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Basic Public Lands

Jan Van Sickle, P.L.S.


Course Outline

One of the most fundamental rules in land surveying is the concept of following in the footsteps of the original surveyor. In fact, this principle underlines the fact that land boundary surveying is not even primarily measurement. Measurement is just one of many methods of gathering evidence about the location of legal land boundaries The whole idea is to use measurement, and a whole lot of other information to follow the footsteps of the original surveyor. This rule has even been codified in law with regard to the Public Land Surveying System. It is an important principle of the Public Land Survey System and is mentioned, among other places, in a section of a federal statute originally enacted in 1925, 43 Stat.1144, it says:

" All the corners marked in the surveys returned by the Secretary of the Interior or such agency as he may designate, shall be established as the proper corners of the sections or subdivision of sections they were intended to designate. . .The boundary lines, actually run and marked in the surveys returned by the Secretary of the Interior or such agency as he may designate, shall be established as the proper boundary lines of the sections, or subdivisions, for which they were intended."

The sections of the PLSS are certainly distorted with respect to the concept of perfect one-mile squares. The design was, of course that the sides of the section would be cardinal, meet at right angles and all be one mile long. I daresay there is not a single section anywhere in the US that is square, one-mile on a side, oriented to cardinal directions and etc. Obviously that is impossible on the surface of the Earth. However, the people who actually laid out the sections on the ground, and the land had to be surveyed before it was sold, were practical people. They found ways to accommodate the inevitable convergence. This course is about how they did it and some of the principles and techniques that arose from all that work.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Intended Audience

This course is intended for land surveyors, GIS professionals and engineers.


Benefit to Attendees

Attendee of this course will have an understanding of the creation and administration of the Public Land Surveying System and its method of land description. The attendee will be able to handle the fundamentals of PLSS correctly and with confidence.


Course Introduction

The Rectangular System has been for more than 200 years, and continues to be, a system to divide land and describe property across most of the United States. Originally established by the Land Ordinance Act of May 20, 1781, the system has been incrementally improved through practical innovation and government regulation since. The Department of the Treasury had jurisdiction over the Public Land Survey System from its beginnings until 1812. It was a sensible arrangement since the government was poor in cash and rich in the land. The land came to be known as the public domain, meaning land that was once, or is even now, owned by the Federal Government of the United States. What was required was a practical, reliable and unambiguous method of disposal. The fledgling Federal Government needed to do several things. It needed to pay soldiers, often with land instead of cash. It needed to disperse the population on the land to realize its potential. Put simply, it needed to raise money.

Course Content

The link to the course content is as follows:

Basic Public Lands (MS Word file 543 KB)

Basic Public Lands (PDF file 648 KB)

You need to open or download the above document to study this course.

Course Summary

From the beginning the PLSS has been adaptable. It had to be. It needed to be able to apply to a variety of conditions on the land and be capable of changing with the times. It also needed to be as unambiguous as possible to prevent misunderstandings and boundary disputes. It has achieved these goals remarkably well. This course is intended to give the attendee a basic understanding of the challenges that have arisen during the evolution of the system and some of the solutions as well. Even though many of these solutions were the result of trial and error, the ensuing innovations became techniques, procedures and, in some cases, laws that are now stipulated in the proper performance of work in the PLSS. This course endeavors to explain some of those principles and their genesis.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.


DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.