U.S. Forest Service
USDA
Bureau of Land Management &
U.S. DOI

Map & Data Services

NILS GeoCommunicator provides both Map and Data Services:

Map Services

Please read the Data Disclaimer - not all BLM data is in NILS GeoCommunicator and the data has not been verified.

Map Service The ArcIMS map services have been enabled for wms.

http://www.geocommunicator.gov/wmsconnector/com.esri.wms.Esrimap?ServiceName=BLM_MAP_SOLAR&

Map Image and Feature Services layer descriptions:

Energy Related
BLM_MAP_GEOTHERMAL, BLM_FEATURE_GEOTHERMAL (producing and non-producing geothermal leases, known geothermal leasing areas, geothermal nominations)
BLM_MAP_OIL_AND_GAS, BLM_FEATURE_OIL_AND_GAS (producing and non-producing O&G leases, unit agreements, participating areas, communitization agreements, other agreements, Lease Sale Parcels, O&G Basin Study Areas, Stipulations, Hydrocarbon Leases, )
BLM_MAP_ROW,BLM_FEATURE_ROW (Dept. of Defense Airspace Consultation Areas, Proposed 368 Energy Corridors - centerline and zones, pipelines, power transmission (except solar and wind), roads, communication sites, telephone, railroads, and water facilities)
BLM_MAP_SOLAR_ENERGY, BLM_FEATURE_SOLAR_ENERGY (pending, authorized, and closed solar ROW, Dept. of Defense Airspace Consultation Areas, Solar Energy Study Areas)
BLM_MAP_WIND_ENERGY, BLM_FEATURE_WIND_ENERGY (pending, authorized, and closed wind energy ROW)
BLM_MAP_ENERGY_POTENTIAL, BLM_FEATURE_ENERGY_POTENTIAL (NREL Concentrating Solar Power, NREL Photovoltaic Resource Potential, NREL Wind Potential High and Low Resolution, Oil Shale Prospective Areas,and Geothermal Prospective Areas)

Mineral Related
BLM_MAP_MINING_CLAIMS, BLM_FEATURE_MINING_CLAIMS (unpatented active and closed mining claims, Mining Claim Density by Township-Section-Quarter, Mine Plans and Notices)
BLM_MAP_SOLID_MINERALS, BLM_FEATURE_SOLID_MINERALS (coal, phosphate, gilsonite,and other mineral leasing, logical mining units, known geologic structures, mineral material disposal, community pits, and non-mineral land use permits and leases)

Rangeland Information
BLM_MAP_RANGELAND, BLM_FEATURE_RANGELAND (BLM range allotments and pastures, Wild horse and burro herd areas and herd management areas, USFS range allotments)

Land Description and Reference maps
BLM_MAP_PLSS, BLM_FEATURE_PLSS (Public Land Survey System - township/range/section/aliquot)
BLM_MAP_SURFACE_MGT_AGY, BLM_FEATURE_SURFACE_MGT_AGY (federal surface management lands layer)
BLM_MAP_BASEMAPS, BLM_FEATURE_BASEMAPS (BLM Administrative areas, Counties, States, Major Roads and Highways, UTM, U.S. Forest Service Boundaries and Regions)

Other data layers
BLM_MAP_CASE, BLM_FEATURE_CASE (withdrawals, classifications, mineral patents, land sales, land disposal, land exchanges, land acquisitions, and other land title documents)
BLM_SITES (Abandoned mines (from many agencies), BLM recreation sites, campgrounds, buildings, and administration sites)

Data Services

NILS GeoCommunicator provides the following Web Services: Find and Derive Land Description (LD), Township GeoCoder, and Survey Exporter. The Web Services are provided on NILS GeoCommunicator or they can be developed by anyone for use in other applications outside of GeoCommunicator using the web services. The web services can be used in your applications that consume these services using protocols such as SOAP and GeoRSS. The Web Services use the National Integrated Land System's (NILS) survey-based and non survey-based land descriptions. The land descriptions are in NAD83 Geographic. We provide an XML of the services and you develop the interface and connection to the service for your application.

Web Services for Developers | Using the web services on GeoCommunicator

 

Web Services For Developers - click the titles for a detailed description of the service:

Find Land Description Service Description: Find LD provides the ability to pass a land description (state, meridian, township, range, section, aliquot) and have the latitude and longitude returned for the coordinates defining the boundary of the shape. The coordinates can be used to draw the area on a map.

Derive Land Description Service Description: Derive LD provides the ability pass the coordinates (latitude and longitude) of a shape (polygon) and have the land description (state,meridian, township, range, section, aliquot, lot) returned. Land Description formats used in the Derived web services.

Township Geocoder Service Description: The Township Geocoder provides the ability to pass the coordinates of a Latitude and Longitude (Lat/Long) and have the Township, Range and Section values returned in a file. Likewise, a textual land description formatted as state, meridian, township, range, section, aliquot can be passed and the value for the polygon centroid will be returned in Lat/Long format. There is also an option for bulk upload of a file containing a list of formatted Townships or Lat/Long values and have their respective Lat/long or Township values returned. This tool is useful for finding the land descriptions for well locations, pipelines, fires, etc. based on their lat/long location or for finding the coordinates of a land description for inputting into a gps or other device. For additional information, see the NILS GeoCommunicator Township GeoCoder Web Service Method Parameters and Results document.

GeoCommunicator Identify in your application - want to add value to your mapping application, such as: PLSS, Surface Management Agency, O&G leases and more by linking to the NILS GeoCommunicator Identify window from your application. Simply pass a latitude and longitude to NILS GeoCommunicator and have our Identify pop-up in your application providing information about the area on the map. This is especially useful for finding the land description for an area. For more information please read our handout.

Survey Exporter Service Description- provides the ability to pass a textual land description formatted as state, meridian, township, range, section, aliquot and the values of the survey points, control points, and points/lines that make up the polygon are returned.

References:
NILS General GeoRSS Web Services Handout
GeoRSS Web site (www.georss.org)

If you need help, please use the Contact Us.

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Using the Web Services on GeoCommunicator

On GeoCommunicator we have developed several tools that use these services as describe below. These tools are available in many of our map viewers.

Reference Documents
NILS Web Services on GeoCommunicator Handout

Derive Land Description Derive Land Description (LD)

The Derive LD tool along with the Sketch Tool allows you to draw a box on the map using the sketch tool and then derive the land description of the polygon that was drawn. This can be used for getting the land description of a polygon for submitting an Expression of Interest or for adding the description to a document. The Identify returned from the Sketch tool or the Identify on Derive LD window will show you what other activities are occurring in the area of the polygon.

Find land description Find Land Description (LD)

Use the Find LD tool to enter in a land description (in State, meridian, township, range format) from a document or other instrument and have the polygon for the area drawn on the map. The lat/long coordinates are also returned. An easy township selection tool is provided to select the land description or cut and paste a formatted land description into the tool. The Identify on Find LD window will show you what other activities are occurring in the area of the polygon
For more information and help in using the Find and Derive tools in GeoCommunicator. Handout on Find and Derive LD using NILS GeoCommunicator.

GeoCoder

Select GeoCoder from the home page. GeoCoder provides a way to enter in the state, meridian, township, range, and aliquot and have the lat/long of the centroid returned for the polygon. The tool also can accept a lat/long and have the land description returned. A file of either land descriptions or lat/long is also supported. This tool is useful for finding the land descriptions for well locations, pipelines, fires, etc. or for finding the coordinates of a land description for inputting into a gps or other device.

PLSS Download - Survey Exporter Web Service

Allows you to export BLM points, points/lines, or control points from the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) data (township, range, section) using the NILS geocommunicator website - Land Survey Information System. BLM points are not available for alternate source data. Reliabilities are available in the coordinate data.

Survey Exporter can be accessed from the PLSS download map by using the 'Select Township' tool or by choosing the ‘State’ or ‘County’ tab when downloading PLSS data.

From the 'Cadastral Data Distribution' window, select the townships for the desired coordinates by checking the box in the ‘Points’ column for the desired townships. You can select up to 10 townships from the list for download.

Choose 'Export Survey Data' to start the process.

Survey Download Window

Township Point Selection from the Download Window

 

From the Survey Exporter Window, select the desired content and format. Click "Export to File" to create the file for downloading.

Supported formats are KML for loading into Google™ Earth, GPX for loading into GPS units, List format, and GeoRSS. The "All points and lines" option is only available in KML or GeoRSS formats.

Wait for a the exported file URL to get created. Select "Click to Download" to download the data.

Guide to using the survey coordinates in Google™ Earth.

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Survey Exporter window for selecting content and format

Survey Exporter Window Showing the Selection of Export Content and Format