16th Section: New battle in old fight

The Clarion-Ledger Editorial, 3/22/9

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann finds himself right in the middle of a new battle in an very old fight in Mississippi – the fight to protect the interests of the state’s schoolchildren in demanding maximum revenues from the state’s 640,000 acres of 16th Section land across the state.

Hosemann told the Hattiesburg American in February that the state’s school trust lands earned an income of $54 million in 2007 – making the average yield per acre $25.

Hosemann said that’s far less than what it should be.

“We have a phenomenal resource in 16th Section land,” Hosemann said. “With good management and people on the ground, we can do better.”

Hosemann is right to target 16th Section leases. That’s his job.