California State Lands Commission, School Lands

The California State Lands Commission (CSLC) was created by the California Legislature in 1938 and given the authority and responsibility to manage certain public lands within the state. The public lands under the Commission’s jurisdiction are of two distinct types—sovereign lands acquired upon California’s admission into the Union in 1850; and certain federally granted lands including school lands, and swamp and overflowed lands. For purposes of this GIS data, sovereign lands are considered to be further divided into two general categories—fixed-boundary sovereign lands and ambulatory-boundary sovereign lands. The following lands are included in this data:School lands: These are what remain of the nearly 5.5 million acres throughout the state originally granted to California by Congress in 1853 to benefit public education. NOT INCLUDED IN THIS DATA: Ambulatory-boundary state sovereign lands, which include the beds of California’s naturally navigable rivers, streams and lakes. Swamp and overflowed lands: These are what remain of federal lands granted to California by Congress in 1850 to encourage reclamation and development of agricultural lands. Fixed-boundary sovereign lands: These are sovereign, public trust lands having fixed boundaries as the result of land exchanges, boundary line agreements or court orders. ALSO NOT INCLUDED IN THIS DATA: Ownership details within the U.S. Government meanders of Owens Lake.THIS DATA SUPERSEDES all previously published GIS information with respect to the above described state-owned lands under the jurisdiction of the CSLC.