Annual Report (Arizona State Land Department)

On May 20, 1912, an act of the First Legislature created the three-member State Land Commission to serve as the temporary Land Department of the State. They were charged with assessing, evaluating, and making recommendations about the land granted by Congress to the State for the Common Schools and other institutions. The Commission was to report back to the Legislature with its findings and conclusions by the end of the second Legislative session. The Commission concluded that Arizona should not sell its Trust land out-right, as other states had done. Instead, it should put the lands to their "highest and best use." The decision to sell or lease the land should be based upon the potential use of each parcel. The Commission recommended the creation of a permanent State Land Department "... in order that the multitudinous detail attached to the State’s varied land interests may have constant attention and to prevent irretrievable loss."