(A) The Board of Park Commissioners may acquire lands either within or without the park district for conversion into forest reserves and for the conservation of the natural resources of the state, including streams, lakes, submerged lands, and swamplands, and to those ends may create parks, parkways, forest reservations, and other reservations and afforest, develop, improve, protect, and promote the use of the same in such manner as the Board deems conducive to the general welfare. Such lands may be acquired by the Board, on behalf of the district, by:
(1) Gift or devise;
(2) Purchase for cash, by purchase by installment payments with or without a mortgage, by entering into lease-purchase agreements, by lease with or without option to purchase;
(3) Appropriation.
(B) In furtherance of the use and enjoyment of the lands controlled by it, the Board may accept donations of money or other property or may act as trustees of land, money, or other property, and use and administer the same as stipulated by the donor, or as provided in the trust agreement. The terms of each such donation or trust shall first be approved by the probate court before acceptance by the Board.
(C) In case of appropriation, the proceedings shall be instituted in the name of the Board, and shall be conducted in the manner provided in R.C. §§ 163.01 through 163.22.
(R.C. § 1545.11) (Prior by-law, § 16)