Section 216:9 - Stewardship EndowmentI. There is hereby established an endowment fund to be known as the Connecticut Lakes headwaters natural areas stewardship endowment account.II. The stewardship endowment shall be maintained in perpetuity and shall be utilized jointly by the executive director of the fish and game department and the commissioner of the department of natural and cultural resources only for the purposes of habitat and public use management of 25,000 acres of natural areas owned by the state of New Hampshire, and for the purposes of recreation, use, and the conservation easement management of the 146,400 acres on which the state shall hold a conservation easement within the Connecticut Lakes headwaters tract.III. The principal of the endowment shall be managed by the state treasurer for the sole purpose of providing interest earnings for the purposes set forth in this subdivision and expenditures from the endowment account for those purposes shall be limited to the interest earned thereon.IV. Any interest earned on the endowment principal which is not used for the purposes set forth in this subdivision within the fiscal year in which it is earned shall be nonlapsing. The state treasurer is authorized to accept gifts, donations, and grants, including federal gifts, donations, and grants, for the purposes set forth in this chapter, and such gifts, donations, and grants shall be added to the principal amount.V. The executive director of the fish and game department and the commissioner of the department of natural and cultural resources shall, pursuant to the stewardship endowment, prepare an annual report to be presented no later than December 1 of each year to the speaker of the house, the president of the senate, the governor, the house clerk, the senate clerk, and the state library. The report shall include a listing of all natural area lands within the Connecticut Lakes headwaters tract under their joint stewardship and a complete financial accounting of the funds in the stewardship endowment including expenditures for the most recent full fiscal year. The report shall also summarize stewardship activities and findings for each natural area, for the most recent full fiscal year.Amended by 2017, 156:14, eff. 7/1/2017. 2002, 148:6, eff. May 14, 2002. 2017, 156:14, I, eff. July 1, 2017.