Chapter IX.
THE SCHOOL LANDS.
The Arizona State land commission, created by an act of the legislature approved May 20, 1912,[1] had its duties outlined by the act as follows:
To ascertain the character and value of the various bodies of land constituting the public land within the State and to recommend to the governor such as might be desirable for selection in satisfaction of the Federal grants to the State.
To personally examine and classify the school and other lands of the State with a view to aiding the legislature in the determination of a State land policy.
To determine the character and value of improvements on school and university lands held under lease prior to the admission of the State.
To grant permits for the continued occupancy of school and university lands held under lease before statehood.
The amendments to this law, passed April 11 and May 16 and 17, 1913,[2] authorized the commission to care for, sell, or otherwise administer the timber and timber products upon the public lands of the State; to lease any lands not already leased; to take charge of all lands owned by the State except such as are under the specific use and control of State institutions; to prosecute and defend actions, prevent trespass, grant rights of way, and relinquish school lands within national forests settled upon prior to statehood; and to adjust the rights of lessees owning improvements on school or university lands and sell or lease the lands secured under the million-acre grant for the payment of certain county bonds and to select, manage, and dispose of desert lands to be reclaimed under the act of Congress of August 18, 1894, and the acts supplementary thereto known as the Carey land acts.
It follows, therefore, that the administration of the public lands intended for educational purposes was a part of but by no means all of the duties devolving on the commission. This study deals only with the lands devoted to education.
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