Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The_Baron on October 6, 2008 at 6:31

Most setions are irregular. Contact the State Land office for the actual survey of your section to get its dimensions.

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Permalink Reply by George Hill on January 31, 2009 at 4:08

A standard section is one mile by one mile. It contains 640 acres.

See

http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/boundaries/a_plss.html

for more information.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on January 31, 2009 at 4:39

It was the original intent of the original government survey to subdivide the public land in to 5280' by 5280' squares. But the way it worked was that there had to be latitudinal and longitudinal adjustments of the township and range lines which were ran first, and in the process they marked the section corners on the township and range lines. Then usually another crew subdivided the townships in to sections. They started at the southwest corner of Section 36 in each section and ran North 80 chains (1 mile). They then ran a random east to an existing corner on the township line, measured the distance and adjusted the line. This procedure continued north until they reached the north township line. They east - west section lines were rarely 5280' except on the township lines. They then moved over to the southwest corner of Section 35 and repeated this procedure. So most east - west section lines are not 5280'. Also all error in the survey of each township was thrown in to the northern tier of sections and the western tier of sections in that township. This is where you will often see considerable differences in some section line measurements and also variances in the bearings of the closing section lines from north - south or east - west. These were not considered irregular sections, but but considered "closing sections". Perfect 5280' by 5280' sections were layed out on paper in areas like the marsh land in south Louisiana because these lines could not be measured on the ground. Therefore, you rarely see sections being 5280' by 5280'.

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Permalink Reply by sesport on January 31, 2009 at 4:58

BD, how does an idiot know all that? LOL and a plain old one at that? :0)

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on January 31, 2009 at 6:03

sesport. BD not only knows his stuff but does an excellent job of explaining it. Ergo; he is neither plain nor an idiot. Thanks, BD.

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Permalink Reply by sesport on January 31, 2009 at 7:04

Ya' could've told me ... Now I've got to go back and retake his course. I'll be reading all night. Thanks, Skip.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on January 31, 2009 at 12:58

Jim,
They are usually made in the northwest corner of the township. And they are made generally every 6 townships, or every 36 miles. These corrections are not made in every township.
Please forgive me, I am not trying to be argumentative. Just what I do for a living. The rational (sp) is that it takes 36 miles for it to make a difference in the latitudal adjustment. Transferring plane surveying to geodetic surveying is a complicated process.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on January 31, 2009 at 14:09

BD, this can make a big difference in the amount of money paid out as bonus and royalty. I dealt with some of those sections a few years back. Each quarter/quarter was 45 acres instead of 40 and like you say the big sections were in the NW corner. It would be best for a landowner to have a survey made to determine the acerage and have it recorded in the courthouse.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on January 31, 2009 at 17:18

Two Dogs,
Your right. Please keep in mind that the size of the sections is not exactly as is shown on the original township plats. Yes, these are evidence of the original government survey, but most original government surveys in north Louisiana were done in the mid to late 1800's. The measurement done by present surveys can vary considerably from the original survey documents. Some of the original surveys were not very accurate. And some were not done at all, the field notes and plats were done from the comfort of a tent. This is when you run into serious problems attempting to retrace a government survey that was not even done. Luckily this is not a real common problem, but I have ran into it in three or four areas in north Louisiana. And I am sure there are more.

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