School and Institutional Trust Lands Director David Ure presented Gayle McKeachnie and Margaret Dayton with 2018 Friend of the Trust awards earlier this month for their advocacy and support of Utah’s K-12 public school trust and its $2.5 billion endowment. Throughout their public service, both McKeachnie and Dayton have supported and sponsored legislation to move SITLA forward and help the agency build the Permanent School Fund for the benefit of Utah students today and tomorrow. SITLA manages Utah’s school trust lands and deposits revenues from energy, mineral, real estate, and surface development into the Permanent School Fund, which has grown to $2.5 billion. Interest income from this endowment, School LAND Trust Funds, is distributed annually to individual K-12 schools. On behalf of Utah’s public school system, the School Children’s Trust at the Utah State Board of Education advocates for proper fiduciary management of Utah’s trust lands and investment of the Permanent School Fund. The School Children’s Trust and SITLA created the Friend of the Trust Award to recognize those who have contributed significantly to the public school trust. Previous recipients include the late State Senator Dennis Stowell, Margaret Bird, Utah PTA, and Representatives Mel Brown, Mike Noel, and James Gowans.