U.S. Geological Survey 201011 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html> 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. 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. 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. 1972 2002 Ground Condition Complete Irregular 170 -64 72 17 None Public Land Survey System PLSS Township Range Public Survey Private Survey Land Grants Civil Colonies Donation Land Claims Unsurveyed Area U.S. Department of Commerce, 1995, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions (Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4): Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology. United States None USA U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of The United States, and Associated Areas (FIPS 5-2): Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming None 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. Greg Manuel U.S. Geological Survey Mailing address

561 National Center

Reston VA 20192 703-648-6433 atlasmail@usgs.gov The data set was checked for topological consistency using the Arc/INFO command BUILD. No other checks for logical consistency were performed on this data set. This data set includes the Public Land Survey System for the United States, to the Township and Range level. It also includes Land Grants. U.S. Geological Survey 1995 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey 2000000 CD-ROM 1995 Publication date 2MILBD Spatial information U.S. Geological Survey 1998 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey 2000000 Online 1998 Publication date ATLAS-CNTY Spatial information U.S. Geological Survey 1998 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey 2000000 Online 1998 Publication date ATLAS-HY Spatial information U.S. Geological Survey Unknown Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey 100000 Paper Unknown Publication date 1:100,000-scale base maps Spatial and attribute information U.S. Geological Survey Unknown Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey 500000 Paper Unknown Publication date 500K State base maps Spatial and attribute information U.S. Geological Survey Unknown Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey 1000000 Paper Unknown Publication date 1Mil State base maps Spatial and attribute information U.S. Geological Survey 200205 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey 2000000 Online 1972 2002 Ground Condition ATLAS-PLSS200205 Spatial and attribute information Public Land Survey System data were collected from 1:500,000 and 1:1,000,000 State base maps for the western United States. The eastern States were collected from existing 1:100,000-scale base maps. Data from both sources were integrated into 1:2,000,000 State-level DLG files, then generalized and vertically integrated with 2MILBD, ATLAS- CNTY, and ATLAS-HY. The resulting Public Land Survey System DLG files were published on CD-ROM in 1995. The DLG optional-format files were then converted to Arc/INFO coverages, and the individual State files were paneled together into a national coverage. Numeric DLG codes were translated into English, non-polygon features were deleted, and the data set was converted to shapefile format. 2MILBD ATLAS-CNTY ATLAS-HY 1:100,000-scale base maps 500K State base maps 1Mil State base maps 1999 Township and Range values were corrected in the Boise, Copper River, Fifth Principal, Fourth Principal, Sixth Principal, Indian, Louisiana, Salt Lake, St. Stephens, Third Principal, Umiat, and Willamette surveys. In all, 250 corrections were made using 1:100,000-scale base maps. Some polygons in coastal areas were added or deleted to accurately portray the extent of a Township or unsurveyed area. 1:100,000-scale base maps 200204 ATLAS-PLSS200205 Range values were corrected in the New Mexico Principal survey for Townships 15-20 South. In all, 85 corrections were made using 1:100,000-scale base maps. ATLAS-PLSS200205 1:100,000-scale base maps 200212 Township value was corrected in the Iowa Fifth Principal survey for Range 3 West. In all, 2 corrections were made due to a previous typing error. ATLAS-PLSS200301 201011 U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying areas of the United States, and Associated Areas (FIPS 5-2): Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology. 0.000278 0.000278 Decimal degrees North American Datum of 1983 GRS1980 6378137 298.257222 Public Land Survey System area (described by plss00p020.dbf) A rectangular system of surveys devised to subdivide public domain lands. U.S. Geological Survey Shape The representation of the entity in the data. U.S. Geological Survey Polygon 2-dimensional element ESRI GIS software Area The size of the shape in coverage units. U.S. Geological Survey 0.000 123.791 Perimeter The perimeter of the shape in coverage units. U.S. Geological Survey 0.003 220.521 plss00p020 Internal feature number. U.S. Geological Survey 2 90920 Feature1 The primary survey area type. U.S. Geological Survey Donation Land Claims An area that was allocated to a settler under the Donation Act of September 27, 1850 to preserve the rights of pre-statehood settlers claimed prior to the regular division of townships and ranges. U.S. Geological Survey Indian Lands Land granted to native Americans and excluded from the public domain. U.S. Geological Survey Land Grants, Civil Colonies An area of land to which title was conferred by a predecessor government and confirmed by the U.S. Government after the territory in which it is situated was acquired by the United States. U.S. Geological Survey Military Reservation A military or lighthouse reservation that limits the public lands. U.S. Geological Survey Not Part of Public Land Surveys System An area that is outside of the Public Land Survey System. U.S. Geological Survey Overlapping Land Grants An area of land to which more than one title was conferred by a predecessor government and confirmed by the U.S. Government after the territory in which it is situated was acquired by the United States. These areas are the result of survey error or disputed claims. U.S. Geological Survey Private Survey An area of private surveys of public domain lands. U.S. Geological Survey Public Survey An area of land subdivided by the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), which was originally created on public domain lands and the rules for its use were defined by the authority of the U.S. Government. The PLSS has since been extended, following similar rules, into non- public domain areas. U.S. Geological Survey Unsurveyed Area An area that is part of the public domain but which has not been subdivided. U.S. Geological Survey Water Areas of navigable streams and meanderable lakes which are excluded from the Public Land Survey System. U.S. Geological Survey Feature2 The township and range designation for the area. U.S. Geological Survey <blank> There is no township and range designation for the area because it is not a Public Survey or Private Survey area. U.S. Geological Survey There is no predefined set of valid township and range designations. Designations are in the format "Township xx aaaaa Range yy bbbb", where xx and yy are numbers, aaaaa is either North or South, and bbbb is either East or West. Feature3 The secondary survey area type. U.S. Geological Survey <blank> The area does not have a secondary survey type. U.S. Geological Survey Land Grants, Civil Colonies An area of land to which title was conferred by a predecessor government and confirmed by the U.S. Government after the territory in which it is situated was acquired by the United States. U.S. Geological Survey Overlapping Land Grants An area of land to which more than one title was conferred by a predecessor government and confirmed by the U.S. Government after the territory in which it is situated was acquired by the United States. These areas are the result of survey error or disputed claims. U.S. Geological Survey Name1 The primary name of the survey area. This is the principal meridian, Ohio base, or land grant name. U.S. Geological Survey <blank> The area is not a land grant or part of the Public Land Survey System. U.S. Geological Survey GeoData Data Users Guide 1, Appendix K: Origins of the U.S. Rectangular Surveys U.S. Geological Survey GeoData Data Users Guide 1, Appendix L: Named Land Grant Codes U.S. Geological Survey Name2 The secondary name of the survey area. This is an additional land grant name. U.S. Geological Survey <blank> The area does not have a secondary survey name. U.S. Geological Survey GeoData Data Users Guide 1, Appendix L: Named Land Grant Codes U.S. Geological Survey Name3 The tertiary name of the survey area. This is an additional land grant name. U.S. Geological Survey <blank> The area does not have a tertiary survey name. U.S. Geological Survey GeoData Data Users Guide 1, Appendix L: Named Land Grant Codes U.S. Geological Survey State The 2-character code of the State where the survey area is located. If the area falls in more than one State, the codes for each State are included and are separated with dashes, for example: IN-KY-OH. U.S. Geological Survey <blank> The area is not part of the Public Land Survey System. U.S. Geological Survey Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas, (Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 5-2). U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology State_fips The 2-digit code of the State where the survey area is located. If the area falls in more than one State, the codes for each State are included and are separated with dashes, for example: 27-38-46. U.S. Geological Survey <blank> The area is not part of the Public Land Survey System. U.S. Geological Survey Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas, (Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 5-2). U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey Mailing address

507 National Center

Reston VA 20192 1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747) 703-648-5920 In addition to the address above there are other ESIC offices throughout the country. A full list of these offices is at <http://mapping.usgs.gov/esic/esic_index.html>. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. No responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data. ESRI Shapefile <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html> There is no charge for the map layer. 20101112 Terry Higgins U.S. Geological Survey Mailing address

1400 Independence Road

Rolla MO 65401 573-308-3592 atlasmail@usgs.gov FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 None Unclassified None