Entry_ID: (required) Entry_Title: Public Land Survey System of the United States Group: Data_Set_Citation Originator(s): U.S. Geological Survey Title: Public Land Survey System of the United States Publication_Date: 201011 Publication_Place: Reston, VA Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey URL: End_Group Keyword: Public Land Survey System Keyword: PLSS Keyword: Township Keyword: Range Keyword: Public Survey Keyword: Private Survey Keyword: Land Grants Keyword: Civil Colonies Keyword: Donation Land Claims Keyword: Unsurveyed Area Group: Temporal_Coverage Start_date: 1972 Stop_date: 2002 End_Group Data_Set_Progress: Complete Group: Spatial_Coverage Southernmost_Latitude: 17 Northernmost_Latitude: 72 Westernmost_Longitude: 170 Easternmost_Longitude: -64 End_Group Location: United States Group: Data_Resolution Latitude_Resolution: 0.000278 Longitude_Resolution: 0.000278 End_Group Access_Constraints: None Use_Constraints: None. Acknowledgment of the National Atlas of the United States of America and (or) the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated in products derived from these data. Originating_Center: (required) Group: Data_Center Data_Center_Name: Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey Group: Data_Center_Contact Last_name: Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey First_name: N/A Phone: 1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747) Phone: 703-648-5920 Group: Address 507 National Center Reston, VA 20192 End_Group End_Group End_Group Group: Distribution Distribution_Media: online Distribution_Format : ESRI Shapefile Fees: There is no charge for the map layer. End_Group Group: Reference End_Group Group: Summary These data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the national level, and for large regional areas. The data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000-scale data. No responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data. This data set portrays the Public Land Surveys of the United States, including areas of private survey, Donation Land Claims, and Land Grants and Civil Colonies. This is a revised version of the January 2003 data set. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by a rectangular system of surveys called the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), established and regulated by the Bureau of Land Management. The original public domain includes the land ceded to the Federal Government by the Thirteen Original States, supplemented with acquisitions from native Indians and foreign powers. It encompasses major portions of the land area of 30 western States. Under Congressional mandate, cadastral surveys of public lands were undertaken to create parcels suitable for disposal by the Government. The PLSS was developed for this purpose. The PLSS is a rectangular survey system that typically divides the land into 6-mile square townships, which are further subdivided into 1-mile square sections (the data in the National Atlas do not include section-level information). The extension of the rectangular system of surveys over the public domain has been in progress since 1785. These surveys form the basis of patents issued when public lands pass out of Federal ownership. Certain lands were excluded from the public domain and not subject to survey and disposal. These lands include the beds of navigable bodies of water, national installations such as military reservations and national parks, and areas such as land grants that had already passed to private ownership prior to subdivision by the Government. Data describing the PLSS is required by Federal surface and mineral management agencies, as well as any organization concerned with land ownership in the 30 western States that were formed from the public domain. Additionally, many agencies have encoded natural resource or environmental inventory data based on the PLSS. End_Group Group: DIF_Author Last_name: Higgins First_name: Terry Email: atlasmail@usgs.gov Phone: 573-308-3592 Group: Address 1400 Independence Road Rolla, MO 65401 End_Group End_Group DIF_Revision_Date: 20101112 Science_Review_Date: