§5A-11-3. Public Land Corporation Fund.

(a) There is hereby continued in the State Treasury a special Public Land Corporation Fund into which shall be paid all proceeds from public land sales, exchanges, rents, royalties, and other payments from mineral leases. The Division of Natural Resources may acquire public lands from use of the payments made to the fund, along with any interest accruing to the fund. The Public Land Corporation Fund may be used for the benefit, administration, maintenance, or use of any property owned or managed by the Public Land Corporation as of January 1, 2026. The Public Land Corporation Fund shall be administered by the Director of the Division of Natural Resources.

(1) All royalties and payments derived from rivers, streams, or public lands acquired or managed by the Division of Natural Resources pursuant to §20-1-7 and §20-5-2 of this code shall be retained by the Division of Natural Resources.

(2) All proceeds, rents, royalties, and other payments from land sales, exchanges, and mineral rights leasing for public lands owned, managed, or controlled by the Adjutant General's Department will be retained in a fund managed by the Adjutant General in accordance with §15-6-1 et seq. of the code.

(3) All free gas, sand, gravel, or other natural resources derived from a lease or contract made pursuant to this article will be used to benefit the state agencies, institutions, or departments located on the affected public lands, or for which the corporation was acting or to benefit any state agencies, institutions, or departments having adjacent property.

(4) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, royalties received from the leasing of state-owned gas, oil, and other mineral rights beneath the Ohio River and its tributaries are to be deposited into the West Virginia Parks and Recreation Endowment Fund and expended in accordance with the provisions of §20-5A-1 of this code.

(b) The Division of Natural Resources shall report annually, just prior to the beginning of the regular session of the Legislature, to the standing committees on Finance of both houses of the Legislature on the financial condition of the special fund. The Division of Natural Resources shall report annually to the Legislature on its public land holdings, all its leases, its financial condition, and its operations and shall make such recommendations to the Legislature concerning the acquisition, leasing, development, disposition, and use of public lands. The annual reports required by this subdivision do not have to be submitted as stand-alone reports and may be incorporated into any other report obligated by the Division of Natural Resources, which is due contemporaneously.