By ROCKY BARKER — rbarker@idahostatesman.com

Three federal agencies spent $392 million to manage 32 million acres of public land in Idaho in the 2012 budget year, a Congressional Research Service report shows.

The report shows that Idaho would have to make up for much of those costs if it succeeded in getting control over the land, as a resolution passed by the Idaho Legislature demands.

The Idaho Department of Lands has estimated that the state could raise $50 million to $75 million annually in timber receipts from federal land. But one cost not figured into the estimate could swallow that revenue by itself — $58 million in payments to counties under two programs, one that makes up for former timber revenues and another compensating for the fact that counties can’t tax federal land. read more