Getting to Grips with the New BLM Manual of Surveying Instructions

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Getting to Grips with the New BLM Manual of
Surveying Instructions
Presented by Bob Dahl, Cadastral Surveyor BLM
Division of Lands, Realty and Cadastral
Survey Washington, D.C. National Council of
Examiners for Engineering and Surveying 89th
Annual Meeting Denver, CO August 18, 2010
August 16, 2010
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What is new or changed in the 2009 edition of
the Manual of Surveying Instructions?
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Subjects in the 1973 edition of the Manual have
been elaborated on in the 2009 Manual.
Subjects not in the 1973 edition of the Manual
have been included in the 2009 Manual.
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• Very little technical/legal policy has changed
  from
• the 1973 edition
• current BLM policy

New and/or Change depends on your definition
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Chapters Crosswalk
1973 Edition 2009
Manual
Ch. 1 - The General Plan Ch. 2 - Methods of
Survey Ch. 3 - The System of Rectangular
Surveys Ch. 4 - Monumentation Ch. 5 - Lost or
Obliterated Corners Ch. 6 -
Resurveys Ch. 7 - Special Surveys and
Instructions Ch. 8 - Field Notes Ch. 9
- Plats Ch. 10 - Mineral Surveys
Ch. 1 - The General Plan Ch. 2 - Methods of
Survey Ch. 3 - The System of Rectangular
Surveys Ch. 4 - Monumentation Ch. 5 -
Principles of Resurveys Ch. 6 -
Resurveys and Evidence Ch. 7 - Resurveys and
Restoration Ch. 8 - Resurveys and Water
Boundaries Ch. 9 - Special Instructions, Field
Notes, and Plats Ch. 10 - Special Surveys and
Mineral Surveys
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Areas of New Clarification - Change

• Coordinates as collateral evidence
• Closing corners
• Standard of evidence
• Controlling intermediate corners
• Bona fide rights
• Water boundaries
• Mineral survey resurveys

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Clarification Resurveys Closing Corners 3-74 to
3-79

• Historical policy By policy, closing corner
  monuments were not intended to be established on
  intersected line.

• Modern policy (adopted between 1902 and 1919)
  By policy, closing corner monuments are intended
  to be established on intersected line.

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Clarification Resurveys Closing Corners 3-74 to
3-79

• Historical policy By policy, closing corner
  monuments were not intended to be established on
  intersected line.

• Modern policy (adopted between 1902 and 1919)
  By policy, closing corner monuments are intended
  to be established on intersected line.

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New Clarification Change Controlling
Intermediate Corners 6-27 to 6-30

• Witness corners
• Line trees
• Witness points
• Meander corners

• Controlling intermediate corners control
• Section line alinement
• Reestablishment of lost corners
• Establishment of minor subdivisional corners

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Change in Technical Policy 6-34

• Prospective in Application
• Not Retrospective in Application

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Clarification Bona Fide Rights 6-40

• 43 U.S.C. 772 Governs resurveys by GLO/BLM

• Bona fide belief is not bona fide rights

• 43 U.S.C. 772 bona fide rights as to location are
  based on good faith reliance on evidence of the
  original survey

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New - Clarification Mineral Lands Surveys

• Mineral leasing act surveys
• 10-77 to 10-85

• Riparian rights mining claims and millsites
• 10-201 to 10-207

• Resurveys of mineral surveys
• 10-208 to 10-229

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Clarification Court of Competent Jurisdiction 1-7
and 1-7(n) When is the Manual (Federal rules)
applicable and when should the Surveyor look
elsewhere for the governing rules (State rules),
i.e., source of law question
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• Clarification
• Court of Competent Jurisdiction
• Last Common Grantor
• 1-7 and 1-7(n)
• Owner of land when boundary line is created
• Federal Federal Rules
• Non-Federal - State Rules

• Some States have adopted Federal rules for some
  situations

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• Clarification
• Court of Competent Jurisdiction
• Land Status
• 1-13 and 1-13(n)
• Public Domain Land Federal Rules
• Acquired Land Federal or State Rules
• Non-Federal Land State Rules

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Clarification Fractional Sections 3-118 to
3-122 For subdivisional purposes, identification
of regular sections and fractional sections
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Clarification Fictitious, Fraudulent, or Grossly
Erroneous Surveys 6-58 to 6-68 Elements of
and/or evidence of
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Clarification Cardinal Equivalent 7-9
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New Indian Allotment Surveys Subdivision of
Section Three-Mile Method 10-11 to 10-20

• vs. subdivision of section statutory method

• Original survey plat controls

• Former Indian reservation land (ceded lands) can
  be miles from any current Indian reservation

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New Indian Allotment Surveys Indian Allotments
and United States Indian Service Surveys 10-21 to
10-25

• Not to be confused with the separate subject of
  GLO allotment surveys versus United States Indian
  Service (USIS) allotment surveys

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Why is the Manual relevant to the practice of
land surveying in your State? 1-3

• Rules to survey the PLSS by

• An expression of the intent when Federal
  Government is grantor

• Adoption by State legislature, administrative
  rule, attorney general opinion, common practice,
  and/or common law

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MONTANA STATUE LAWTitle 76 Land Resources and
UseChapter 3 Local Regulation of
SubdivisionsPart 4 Survey Requirements
76-3-402 Survey and platting requirements for
subdivided lands. All division of sections into
aliquot parts and retracement of lines must
conform to the Manual of Surveying Instructions
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Washington Administrative Code 332-130-030 Land
subdivision and corner restoration standards.
Reestablishment of lost GLO or BLM corners and
subdividing of sections shall be done according
to applicable GLO or BLM plats and field notes
and in compliance with the Manual
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Office of the Attorney General of theState of
California64 Opinions of the Attorney General
224 (1981)
Manual of Surveying Instructions is the
authoritative reference book on the subject of
accessories to corner monuments
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Minnesota Land Surveyors Association Public Land
Survey in Minnesota
State statutes state that the section subdivision
methods follow the rules of the Federal Government
Subdivision by survey of descriptions which are
Federal in origin must follow Federal method down
to the smallest size sold
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NORTH DAKOTA SUPREME COURTNystrom v. Lee, 16
N.D. 561 (1907)
The courts of this state in the matter of
restoration of corners and subdivision of
sections are governed by the laws of the U.S.,
and the instructions issued by the officers
thereof, in charge of the public land surveys
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Manual Website
http//www.blm.gov/cadastral/Manual/nextedition.ht
m http//www.blmsurveymanual.org/ http//www.glo
records.blm.gov http//www.usajobs.opm.gov/
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