Idaho Code
Idaho Code

Idaho Code § 58-104 (2026)

State land board — Powers and duties. 

✓ current as of May 2026
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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.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 16 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1973–2022 · leading case: Heckman Ranches, Inc. v. State Ex Rel. Dep't of Pub. Lands, 589 P.2d 540 (Idaho 1979).
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Heckman Ranches, Inc. v. State Ex Rel. Dep't of Pub. Lands, 589 P.2d 540 (Idaho 1979). · cites it 24× “236(9), to I.C. § 58-104, which declares the powers and duties of the State Land Board, and placed that Board in supervision of the use or disposition of land in the beds of navigable waters "to the natural or ordinary high water mark.”
Idaho v. Coeur D'Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U.S. 261 (1997). · cites it 2× “While petitioners, as members of the state board of land commissioners, claim to be implementing the law of Idaho in regulating the submerged lands and waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene as a recreational area and health resort, see Idaho Code §§ 58-104 (9) (Supp. 1996), 67-4304…”
Erickson v. State, 970 P.2d 1 (Idaho 1998). · cites it 12× “At the conclusion of the trial, the district court concluded that the OHWM of the Lake at the time of statehood was 2121 feet and quieted title to the lands above that elevation in the Ericksons. The State appeals.”
Idaho Forest Indus., Inc. v. Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement Dist., 733 P.2d 733 (Idaho 1987). · cites it 8× “While the state obtained title to lands underlying the navigable waters upon admission to the Union, based upon the equal footing doctrine, that title was subject to a public trust. "In forming new states out of its territories, the United States reserved to itself vast land…”
Kootenai Env't All., Inc. v. Panhandle Yacht Club, Inc., 671 P.2d 1085 (Idaho 1983). · cites it 4× “I.C. § 58-104 sets forth the powers and duties of the state land board.”
Twin Lakes Canal Co. v. Choules, 254 P.3d 1210 (Idaho 2011). · cites it 4× “The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to the beds of navigable waters lying below the natural or ordinary high watermark as defined in subsection (c) of section 58-1302, Idaho Code, and subsection (9) of section 58-104, Idaho Code, or any other lands…”
West v. Smith, 511 P.2d 1326 (Idaho 1973). · cites it 2× “See I.C. § 58-104(9) (Supp.1972) and 42-3801 to -3810 (Supp.”
Idaho Forest Indus., Inc. v. Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement Dist., 17 P.3d 260 (Idaho 2000). · cites it 2× “The State received the benefit of a lower standard, but as will be discussed hereafter, was not able to sustain even that lower burden.”
In Re Sanders Beach, 147 P.3d 75 (Idaho 2006). · cites it 2× “In doing so, the court erred in several respects. *79 1.”
Ritter v. Standal, 566 P.2d 769 (Idaho 1977). · cites it 2× “In 1967 the legislature explicitly defined the State Board of Land Commissioners’ authority over lands in the beds of navigable waters by enacting the following subsection of I.C. § 58-104, which provides in pertinent part: “58-104.”
Kaseburg v. State, Bd. of Land Commissioners, 300 P.3d 1058 (Idaho 2013). · cites it 4× “The State Board of Land Commissioners has the power 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…”
Ehco Ranch, Inc. v. State Ex Rel. Evans, 693 P.2d 454 (Idaho 1984). · cites it 2× “9 § 7, I.C. § 58-104. Even if the Land Board had intended to grant mineral rights to appellants or their predecessors when the contracts were reinstated, it had no power to do so.”
Show all 16 citing cases →
— Idaho Code § 58-104(9) — 9 cases
Heckman Ranches, Inc. v. State Ex Rel. Dep't of Pub. Lands, 589 P.2d 540 (Idaho 1979). “236(9), to I.C. § 58-104, which declares the powers and duties of the State Land Board, and placed that Board in supervision of the use or disposition of land in the beds of navigable waters "to the natural or ordinary high water mark.”
Idaho Forest Indus., Inc. v. Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement Dist., 733 P.2d 733 (Idaho 1987). “While the state obtained title to lands underlying the navigable waters upon admission to the Union, based upon the equal footing doctrine, that title was subject to a public trust. "In forming new states out of its territories, the United States reserved to itself vast land…”
Erickson v. State, 970 P.2d 1 (Idaho 1998). “At the conclusion of the trial, the district court concluded that the OHWM of the Lake at the time of statehood was 2121 feet and quieted title to the lands above that elevation in the Ericksons. The State appeals.”
West v. Smith, 511 P.2d 1326 (Idaho 1973). “See I.C. § 58-104(9) (Supp.1972) and 42-3801 to -3810 (Supp.”
Idaho Forest Indus., Inc. v. Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement Dist., 17 P.3d 260 (Idaho 2000). “The State received the benefit of a lower standard, but as will be discussed hereafter, was not able to sustain even that lower burden.”
— Idaho Code § 58-104(g) — 1 case
Newton v. MJK/BJK MBK Lake; KAKM & Idaho Dept of Lands (Idaho 2020).
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