Massachusetts General Laws ch. 132A sec. 1 – Bequests, restitutions or gifts; Conservation Trust
Section 1. The commissioner of the department of environmental management, hereinafter referred to in this chapter as the commissioner, may receive and hold in trust on behalf of the commonwealth, exempt from taxation, bequests, restitutions or gifts to be used for the purpose of advancing the recreational and conservation interests of the commonwealth and shall administer the same in such manner as to carry out the terms of such bequests, restitutions or gifts, and he may accept on behalf of the commonwealth gifts of land outside the urban park district to be held and managed for recreational and conservation purposes.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 132A sec. 1
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Bequest: Property gifted by will.
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Interests: includes any form of membership in a domestic or foreign nonprofit corporation. See Massachusetts General Laws ch. 156D sec. 11.01
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
Said trust properties shall be known as the Conservation Trust and shall be used and expended under the direction of the commissioner and subject to his orders. Subject to the term of such grant, restitution, gift, devise or bequest, the commissioner may expend such funds, whether principal or income, without further appropriation.