The Bureau of Land Management NEWS |
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The Bureau of Land Management NEWS |
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Last updated: 04/09/03
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Bureau of Land Management For Release: Friday, January 3, 2003 |
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The BLM to Update Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced that the agency is developing the latest edition of the Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States. The Manual describes how cadastral surveys of the public lands are completed in conformance to statutory law. The earliest rules governing the survey of the public lands were issued in manuscript and in printed circulars in 1785. Additionally, the Manual is intended to balance the printed instructions with current legislation, judicial and administrative decisions, and current surveying practice. Outside the BLM, the primary interest of the Manual is county and local surveyors, attorneys, title-insurance-company personnel, and real estate agents; accordingly, this new edition will include a discussion of the law and policies of surveying and boundaries as they have developed since the last edition in 1973. "Land surveyors are the first line of protection for private property rights," said Don Buhler, Chief Cadastral Surveyor for the BLM. "Surveys must be legally correct, therefore the Manual is issued to guide land surveyors who exercise a technical responsibility in the execution of cadastral surveys or resurveys." For more information visit: www.blm.gov/cadastral/Manual/nextedition.htm 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, with a budget of about $1.9 billion and a workforce of some 10,000 full-time, permanent employees, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on the public lands.
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