Starting with the basics and assuming you have not had the opportunity or desire in the past to understand the land ownership grid system. This system is used in most states of the USA (United States of America) and was based on the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) way back in the beginning of land ownership in the USA.
It would be interesting to research all the other LOS (Land Ownership Systems) of other places in the world to see if similar systems are used. I am a Registered Professional Land Surveyor in Oklahoma who has been land surveying since 1965. I have recently had the opportunity to talk with fellow land surveyors all over the world. With the use of Survey Accurate GPS (Global Positioning Systems), most all of us with any foresight into the future see the importance of having a system that ties all the old systems together and improves the way we find and access points on the ground. Ultimately I want to see a system that includes the true position of each point that defines a boundary of ownership that will never get lost or have to be re-surveyed.
Oklahoma used to spend more of its tax resources on maintaining the "system" of paperwork that defined ownership. As technology accelerated, the land LOS stayed mostly the same with a few acceptations is way behind technology. We have the ability to establish a true position of each and every section corner including quarter corners including the center of each section in Oklahoma. Little or no funds are available to do this in Oklahoma. Some states are doing it and the positive economic impact is obvious.
Before I lose you totally on what is meant by section corners, let me make it clear that when I say section corners, I include all the original points that the original surveyors set back in the mid to late 1800's on and in the ground. When I say "Section Corner", I mean each and every point or monument that the original surveyors placed and mapped back then including quarter corners around the perimeter of the section spaced about a half mile apart. I am also including the center of each section which is the common quarter corner of the four quarters of a section. The way a section is divided is shown below. It is important to first understand how the sections are numbered and divided.
Back in the beginning, an initial point was set in Oklahoma using the same instructions as most all other TRS (Township Range Section) in other states of the USA. See the drawing above to get an idea of how the sections are laid out in the typical TRS grid. Notice that the "Initial Point" is at the intersection of the Base Line and Meridian Line. The Base line is basically a line that is parallel to one of the Latitude lines that circles the globe and is basically parallel to the equator.
By the way, the equator spins slightly faster than 1000 miles per hour in relationship to the line that goes thru the north and south pole of the globe. This is a good thing to know and can be quite interesting if you get your head into all the factors that influence gravity, momentum, and and position of any point on our globe. When you put real numbers to these factors, you begin to understand how it works and why we have developed systems to inventory points on our globe or big blue marble from space and on the ground. I recommend that you research the many factors including the thickness of our atmosphere compared to the size of the earth too. You may be amazed after you discover the truth about how they compare.
The TRS grid is numbered north and south by the name of Townships. In other words, the north or south number of the grid can only be the Township. I use a numbers system that excludes the name because the north or south designation means that it is a township designation so why waste space to say it is a Township when the number and direction is all you need. For example, I use 19N11E16 for the TRS of the Section that I reside.
The code name for the TRS that I use represents the least amount of characters needed to describe exactly the section that a property is described or anchored. The 11E in that code represents Range 11 East because Range numbers are either east or west. There are 36 sections in each Township-Range (TR) area. The drawing above shows the Township-Range grid. Each TR is about 36 square miles plus or minus. More about the specific meaning of "plus or minus" or "more or less" later to explain a very important class of descriptions. The "more or less" designation refers to the section subdivisions with this wording that has been misused for many years by attorneys, abtract companies, and surveyors due to a lack of understanding and use.
The below drawing represents the shaded area of the drawing above and shows a TR that is divided down into sections to complete the TRS system designation. All land surveys are based on the TRS system used by the County Clerk and County Assessor in each County of Oklahoma to locate boundaries and inventory ownership of land areas.
Notice that section 14 is shaded in the drawing above. Each section is approximately 1 square mile or 640 acres. You can truly say that each section is 640 acres more or less. So why do we say "more or less"? If you know the exact dimensions of the section then there is no need to say "more or less." If you know the precise dimensions of any tract of land then you can describe it from the section corners to precisely locate it and determine the precise area and description of the tract. The precision dimensions are called "Metes" which is short for "measurements" provided by the land surveyor who measures the lines that make up a boundary of the tract of land being described. If a person has those Metes then the area can be calculated to the nearest decimal based on the precision of the survey line measurements. When the area is calculated using the measured sides of the tract, then there is no longer a need to describe the area and follow with the words "more or less" or "plus or minus".
For example, the original surveyors set monument and references to them in the original surveys which, once set, were never supposed to be moved or changed. Those eight section corners around the section are the sides of the section and are supposedly been preserved and in the same position as originally set. Most savvy surveyors know that that is not the case with some of the sections corners we find these days in populated areas. Many of the original section corners where sandstones that were set in place originally, then later replaced with other types of monuments or survey markers that are common today, more than 100 years later. Can you imagine how many times that a county road worker wiped out a section corner that is usually at the intersection of common section line roads in Oklahoma?
Section corners have been wiped out or damaged at intersections and between those intersections because of the natural process and treaties of old times. Most section lines have "Statutory Right-of-Way" easements that allow access to by the public and/or government entities in Oklahoma established by treaties with the various tribal lands in Oklahoma. Statutory Right-of-Ways are not just exclusive to Oklahoma. The width of those easements are varied in Oklahoma and it takes a special map to determine them. I have yet to find a precision map that will allow me to zoom into the boundaries of each territory where the width changes. There is a need for a better definition. Few understand much about those easements and I have found no one that can help me pin down the boundaries precisely. It appears that that and many other points have been lost due to lack of maintenance in Oklahoma.
Below is an drawing illustration of a section breakdown and typical subdivision examples. The example shown below came from the shaded area of the drawing above. Each example I have shown starts from the larger to the smaller like using a magnifying glass and zooming in closer and closer to a tract of land.
Unfortunately, the description of the tract within the section becomes more complicated and confusing unless you understand how to take a description and use it to plot the tract within the section as if the section was a perfect square mile. I have yet to find a section as a perfect square mile so at this point, you must understand that we are working with "more or less" until the section has been measured and logged for both distance and bearings.
The breakdown or subdivision of a section has not changed for the better since the beginning section descriptions. Many tracts of land are still described by "subdivision of a section" and are not considered "surveyed" even though the section was surveyed originally back in the 1800's. So if your land is described as the 1/4 or 1/2 parts or other part descriptions elements, it most likely has not been surveyed precisely and there is really no way to locate it precisely without finding the survey markers for it or finding the survey markers from other surveys that will allow you to divide the section down to show the true distances and bearings. For those not familiar of what bearings mean, this can be complicated to explain in words. The old saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words" applies to this process.
Bearings are basically directions based on what is used for the North, East, South, or East direction. The North direction can be based on the direction of a shadow of the sun with a vertical line at its highest point in the sky. Most surveys that I see show North as an assumed plan direction shown on the Survey Drawing or "Plat of Survey" (POS). If a Survey Accurate GPS is used for the establishment of North, then all the bearings shown are considered "true" and accurate. "Due North" said or written does not necessarily mean True North. When early surveyors referenced "North" it could have been based on "Magnetic North" using a compass. A compass is subject to many factors that influence accuracy. Regardless of the basis of bearing, the surveyor would often measure angles to calculate bearings more precisely with instruments of higher precision to better describe the Metes for a POS. Nowadays, with SAGPS (Survey Accurate GPS) equipment, the True Bearings can be calculated by precision measurements without looking through a telescope or pulling out the tape measure.
North is UP on most maps and is shown on the best maps for orientation.
Please understand that the Bounds are more important than the Metes. Up to this point I have focused on the system that depends on the position of the original monuments and the measurement used to create a POS with a precise description of the tract of land. Many abstract and title companies locally have lost the experience and knowledge of the legal priorities of the TRS and Metes & Bounds (MB) system. I am not an attorney but I know one of the best land law attorneys in Oklahoma that agrees with me on the priority of Bounds. Few attorneys, abstract & title companies, County Clerks, County Assessors, Government Authorities and land surveyors understand the priority of Bounds for a MB description.
I have recently dealt with a giant abstract and title company (GATC), that illustrated the deterioration of knowledge that has occurred. Like many attorneys, they stripped out the Bounds part of a MB description for a description based on an actual land survey signed and sealed by a Professional Land Surveyor Licensed in Oklahoma (PLS). Not only did that strip out the Bounds, they wanted the surveyor to change the Metes to match a variety of bearings that were not based on the same bearing base. The original description was bad and they recommended that it be surveyed to clear up the many mis-matched boundaries that where common to the tract and where the result of other "unsurveyed" property descriptions or descriptions that were not ties back to common section survey points.
Not only did GATC strip out the essentials. They ignored ignored the recommendations of the surveyors providing the correct information and found someone to "sign off" on the title requirements and never made sure that the surveyor that did all the work was paid. This is a serious oversight. With GATC being the Closer and Abstracter, it appears that the emphasis was on them getting paid and not the proper and correct process and correction of the deed and description. They did this in the name of "title insurance" misused and interpreted to "not change or affect existing incorrect existing titles that had already been filed of record. This was totally corrupt in my opinion and experience of work since 1965.
By this point you may be asking, what are Bounds. Bounds are the descriptions of each and every corner marker or reference physically. In other words it is the description of the survey marker so that anyone walking up to it could identify it beyond a shadow of doubt. The survey point, marker, or monument was the original sandstone, then the size, dimensions, shape, and any markings on it would be so completely described, that nothing near it would be like it. These days we use 3/8 inch diameter iron pins often driven flush with the ground with plastic caps on top of the pin. The plastic caps have the "ID" (PLS numbers and names) on them for official corner pins and sometimes other markings like "GBREISCH.COM" to better locate the surveyor for control markers other than official corner markers. The control markers are just as important as the corner markers because they serve as equal legal evidence to reference each other. It is illegal to move or destroy survey markers of any kind without due legal process or procedure. There are ways to preserve the position of these "points" without the expense of a complete "re-survey" of a boundary that I will plan to discuss later.
Most everyone who calls me about a land survey has little or no concept of what it takes to do a land survey. They will usually ask me how much a survey costs right off without providing me with a "legal description" or any form of map or address. There is much need for out education system to include the basics of land descriptions and what is needed to provide a MB description and why and how it is used to the High School or Jr. High level of education. When I use the phrase "legal description" I do it with reservation. When is a description "legal" and is a legal description complete enough to stand up in litigation.
Perhaps most so called "legal descriptions" are not really legal at all. In order for a survey to serve the users once and for all, they have to be based on evidence both on the ground and in the documents that represent all the Metes & Bounds found, set, or calculated for the Plat of Survey (POS). The Plat of Survey with all those elements should legally be considered as the "legal description" of the "legal boundary evidence" of the subject tract of land described. The only one who can legally determine a boundary is a judge in a court of law. Meanwhile a POS and other documents can be filed at the Court Clerk in almost any format as evidence to go with the land forever and without prejudice. In the case of a dispute, the filed evidence can be used to settle the dispute before it goes into expensive litigation and court costs. That is why the sole purpose of a POS is to present the evidence in a way that will show enough to stand up in court and give the judge more than enough to make a decision that is fair and "do least harm."
Since 1990 I have promoted a system that will save billions of dollars that will eventually, on a point by point basis, establish an accurate position of corners that will never change. The problem now and before is points are lost or not logged properly to such that they will never have to be surveyed again. Think of all the time and money this would save individuals and companies wanting to buy, sale, or rent land. Think of the law suits that could be avoided because we not can easily use these Survey Accurate Point on easy to access maps and database systems to confirm their accuracy and position once and for all.
Please search the web for SAGES (Survey Accurate Graphically Enhanced System) or SAGIS (Survey Accurate Geograpic Information Systems). Basically they should be map systems like Google Earth that show "placemarks" or "map icons" that you can click on and bring up the precision datasheet showing the precise and true position of a point on the ground on a Survey Accurate layer of the map. Be careful that you understand that most aerial photos will not line up with precision on the trues locations of the points. Much of the aerial photos showing land features have been tied down with low precision land ties and can be off 100 feet more or less even in populated areas. The geographical grid on the earth is complicated to determine but with today's technology can be and easy task for Surveyors who understand and use their resources wisely and are funded sufficiently to build a system that will do more for positive economic growth than any other investment today or in the future.
This article is under construction. Please contact Gary William Breisch, Registered Professional Land Surveyor, at www.gbreisch.com and see the contact menu for current email and contact information. Please let me know what you want me to write about regarding this and other subjects you may see covered at my vairous blogs, and websites under with the gbreisch or Ski-Unique name. I like pictures, illustrations, and more drawings to be included in this and other articles. So let me know what you want and ask me questions so that I may serve you with answers. If I do not know the answer right off, I will plan to find the answer for you. All types of donations I will plan to accept.
