In order that the state school lands may be administered in a manner to assure their preservation as well as the appreciation of the trust estate and the maximum return from the use of state school lands for the support and maintenance of the common schools of the state, the Commissioners of the Land Office, as trustees of the state school lands, are hereby authorized and empowered to:

1. Categorize the state school lands as agricultural or commercial according to the use which the Commissioners of the Land Office determine from time to time to be most beneficial to the interest of the present and future beneficiaries of the state;

2. Sell, at public auction after appraisement, the surface interest in any state school land categorized by the Commissioners of the Land Office to be excess or when determined to be in the best interest of the trust;

3. Institute projects to develop and improve those state school lands which are categorized as commercial lands;

4. Acquire by exchange, purchase, gift or grant all real property and to acquire by exchange, purchase, gift or grant all personal property necessary for the purpose of utilizing trust lands for the development of commercial and agricultural leases to maximize trust income for present and future beneficiaries; and

5. Exchange any real property of the trust for other real property of equal or greater value to maximize income for present and future beneficiaries, in accordance with and under the safeguard of trust requirements.

Added by Laws 1985, c. 196, § 13, emerg. eff. June 26, 1985. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 64, § 1, emerg. eff. April 1, 1986; Laws 1989, c. 173, § 1, operative July 1, 1989; Laws 2010, c. 41, § 3, emerg. eff. April 2, 2010. Renumbered from § 1.1 of this title by Laws 2010, c. 41, § 54, emerg. eff. April 2, 2010. Amended by Laws 2013, c. 70, § 1.