Commercial
In the Lyons Administration, the commercial branch of Surface Resources Management is responsible for four tracks of business activity in its aggressive pursuit of ever-increasing revenue flow to the agency’s trust beneficiaries – land leasing, land exchange, land sale and land development.
Land Leasing
Land Exchange
State trust lands are often intermingled with private and federal lands. Exchanges allow the State Land Office to essentially reposition trust lands so they are contiguous and can more feasibly maximize earnings for the trust. State trust lands offered for exchange will typically only include surface estate. All land exchanges are designed to achieve a net increase of state trust land acreage.
Land Sale
Commercial Development
As urbanization encroaches ever closer to state trust lands, and grazing and mining move away from growing communities, vacated trust lands are often damaged by trespassers and the illegal dumping of trash. When this occurs, the land has new potential for residential, commercial or industrial development.
Through his assistant commissioner for Surface Resources Management, the commissioner provides the staff with guidance in identifying trust lands ideally suited for development, and involves the private sector to develop neighborhoods and communities. Such projects often take years to plan and will develop slowly relative to real estate market conditions.