January 3, 2003

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-262 million surface acres-than any other Federal agency. Most of the country's BLM managed public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.8 billion and a workforce of 10,000 employees, also administers 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate throughout the Nation. The BLM's "multiple use" mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The BLM accomplishes this by managing for such resources as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and energy and mineral development that helps meet the nation's energy needs, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on the public lands. Additionally, the BLM is responsible for and manages the survey and title records of the public domain, private land claims, and Indian lands.

http://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2003/pr030103_survey.htm