Legal Land Description

A legal land description in the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) identifies land by its place in the rectangular survey grid. Read correctly, a short line such as "T. 4 N., R. 20 E., sec. 15, NW1/4" points to one 160-acre parcel, once the meridian and state are named.

The required parts

BLM's Specifications for Descriptions of Land (2017) says a proper aliquot part description "should contain all of the reference elements within it: principal meridian, State, township and range, section, and lots or aliquot parts." Its model example reads, line by line:

• Mount Diablo Meridian, Nevada
• T. 4 N., R. 20 E.,
• sec. 15, NW1/4, NE1/4SE1/4SW1/4, and NW1/4SE1/4.
• The areas described aggregate 210 acres.

How to read it

1. The meridian and state. The name of the principal meridian "should be spelled in full." Each meridian has its own base line, so the words "and base line" are usually left off.
2. The township (T.), counted north or south of the base line, and the range (R.), counted east or west of the principal meridian.
3. The section (sec.), numbered 1 to 36.
4. The lots or aliquot parts within the section. Inside an aliquot part, each symbol is read with "of the": NE1/4SE1/4SW1/4 is the NE1/4 of the SE1/4 of the SW1/4, a 10-acre parcel.

The comma rule

The Specifications state: "A comma means 'AND THE' and the absence of a comma means 'OF THE.'" Their example: NE1/4SW1/4SE1/4 without commas is one aliquot part of 10 acres. Written NE1/4, SW1/4, SE1/4, it is three quarter-sections totaling 480 acres.

Abbreviations and punctuation

• T. or Tps. for township or townships, R. or Rs. for range or ranges, sec. or secs. for section or sections
• Periods are used in the township and range (T. 4 N., R. 20 E.) but omitted inside aliquot parts, with no comma or space between the symbols of a quarter-quarter (NE1/4SE1/4)
• "thru" is inclusive: lots 4 thru 7 means lots 4, 5, 6, and 7

Order of listing

Sections are listed from the lowest number. Within a section, lots come first in number order, then the quarter-sections in the order NE, NW, SW, SE, with all parts of one quarter described before the next. Tracts follow the sections, and nonrectangular surveys such as mineral surveys follow the tracts.

Unsurveyed land

If land has not been surveyed, the Specifications say the description should conform to the subdivisions on the approved protraction diagram. If there is no diagram, it should conform to "the legal subdivisions that will, when established, include the lands."

Why it matters for mining claims

Mining claim records, federal land orders, and state filings use this format. California, for example, requires the locator's recorded statement to include the section, township, range, and meridian (Public Resources Code 3911). A misplaced comma, a transposed quarter, or a missing meridian changes the land described, sometimes by hundreds of acres.