The Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District will open the 16th Section land bidding process Wednesday for hunting and fishing land use.
The state of Mississippi owns over 640,000 acres of trust land, for which the Mississipi public school districts serve as trustees. The Mississippi secretary of state serves as the supervising trustee.
Income from this land “is considered as a local funding source, and the expendable income may be spent for any educational purposes authorized by law,” says the website for Secretary of State Michael Watson.
The title to 16th Section land, although vested with the state, is managed by the local school board and handled by the land manager of the district where it is located. These leased lands can be classified into several categories, including agriculture, farm residential, industrial and hunting and fishing.
Mike Ainsworth, 16th Section land manager for the district, has conducted a bid opening for hunting and fishing contracts with Gypsy Hunting Club, Mossy Brake Hunting Club, Drew Strain, David Leard, Diddywahdiddy Farm, LLC and Money Road Outdoors LLC.
More than 1,400 acres are up for bidding, with the prior rent from these areas being $62,600 in total. There is one area still up for advertising approval.
Bidding officially opens at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Forms and other resources may be found at www.sos.ms.gov.
•Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. Twitter: @AdamBakst_GWCW
