Idaho Officials in the Market for Timberland, Farmland

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Land Board voted Tuesday to get back to its roots of managing timberland and agricultural land.

The unanimous vote by the five-member board to adopt a new strategic reinvestment plan calls for using money from the sale of commercial real estate and residential cottage sites to buy resource-producing lands. The vote authorizes the Idaho Department of Lands to start a pipeline of potential purchases with up to $160 million.

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter says he'd like to see the state buy 100,000 acres of timberland to push the state timberland total to a million acres. Land Board member and State Schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra says the plan will mean better financial security for public schools that benefit from the state's endowment lands.