After months of public debate, billionaire Thomas Tull purchased a 160-acre parcel of Idaho state trust land near Driggs at a public auction outside Boise — the only bidder on the property. He paid $5 million, the minimum reserve bid, with the total cost rising to roughly $5.26 million after a buyer's premium and reimbursement for a fence the Beard family had built on the land. The parcel borders his existing Teton Valley estate on two sides, a property that spans more than 8,000 acres and carries a total value of nearly $100 million. The sale had been controversial from the start: Idaho officials broke an existing grazing lease to move forward with the auction, over the objections of more than 2,000 residents who signed a petition opposing it and two county commissioners who urged the governor to stop the sale.
Tull's team confirmed the land will remain undeveloped and that he intends to offer a new grazing lease to the Beard family, fifth-generation ranchers who have worked the parcel for over 30 years — most recently paying $950 per year to the state for the privilege. Nick Beard said he was relieved when he heard the news. His concern was never who owned the land, but what they would do with it. A subdivision carved from those 160 acres would have ended a way of ranching his family has kept alive across five generations. As it stands, he plans to continue grazing the parcel through mid-July while he figures out next steps for the summer.
The purchase is the latest in a series of significant moves Tull has made across Teton County, where his foundation has directed more than $3.5 million to local organizations over the past year — including $1.5 million to the county sheriff's office, $2 million to Teton Valley Health, and funding for a professional rodeo at the county fairgrounds with a $250,000 prize purse and a headline concert by Grammy-nominated country band Midland. For a valley navigating rapid change, the outcome here — land intact, a ranching family still on it — is about as good as it gets.
Source: Jackson Hole News and Guide
