Boundary (Cadastral) Surveys

Cadastral Survey is an operational program within the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior whose mission and focus includes:

• Performing legal boundary surveys for the Federal Government. This includes consultation and boundary determination expertise for USFS, Park Service, Corps of Engineers, BIA, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, etc
• Steward of PLSS records for all active Public Land States, descendant from original General Land Office, or the GLO, the creators of the Public Land Survey System.
• A 215 year history of getting the job done and practical innovation.
• Currently maintains offices in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, GCDB Denver, Eastern States, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah , Washington D.C. and Wyoming.
• Produces and maintains the primary land tenure records: the survey field notes and plats.
• Is a leader in developing spatial data as a basis for National Land Information System. This includes a large data collection efforts which is underway, known as the GCDB or Geographic Coordinate Data Base Project. This is the largest project in the world for development of records based geographic spatial framework.

The term comes from Latin base term Cadastre referring to a registry of lands. So actually Cadastral Surveying is surveying having to do with determining and defining land ownership and boundaries. Many people think surveys are relatively unimportant until they find they have located many hundreds of thousands of dollars of improvements, buildings, etc. on someone else's land. Suddenly the value of knowing where your land is comes into perspective.

The practice of finding boundaries is neither a purely legal process, nor a purely scientific process. It is something in between with a twist. The boundary surveyor in finding an old survey must be cognizant of the legal description of the land and any conflicts which may affect it. This involves not only knowledge but skills in research and investigation. Then the surveyor must be part archeologist to find physical evidence of previous surveys and occupation on the ground. Throughout the process the surveyor must understand the concepts of good measurements to find and describe what is found, and be able to interpret it's relationship to the record. In the end those that do it well find it can be rewarding, sort of as mathematical detective work, with archeology, dendrology, geology and paralegal aspects thrown in.


Public Lands Surveys

The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is a way of subdividing and describing land in the United States. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by this rectangular system of surveys. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for regulating and maintaining the PLSS.

Private Ownership Surveys

Right of Way / Easement Surveys

Determining existing right of way (ROW) limits, restrictions to State ownership (e.g. easements), and actual property owners is a necessary first step in the identification of property interests. Property records and other records maintained by local public entities should be researched for this information. This preliminary ROW data can be used in refining a preferred alignment to minimize ROW impacts to properties. Schematics for public view can also show data collected, such as names of property owners and approximate locations of existing ROW limits.