 acres of rural timberland in Benewah and Bonner counties with the Idaho Department of Lands. The Coeur d'Alene lumber producing company requested 100 acres of state endowment land adjacent to its Athol Mill as a trade. 

Following a year of agency and third-party analysis by consultants at Mason, Bruce & Girard, the state plans to finalize the exchange within the next two months. Once completed, the 320 acres will become endowment lands.   

State endowment lands generate revenue to support public schools, universities, the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind, and state hospitals for mental illness, veterans homes, juvenile corrections and prisons.

This year, Idaho's 2.5 million acres of endowment land distributed more than $100 million to Idaho institutions. 

IDL Real Estate Services Bureau Chief Joshua Purkiss said the exchange is a 3-to-1 trade in acreage that will add more productive timberland area to the State Endowment Fund. 

"Trading into 320 acres of mostly productive timberland was the main motivation for this exchange," he said. "(The Athol land) doesn't grow good timber. People dump garbage, vandalize the property, cut down trees and are running their four-wheelers through it. It creates more management issues and costs the state money." 

Still, Athol resident Jude Doty wasn't too keen on what he saw as a shockingly low trade-in price. According to IDL documents, two firms appraised the parcels at $1.2 million. 

Doty owns property south of the endowment land. He told The Press that his son, Zach, had attempted to purchase 75 acres of the property for nearly double the state-assessed value.

"Our son offered $2 million for the 75 acres, and they wouldn't consider it," Doty told the Press. "They sold the whole thing for $1.2 million. Since then, we got an assessment back from a broker that assessed the 75 acres at $2.9 million." 

In a letter to the state, Zach Doty said he would have readily outbid Idaho Forest Group if the 100 acres in Athol were sold through public auction. But due to land exchange provisions, Doty felt he was pushed out of the running.

"I believe that the state of Idaho's interests are not well served by this land exchange," Zach Doty's letter said. "It appears that the appraisal significantly undervalued the property, and therefore, the state of Idaho is on the receiving end of what is colloquially called a bad deal." 

The state does sell land through auctions sparingly, Purkiss said, notably on lakefront and prime development areas. Land exchanges are relatively common practice for IDL as it often revolves around timberland management, Purkiss said. 

"We look for exchanges that create access and add value to the endowment," he said. "Those are the driving factors we prioritize and base decisions on."

Jude Doty was also concerned that the exchange would impact access to his property, which he said is only possible through the IDL land in question.

"We're basically landlocked," Doty said. 

The Dotys' attorney, Shawn Glen, sent a letter to the State Board of Land Commissioners saying the family would consider possible litigation against the exchange unless it granted them "an express access easement" to his property. Doty said he hasn't heard back or seen a final written order regarding the exchange. 

Purkiss said Idaho Forest Group approached IDL to initiate the exchange. IDL staff met with county commissioners and private landowners north of the Athol parcel. None opposed the trade, agency documents said.