What's equivalent in area to Washington state, lies mostly west
of the Mississippi, and raises well over a billion dollars for
public education each year? State trust lands. These unique
"public" lands were granted by the federal government to every
state that joined the Union, starting with Ohio in 1803, in the
belief that townships needed a land base with which to support
public education. Most Eastern states have long since sold off
their trust lands, but a few Western states -- particularly
those with high-value timber, coal or natural gas resources or
coveted urban properties -- have turned them into long-term
school-funding engines, using lease fees and royalties from
mining, energy development, logging and agriculture. Some have
sold or leased their urban holdings for development.