The first correction is important: the 8,000-acre number was not the public-land transfer
Jackson Hole News & Guide reporting republished in Idaho Department of Lands materials says Thomas Tull was thought to be the local landowner interested in the Driggs 160 sale and already owned north of 8,000 acres in Teton County.
The 8,000-acre figure was reported as an existing land footprint in the county, not as 8,000 acres of public land newly handed over through one state transfer.
The verified public-land piece is the Driggs 160, and it is now on Idaho's live sale page
The official July 15, 2025 Land Board materials say the Driggs 160 is a 160-acre Charitable Institutions endowment parcel. Those same materials say the Department of Lands started analyzing it after a local landowner expressed interest in late 2023 and that the grazing lease was generating roughly $963 a year.
Idaho's official state-land-for-sale page, updated April 6, 2026, now lists the Driggs 160 with a $5 million reserve and live auction details.
Who moved it forward is not mysterious: the Land Board and the department are named on the paperwork
Idaho's official Land Board page says the board is made up of Governor Brad Little, Secretary of State Phil McGrane, Attorney General Raul Labrador, State Controller Brandon Woolf, and Superintendent Debbie Critchfield, with Dustin Miller serving as secretary to the board in his role as Idaho Department of Lands director.
The July 2025 reporting says those officials voted 5-0 to move the parcel toward public auction. The official November 18, 2025 summary minutes show that after reconsideration, a McGrane motion failed 2-3, and a later Woolf motion to keep the disposition moving carried 4-1, with McGrane voting no. That is the on-the-record approval chain.
The Land Board record carries more weight than rumor
The sale moved through visible officials and visible votes.
The state board and Idaho Department of Lands kept the process alive through objection, reconsideration, and eventual auction listing.
Ron James helped by refusing to join the county's pushback, not by secretly running the state process
The official reconsideration packet shows a clear split inside Teton County. Two commissioners signed onto a county objection letter. Ron James sent his own September 15, 2025 letter declining to sign and saying the matter had already been appropriately decided at the state level.
County commissioners were allowed to object, but under the state process they did not get a veto. The July 15 materials say the county gets 60 days to respond and then the matter goes back to the Land Board.
The visible influence picture is money, gifts, and access, not a hidden transfer already proved
Idaho Capital Sun reported that Thomas Tull gave $25,000 to Friends of Brad Little and $100,000 to the Idaho Victory Fund. IDL media roundups also summarized local reporting on major Teton Ridge Ranch Foundation gifts during the same broader period.
A billionaire with a large existing land footprint, political money, and local philanthropic reach is benefiting from a state process run by named officials who have now put the parcel on a live auction track.
Sources & records
Reviewed by Standards Review. Updated April 13, 2026.
- Idaho State Land For Sale - Driggs 160 Listing
Official Idaho Department of Lands sale page updated April 6, 2026 listing the Driggs 160 with a $5 million reserve price and live auction details.
- July 15, 2025 Land Board Materials PDF
Official meeting materials stating that the Driggs 160 is Charitable Institutions endowment land, that a local landowner approached the department in late 2023, that the parcel generated about $963 a year in grazing revenue, and that county commissioners get a 60-day objection window.
- State Board of Land Commissioners
Official Idaho Department of Lands page naming the five Land Board members and IDL Director Dustin Miller, and stating that the board directs management of approximately 2.5 million acres of state endowment trust land.
- November 18, 2025 Summary Minutes
Official summary minutes showing the failed McGrane motion and the later 4-1 vote to proceed with disposition of the Driggs 160.
- Reconsideration of Driggs 160 Disposition PDF
Official packet including Teton County letters and Commissioner Ron James' September 15, 2025 letter declining to join the county objection.
- Jackson Hole News & Guide PDF via IDL Roundup
Locally reported account saying the sale was prompted by interest from a local landowner thought to be Thomas Tull and that he owned north of 8,000 acres in the county.
- Missoula Current / Idaho Capital Sun - Sept. 3, 2025
Accessible Idaho Capital Sun reprint explaining the 5-0 July Land Board vote, the constitutional revenue argument, Tull-linked interest in the parcel, and the distinction Idaho officials drew between state endowment trust land and federal public land.
- Idaho Capital Sun - Nov. 19, 2025
Report on the later Land Board vote and the cited Thomas Tull campaign contributions.
- Idaho Secretary of State Campaign Finance Data
Official Idaho campaign finance portal used for public contribution records.
