PLSS Introduction

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Introduction to the Public Land Survey
System (PLSS) - Outline
⚫ What is the PLSS
⚫ Types of Land Descriptions
⚫ Metes & Bounds
⚫ PLSS
⚫ Acts pertaining to the PLSS
⚫ Principal Meridians & Baselines
⚫ PLSS Townships
⚫ PLSS Sections
⚫ Plats and Field Notes
⚫ Monuments
⚫ Questions

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Public Land Survey System-PLSS

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Public Land Survey System (PLSS)
⚫ Thomas Jefferson originated system in report to Congress in
1784
⚫ Surveys required prior to land sales
⚫ System needed to address land promised to Revolutionary
War soldiers and others
⚫ Desired orderly system for parceling land
⚫ Pertains to land west of Mississippi and some states east of
Mississippi
⚫ Remaining States used a “Meets and Bounds” system
⚫ Experiment State was Ohio

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Metes and Bounds System
Metes and Bounds Defined
⚫ A method of describing land by measure and length (metes)
of the boundary lines (bounds) (2005 ACSM Definitions of
Surveying and Associated Terms).
⚫ A description of a parcel of land by natural or recorded
monuments (2005 ACSM Definitions of Surveying and Associated
Terms).
⚫ The territorial limits of real property as measured by
distances and angles from designated landmarks and in
relation to adjoining properties. Also termed running
description; butts and bounds; lines and corners (Black’s Law
Dictionary Ninth Edition).

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Metes and Bounds Defined (cont.)
Metes and bounds is a system or method of
describing land, real property (in contrast to
personal property) or real estate. The system
has been used in England for many
centuries, and is still used there in the
definition of general boundaries. By custom, it
was applied in the original Thirteen Colonies
that became the United States, and in many
other land jurisdictions based on English
common law. (From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia)

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Metes & Bounds States vs. PLSS

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Example of Meets & Bounds Description
February 13, 1810. BEADLES of Lincoln Co., Kentucky sells 140 acres
and 36 poles of land in Mercer County on Doctors Fork to CRAIN for 200
pounds. Land described as follows...:
Beginning at the mouth of a branch at an ash stump;
THENCE up the creek S 20 poles to 2 buck trees;
THENCE east 41 poles to a small walnut in Arnett's line;
THENCE north 50° east 80 poles to a lynn hickory dogwood in said line;
THENCE north 38 poles to an ash;
THENCE west 296 poles with Potts's line till it intersects with Tolly's line;
THENCE south 30° west 80 poles to a white oak and sugar;
THENCE east 223 poles to the point of beginning....
Does This Description Close? Is it Retraceable?

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State of Ohio-The Proving Ground
► Land subdivisions in what was called the “Northwest Territories”, now the
state of Ohio, have often been called the proving ground of the PLSS
► There were two tracts of land in Ohio to which the United States had no
claim of ownership – Virginia’s Military Reserve and Connecticut’s
Western Reserve and Firelands.
► Additionally, there were two additional sizeable tracts of land that were
sold to speculators shortly after the rectangular system was adopted, and
these tracts were surveyed by the companies that had purchased them,
sometimes according to their own rules.
► Most importantly, the rectangular system had not yet been perfected:
⚫ No basic framework for location of townships
⚫ No plan formulated for eventual expansion of surveys
⚫ No provision for eliminating the basic conflict brought about by the law,
which called for the surveys to be both rectangular and have sides
running in the cardinal directions.

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Ohio Lands Subdivision

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Act of May 18, 1796
►Called for the appointment of a Surveyor General,
who shall engage “skillful surveyors” as his
deputies; also required that he frame regulations
and instructions for his deputies, and require them
to take an oath to do proper work.
►Changed the system of numbering sections to the
system that is in use today, with section 1 in the
NE corner of the township, then numbering to the
west, with section numbers run in opposite
directions in alternate lines. The term for this is
from the Greek – “boustrophedonic” – which
literally means “turning like oxen in plowing”.

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The Bustrophedonic Pattern
►System used
under Ordinance
of May 18, 1796

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Act of February 11, 1805
►All section lines will be surveyed, and all quarter corners
on those lines established.
►The corners set by the Surveyor General are
unchangeable.
►The lines marked by the Surveyor General are
unchangeable.
►The lengths of the section lines are unchangeable.
►The quantity or area of a section or fractional section is
unchangeable. Of course, the Surveyor General could
correct or change a survey up until such time as private
rights were acquired based on the survey.

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Basics of the PLSS (Rectangular)
⚫ 31 Principal Meridians (north & south lines). Across the
continental United States and Alaska, there have been 37
initial points established for the rectangular surveys of the
public lands.
⚫ 31 Base Lines (east and west lines)
⚫ Intersection of Principal Meridians and Base Lines are known
as the “initial point”
⚫ Named either by numbers (6th Principal Meridian) or names
(Ute Meridian)
⚫ Townships numbered “North” or “South” of Base Line
⚫ Ranges numbered east or west of the Principal Meridian

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Principal Meridians & Base Lines

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Principal Meridians
►Surveys in Colorado are controlled from 3
Principal Meridians:
⚫ Sixth Principal Meridian
⚫ New Mexico Principal Meridian
⚫ Ute Meridian
►Initial points:
⚫ Sixth P.M. – located on the Nebraska/Kansas
boundary.
⚫ New Mexico P.M. – located on a small mesa
approximately 1 mile NE of the village of San
Acacia, NM.
⚫ Ute Meridian – located on the south side of
Walker Field, Grand Junction, CO.

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PLSS Townships
⚫ Townships consist of 36 “square” sections
⚫ Each section is to be 1 square mile in size (640 acres)
⚫ Numbering of sections are in the east-west direction
alternating north to south in each row (bustrophedonic)
⚫ Sections converge to the north
⚫ Convergence taken on north and west tier of sections
⚫ Corrections lines (due to convergence) occur every 24 miles.
The are known as Standard Parallels or Correction Lines

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PLSS Townships (cont’d)

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PLSS Sections
⚫Approximately 1 mile square
⚫Contain approximately 640 acres
⚫Sections can be easily subdivided:
⚫ SE ¼ (160 acres)
⚫ SE ¼ NW ¼ (40 acres)
⚫ E ½ NW ¼ SE ¼ (20 acres)
⚫Each original section corner has witness entities for
recovery (bearing trees, rivers, rocks, topographic
calls)

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PLSS Sections (cont’d)

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PLSS Sections-Subdivision

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Plats and Field Notes
⚫Original Townships and Section corners established
and recorded by Township plats
⚫Field notes accompanied plat to describe what, how,
were corner monument was set. These documents
are the basis of re-tracing Section corner
monuments
⚫Topography, vegetation, timber, soils, mineral
deposits all could be identified in field notes
(beginning of a GIS!)

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PLSS Typical Original Plat

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PLSS Dependent Resurvey Plat

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Monuments
⚫Set for Township and Section corners
⚫Section corners, quarter-section corners set
⚫Center Section corners were not set typically
⚫Sixteenth corners were not set
⚫Type of monuments include:
⚫ Stone
⚫ Mound of stones
⚫ Charred stake
⚫ Pits
⚫ Steel pipe with bronze cap

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Types of monuments

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Accuracy and Recovery
⚫Location of original monuments hold-even if
they were set in error
⚫Cannot use coordinates to set monuments
⚫Must use evidence of position, chain of
evidence or replacement history to determine
true location

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Monument Records
⚫In Colorado, documentation of Section corners is
required by a monument record
⚫Monument record identifies the following:
⚫ What was found at the site
⚫ What was set at the site
⚫ Who found and set the monument
⚫ Date of survey
⚫ Witness monumentsentities set

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Applying Principles of Boundary Location
⚫ Thorough Document Research
⚫ Bureau of Land Management Records (Original
Survey, Master Title Plats, GCDB, etc.)
⚫ Department of Regulatory Agencies –
Monument Records
⚫ Title Commitment: Recorded information in
Real Estate Records
⚫ Survey Records: Deposited information Land
Survey Plats
⚫ Railroads
⚫ DOT’s
⚫ Ditch Companies
⚫ Case Law…

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Questions

PLSS Introduction

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