When Congress admitted Oregon to the Union in 1859, they granted nearly 3.4 million acres of the new state’s land “for the use of schools.” The State Land Board was established by the Oregon Constitution to oversee those school lands. School lands generate revenue for the Common School Fund, today a $2.2-billion fund that distributes millions of dollars to Oregon’s K–12 public schools every year.​

The State Land Board includes the governor, secretary of state and state treasurer. 

The Department of State Lands’ (DSL) manages land to benefit education. The Real Property Program manages Oregon’s remaining 775,000 acres of school lands and assets to generate revenue for the Common School Fund, carrying on the department’s historic responsibilities in the present day

DSL also protects waters and wetlands. The Aquatic Resource Management Program oversees the state’s removal-fill law, the federal North American Wetlands Conservation Act and use of Oregon’s public waterways.

The DSL team includes just over 100 people, with offices in Salem and Bend.