CHAPTER 525

An Act to create the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and governing body,
and to prescribe its powers and functions.

(S 109]
Approved April 5, 1966

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. §1. The General Assembly finds that the State’s population is in-
creasing rapidly and becoming concentrated in urban and suburban areas;
that the open space available for parks as well as natural, scenic, historic,
scientific and recreational areas is being diminished constantly and it is
in the public interest that preservation of open space be encouraged.
704 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY (vA., 1966

§ 2. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of Virginia that
the preservation of open space lands is in the public interest and is to be
encouraged.

§ 3. In order to promote the public policy above declared, and to
encourage private gifts of money, securities, land, or other property of
whatever character for the purpose of preserving the natural, scenic, his-
toric, scientific, and recreational areas of the State, there is hereby created
the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, a body politic to be organized and to
have such powers as hereinafter provided.

§ 4. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation shall be governed and ad-
ministered by a Board of Trustees composed of the State Treasurer and
the Director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Economic
Development to serve ex officio, and five trustees from the State at large to
be appointed by the Governor. Initially the trustees at-large shall be ap-
pointed for the following terms: two for a term of four years, two for a
term of three years, and one for a term of two years. Thereafter, succes-
sors to trustees at-large whose terms expire shall be appointed for terms
of four years. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term. No trustee
at-large shall be eligible to serve for more than two successive terms, but
appointment to fill a vacancy shall not be considered as one of the two
terms. All trustees at-large shall take the oath of office as prescribed by
law and post bond in the penalty of five thousand dollars with the State
Comptroller prior to entering upon the functions of office. No compensation
shall be paid to any trustee for his services, but each trustee shall be reim-
bursed for travel and expenses incurred by him in the performance of his
duties on behalf of the Foundation.

§ 5. The Director of the Department of Conservation and Economic
Development shall be Chairman of the Board. A majority of the mem-
bers on the Board serving at any one time shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business.

§ 6. To enable it to carry out its functions, the Virginia Outdoors
Foundation shall have the following general powers:

(a) To have succession until dissolved by Act of Assembly, in which
event title to the properties of the Foundation, both real and personal,
shall, insofar as consistent with existing contractual obligations and sub-
ject to all other legally enforceable claims or demands by or against the
Foundation, pass to and become vested in the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia ;
(b) Tosue and be sued in contractual matters in its own name;

(c) To promulgate such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with
the laws of the State, as it deems necessary for the administration of its
functions under Chapter 1.1, Title 9, of the Code of Virginia, including
among other matters, administration of funds, and the organization and
procedure of the Board of Trustees ;

(d) To accept, hold, and administer gifts and bequests of money,
securities, or other property of whatsoever character, absolutely or in
trust, for the purposes for which the Foundation is created. Unless other-
wise restricted by the terms of the gift or bequest, the Foundation is
authorized to sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of and to invest or
reinvest in such investments as it may determine from time to time the
moneys, securities, or other property given or bequeathed to it. The prin-
cipal of such funds, together with the income therefrom and all other
revenues received by it from any source whatsoever, shall be placed in
such depositories as the Foundation shall determine and shall constitute
a special fund and be subject to expenditure by the Foundation for its pur-
poses without further appropriation. The Foundation shall not engage in
any business except in the furtherance of its objectives;

(e) To acquire by gift, devise, purchase, or otherwise, absolutely
or in trust, and to hold and, unless otherwise restricted by the terms of
the gift or devise, to encumber, convey, or otherwise dispose of, any
property, or any estate or interest therein, as may be necessary and prop-
er in carrying into effect the purposes of the Foundation ;

(f) To enter into contracts generally and to execute all instruments
necessary or appropriate to carry out its purposes ;

(g) To appoint and prescribe the duties of such officers, agents, and
employees as may be necessary to carry out its functions, and to fix and
pay such compensation to them for their services as the Foundation may
determine; and

(h) Generally to do any and all lawful acts necessary or appropriate
to carry out the purposes for which the Foundation is created.

§ 7. The Foundation shall, on or before the first day of November
in each year, transmit to the Governor a report of its proceedings and
activity for the preceding fiscal year, including a full and complete state-
ment of its receipts and expenditures.

Gifts, devises or bequests, whether personal or real property,
and the income therefrom, accepted by the Foundation, shall be deemed
to be gifts to the Commonwealth of Virginia, which shall be exempt from
all State and local taxes, and shall be regarded as the property of the State
for the purposes of all tax laws.

. § 9. All State officers, agencies, commissions, departments, and in-
stitutions are directed to cooperate with, and assist, the Virginia Outdoors
Foundation in carrying out its purpose, and to that end may accept any
gift or conveyance of land or other property in the name of the Common-
wealth from the Foundation. Such property shall be held in possession
or used as provided in the terms of the trust, contract, or instrument by
which it is conveyed.