Utah Trust Lands Newsroom

SCHOOL LAND TRUST PROGRAM MAKING LARGEST EVER DISTRIBUTION

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0600

STATE OF UTAH

SCHOOL & INSTITUTIONAL

TRUST LANDS ADMINISTRATION

675 East 500 South, Suite 500

Salt Lake City, Utah�� 84102

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:� August 21, 2012

Contact: Dave Hebertson 801-538-5102

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SCHOOL LAND TRUST PROGRAM MAKING LARGEST EVER DISTRIBUTION

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$29 Million Will Go to School Community Councils to Improve Academics

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The School Children’s Trust Section of the Utah State Office of Education announced today that $29 million is being distributed through the School LAND Trust Program for the 2012-13 school year, the largest distribution ever since the program was created in 2001.

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“This is money that is truly locally controlled”, said Margaret Bird, Director of the School Children’s Trust and long-time advocate on trust land issues in Utah, “Parents, teachers, and principles work together to help direct this money to improve academic excellence in the areas of greatest academic need, at every school in the state.”

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"This is the only form of local control that parents have regarding how money is spent for their child”, said �Tyler Slack, Trust Lands Appointee for Utah State PTA, which encourages parents to get involved with their school community councils. “Every school in the state must now have a fall election under Utah law”, Slack said, referring to HB 128 (Rep. Wright, R-Holden), which passed in the 2012 Legislative Session.

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Slack continued, “This means that wherever you live, and wherever your children attend school (elementary, middle, or high school), you can ask your principal about how you can serve on the council, and help make a difference in the education of your children, your school, and your neighborhood.”

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According to Kevin Carter, Director of the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), “Trust land revenues have grown tremendously since the Utah Legislature created SITLA in 1994.� It is our vision to become an increasingly important source of revenue for Utah’s schools.� This record distribution shows that we are doing just �that.”

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SITLA’s revenue comes primarily from natural gas, coal, oil, real estate development, and other surface uses such as grazing.

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All net revenue from the trust lands is deposited in the permanent State School Fund and invested by the State Treasurer with the advice of the Investment Advisory Committee. The interest and dividends from the Fund are distributed annually to Utah’s schools. The Fund's diversified and balanced investments are managed to achieve long-term growth, while also providing a source of current income

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“That all adds up to more money for your school,” said Ms. Bird. �

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TRUST LANDS DIRECTOR NAMED CHAIR OF WESTERN REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:21:00 -0600

STATE OF UTAH

SCHOOL & INSTITUTIONAL TRUST LANDS ADMINISTRATION

675 EAST 500 SOUTH, SUITE 500

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH� 84102

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday September 19, 2011��

Contact: Dave Hebertson 801-538-5102

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TRUST LANDS DIRECTOR NAMED CHAIR OF WESTERN REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP

Kevin S. Carter, Director of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), has been appointed Chairman of the Western Regional Partnership’s governing body – the partnership’s Steering Committee.� The Western Regional Partnership (WRP) is an organization originally created by U.S. Department of Defense to develop solutions supporting the WRP Partners and protecting natural resources, while maintaining United States homeland security and military readiness.

Carter says, “It is a privilege to serve the WRP, and help coordinate the important goals and activities that it engages.� I look forward to the things we can accomplish for the good of all the partners and the security of the United States.”

The partnership includes:

�� State government leaders from Utah, Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Nevada

�� Federal agencies including the Department of Defense, BLM, EPA, and others

�� Native American tribes

The WRP is addressing a variety of local issues such as:

�� Border security

�� Disaster preparedness

�� Energy

�� Wildlife corridors, critical habitat, and threatened & endangered species

�� Land use

�� Tribal relations

The WRP mission provides a proactive and collaborative framework for senior-policy level Federal, State and Tribal leadership to identify common goals and emerging issues in the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah and to develop solutions that support WRP Partners and protect natural resources, while promoting sustainability, homeland security and military readiness

GOVERNOR APPOINTS NEW TRUSTEE TO TRUST LANDS� BOARD

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0600

GOVERNOR APPOINTS NEW TRUSTEE TO TRUST LANDS’ BOARD

The seven-member Board of Trustees of the State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration has a new member. Governor Gary R. Herbert has appointed James M. Lekas of Vernal, Utah. Mr. Lekas takes the position vacated by Board member David J. Lambert, who retired from the Board June 30, 2011. Mr. Lekas’ term is for six years. He was confirmed by the state Senate July 20, 2011.

Mr. Lekas is the co-founder of Lexco Inc., a Utah company that has become the world’s second largest producer of gilsonite. Prior to the founding of Lexco in 1988, Lekas managed research and development projects of Geokinetics Oil Shale in Vernal, Utah. He sold Lexco assets in 2009 and retired to his ranch in Uintah County.

Michael Brown, Chairman of the Trust Lands’ Board of Trustees says, "We welcome Mr. Lekas to the Board of Trustees and know that he will make a tremendous contribution to the Trust and the schoolchildren of the great State of Utah. We know that he will find great satisfaction serving with all of those committed to the success of this great institution."

Lekas is the founding member and Chairman of the Uintah County Public Lands Committee.

He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Geology.

The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration is an independent state agency that manages 3.4 million acres of Utah trust lands for the financial benefit of Utah’s public schools and 11 other public institutions. Money generated from school trust lands is deposited in the state Permanent School Fund, a perpetual endowment that annually distributes income to each K-12 public school in Utah.

Contact: Dave Hebertson 801-538-5102
��NormaLee McMichael 801-538-5105