16th Section Land

The secretary of state and mississippi forestry commission work cooperatively with the local school districts to manage their timber lands.
16th section land. Sixteenth section land cannot be sold or swapped for other lands. School trust lands 16th section lands the mfc is charged by state law to manage forested mississippi school trust land located in 67 counties throughout the state. Wildlife soil and water quality aesthetics and other appropriate benefits of forestlands.
All other classes of 16th section lands are leased upon application. Rents must be adjusted at least every 10 years during the term. A six mile by six mile square divided into 36 one square mile sections.
Section 16 of each township was reserved for maintenance of public schools within said township in the land ordinance the township is not a civil township but a surveying unit. The leasing process is initiated in the local school district. For instance covington county s 16th section lands are found in tuscaloosa county.
The state of mississippi owns over 640 000 acres of trust land known as 16th section land trustees manage land held in trust and 108 mississippi public school districts serve as trustees for 16th section land with the mississippi secretary of state serving as the supervising trustee. The secretary of state serves as supervisory trustee overseeing management and leasing of more than 640 000 acres of 16th section public school trust lands by 101 local school districts. The allocation of 16th section property dates back to the land ordinance of 1785 which set aside section number 16 in each township for the use and benefit of public schools.
The plan for numbering sections of a township was adopted in the land ordinance of 1785. The land ordinance of 1785 adopted may 20 1785 by the continental congress set the stage for an organized and community based westward expansion in the united states in the years after the american revolution. Income from sixteenth section land is considered as a local funding source and the expendable income may be spent for any educational purposes authorized by law.
In addition to timber production management considerations also include. Under the 1785 act section 16 of each township was set aside for school purposes and as such was often called the school section. The state commissioner of conservation and national resources is responsible for the management of the 16th section lands until 1995 state law did not allow the school boards to receive additional funds from the income or interest of 16th section lands.