Section 1. The commissioner of the department of environmental management, hereinafter referred to in this chapter as the commissioner, may receive and hold in trust on behalf of the commonwealth, exempt from taxation, bequests, restitutions or gifts to be used for the purpose of advancing the recreational and conservation interests of the commonwealth and shall administer the same in such manner as to carry out the terms of such bequests, restitutions or gifts, and he may accept on behalf of the commonwealth gifts of land outside the urban park district to be held and managed for recreational and conservation purposes.
Said trust properties shall be known as the Conservation Trust and shall be used and expended under the direction of the commissioner and subject to his orders. Subject to the term of such grant, restitution, gift, devise or bequest, the commissioner may expend such funds, whether principal or income, without further appropriation.