State Trust Lands in the West (Policy Focus Report)

Fiduciary Duty in a Changing Landscape

Author(s): Culp, Peter, W., Andy Laurenzi, and Cynthia C. Tuell
Publication Date: September 2006

60 pages; Inventory ID PF014; English; Paperback; ISBN 1-55844-161-1

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Abstract

This report provides an overview of the complex history, nature, and management of state trust lands in the West, explores the challenges facing trust managers in this changing landscape, and highlights opportunities for improving and adapting trust management while honoring the unique purpose of these lands and their singular fiduciary mandate.

Many state trust land managers have been responding to these challenges with new strategies and approaches. We highlight a variety of innovative practices that

* establish comprehensive asset management frameworks that balance short-term revenue generation with longer-term value maintenance and enhancement;

* incorporate collaborative planning approaches with external stakeholders to achieve better trust land management;

* encourage real estate development activities that employ sustainable land disposition tools and large-scale planning processes, especially in fast-growing areas;

* support conservation projects that enhance revenue potential, offer ecosystem services, and allow multiple uses of trust lands; and

* introduce comprehensive reforms to expand the flexibility and accountability of trust land management systems.

All of these activities are consistent with the fiduciary duty of state trusts, and each has been employed by at least one trust manager in the West. The report presents specific examples of these initiatives in order to help land managers and other interested parties fulfill their multiple trust responsibilities while producing larger, more reliable revenues for trust beneficiaries, accommodating public interests and concerns, and enhancing the overall decision-making environment for trust management.

For more information about state trust lands, visit www.trustland.org, a collaborative website of the Lincoln Institute and the Sonoran Institute.