The commission shall have the following powers:

(1) To have succession by its corporate name until it shall have been dissolved as provided herein;

(2) To sue and be sued and to prosecute and defend in any court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties thereof;

(3) To adopt and use a seal and to alter the seal at pleasure;

(4) To designate and maintain a principal office in the City of Montgomery;

(5) To adopt, and from time to time amend and repeal, bylaws and rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this chapter, to carry into effect the powers and purposes of the commission in the conduct of its business;

(6) To allocate funds through the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee to the soil and water conservation districts of the state for use by them in making cost-share grants and approving technical assistance to eligible persons as provided herein;

(7) To appoint, employ, contract with, and provide for the compensation of, such employees, attorneys, fiscal advisers, technical personnel and agents as the business of the commission may require;

(8) To establish, with the advice of the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, standards and specifications for soil and water conservation practices eligible for cost-share grants of allocated funds;

(9) To designate, delegate and assign to the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee any clerical, administrative and record-keeping responsibilities required in carrying out the purposes of this chapter that the commission may designate;

(10) To invest in authorized investments any funds of the commission that the commission may determine are not presently needed for other uses, purposes or functions of the commission;

(11) To enter into a management agreement or agreements with any person, firm, corporation or other state agency for the performance by said person, firm, corporation or other state agency for the commission of any of its delegable functions or powers upon such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreeable;

(12) To sell, exchange and convey any or all of its properties whenever the commission shall find any such action to be in furtherance of the purposes for which the commission was organized;

(13) To establish a private endowment fund. The commission may receive and accept from any source gifts, grants and contributions of money. Said money shall be deposited as part of the corpus of the private endowment fund and invested by the commission. The commission shall not allocate any of the corpus of said private endowment fund but shall be authorized to distribute the interest earned by the fund to the cost-share grant program. Appropriations of the Legislature shall not be considered funds which are required to be placed in the private endowment fund; and

(14) To make, enter and execute such contracts, agreements, leases and other instruments and to take such other actions as may be necessary or desirable to accomplish any purpose for which the commission is organized or to exercise any power granted hereunder.