Subdivision 1. Establishing and maintaining school forests. Any school district in the state, however organized, the University of Minnesota, or any branch thereof, any state university, community college, or other public educational institution or agency of the state, all herein referred to as agencies, may establish and maintain school forests according to this section, subject to the approval of the commissioner of natural resources. For the purpose of a school forest, an agency may use land the agency owns or uses under an agreement or may acquire land by gift or with contributed funds.

Subd. 2. Conveying tax-forfeited land for school forest use. For the purposes of school forests established under this section, any tax-forfeited lands may be sold by the county board to an agency or may be conveyed by the commissioner of revenue to an agency in like manner as provided for the sale or conveyance of tax-forfeited lands to governmental subdivisions under section 282.01. A conveyance under this subdivision is made without monetary compensation or consideration for the conveyance, but the conveyance is subject to the conditional use and reversion provisions under section 282.01, subdivisions 1c and 1d, paragraph (e).

Subd. 3. Monitoring and reporting. The commissioner shall annually monitor tax-forfeited lands conveyed according to subdivision 2 to determine whether the lands continue to be used as school forests. The commissioner shall submit an annual monitoring report to the commissioner of revenue that identifies any lands no longer used as school forests.

History: 1949 c 431 s 1; 1957 c 576 s 1,2; 1969 c 1129 art 10 s 2; 1973 c 349 s 2; 1973 c 582 s 3; 1975 c 321 s 2; 2013 c 73 s 2