Pub. Resources Code, § 8701

The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(a) Past policies of the state have resulted in significant depletion of the inventory of lands granted by the federal government to provide fiscal support for the public school system.

(b) It is essential that all remaining school lands and attendant interests be managed and enhanced to provide an economic base for support of the public school system.

(c) The commission shall plan and implement all transactions, including exchanges, sales, and acquisitions which would facilitate the management of school land interests for revenue generating purposes.

(d) The state, through the commission, shall take all action necessary to fully develop school lands, indemnity interests, and attendant mineral interests into a permanent and productive resource base.

(e) It is in the best interest of the state that school lands be managed as a revenue source and it is the intent of the Legislature that fair market value be a primary criterion in determining if proposed uses or dispositions of land should be approved.

(f) The consolidation of school land parcels into contiguous holdings is essential to sound and effective management and the power to acquire lands by exchange or purchase is elemental to the consolidation process.