[4] The second constitutional convention - as was the first - was bitterly divided on a number of public policy issues, including women's right to own property, immigrants' right to vote, banking regulations, and even the nascent state's boundaries.

[7] The creation of said "school trust funds" was deemed necessary by the convention to assure sufficient protection of the land grants from discounted speculation and poor management practices.

Perhaps most importantly however, Article X created BCPL to manage and sell all school trust lands granted to the state and to invest the funds arising therefrom subject to constitutionally mandated restrictions.

[11] The Common School Fund was created at statehood from the sale of the 16th section in each of Wisconsin's townships; this amounted to almost 1,000,000 acres (1,600 sq mi).

Most of the land grant was quickly sold in BCPL's early years, with only some 7,000 acres (11 sq mi) remaining today.

[22][23] The remaining school trust lands are accessible to the public without fee for hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, and other appropriate outdoor recreational activities.

BCPL prioritizes efficient and sustainable land management practices that not only generate increasing returns to beneficiaries but which also support timber productivity, forest health, water quality protection, biodiversity conservation, and enhanced public access.

[29][30] Wisconsin's founders had concerns about the concentration of political power and did not want either the Governor or the Legislature to control the school trust corpus.

[31][32] In fact, all but a handful of the Western states - including Arizona, Arkansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington - adopted Wisconsin's land commission model.