It found "that the present land laws do not fit the conditions of the remaining public lands," and recommended specific changes to meet the public needs.

A year later the second report of the Commission recommended still further changes, and said "The fundamental fact that characterizes the situation under the present land laws is this, that the number of patents issued is increasing out of all proportion to the number of new homes." This report laid the foundation of the movement for Government control of the open range, and included by far the most complete statement ever made of the disposition of the public domain.
Among the most difficult topics considered by the Public Lands Commission was that of the mineral land laws.

This subject was referred by the Commission to the American Institute of Mining Engineers, which reported upon it through a Committee.

This Committee made the very important recommendation, among others, "that the Government of the United States should retain title to all minerals, including coal and oil, in the lands of unceded territory, and lease the same to individuals or corporations at a fixed rental." The necessity for this action has since come to be very generally recognized.

Another recommendation, since partly carried into effect, was for the separation of the surface and the minerals in lands containing coal and oil.
Our land laws have of recent years proved inefficient; yet the land laws themselves have not been so much to blame as the lax, unintelligent, and often corrupt administration of these laws.