BLM Cadastral Survey Will Hire Land Surveyors for Indian Country

In an effort to streamline administration of land conveyances, titling, and cadastral survey services in Indian Country, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will hire 12 land surveyors to establish legal boundaries on Indian lands.  Six surveyors will be hired in 2005 and another six in 2006.  One surveyor will be assigned to each BIA regional office.

“These surveyors will work with the federal agencies and individual Tribes to ensure that high-priority work, as defined by the Tribes, is addressed first,” said Don Buhler, Cadastral Survey Chief for the BLM. “They will play a key role in managing administrative duties and providing technical guidance on survey services performed in Indian Country, and in improving service to individual and tribal trust beneficiaries. Their primary role will be to provide expertise in solving boundary problems and developing specific solutions to survey issues.  Many of these issues can be resolved without a survey, ensuring that survey dollars are available for high priority needs.”

Cadastral surveys establish land boundaries and subdivisions, creating units suitable for transfer or to define the limitations of title. Today, cadastral land surveyors identify and establish the legal boundaries between public and private lands to determine the extent and nature of private rights adjoining public or Indian lands for both the surface and mineral estate. 

For more information on the hiring of Indian surveyors and the work they will do, please contact Buhler at (202) 452-7781 or Doug Haywood, the Cadastral Indian Program Manager at (202) 785-6561.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land—261 million surface acres—than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western States, including Alaska. The Bureau also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs administers and manages 55.7 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, 562 federally recognized Indian Tribes, and Alaska Natives. Developing forestlands, leasing assets on these lands, directing agricultural programs, protecting water and land rights, developing and maintaining infrastructure, and economic development are all part of the agency's responsibility.

 -BLM-