On Monday, Secretary of State Michael Watson presented the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources with a check of $6.39 million in Tidelands Trust Fund amounts collected during Fiscal Year 2025.

Over the life of the Tidelands Trust Fund Program – created in 1989 to collect money from onshore gaming and rents from leases on state-owned tidelands and other submerged lands – a total of $216,335,667 has been delivered. The money is used for projects dedicated to conserving and preserving the state’s tidelands while enhancing public access and economic development across the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

“It is a privilege to return these funds to the coast each year. As the first Secretary of State from the Gulf Coast, I have a unique perspective on the significance of the Mississippi Tideland

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