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Show There should be cooperation among the soils data col- lecting agencies and the users of such data to develop standard specifications for soils classification and mapping, and to provide for standard nomenclature. Efforts should be made to obtain soil data that will be as generally useful as possible. Before initiation of surveys, all anticipated needs in the particular area should be considered and satisfied as far as practicable. This would, in some instances, require the collection of data over and above that necessary for ordinary purposes. Soils data should meet all foreseeable requirements inso- far as practicable. This would necessitate that the re- quirements of sciences other than agriculture, particularly engineering and hydrology, should be met. Research on soils should be greatly expanded and intensified. E. Cadastral Survey of the Public Lands The cadastral survey of the public lands is executed by the Bureau of Land Management for the purpose of subdividing the areas into units suitable for administration or disposal and to mark on the ground the boundaries of those subdivisions. Original cadastral surveys create the boundaries of these units of the public lands and provide the basis for their legal description. The first surveys were made in Ohio in 1786 and were extended south and westward beginning about 1800. Most of the surveys were made west of the Mississippi River beginning in 1800 and continuing to the present. No area of the public domain can be adequately described until it has been surveyed; none of the public lands can be patented until it has been surveyed. In the early stages of surveying the public lands, cadastral surveys were executed under contract and during that period the corners were generally monumented by native stone or wooden posts. Since 1910, when the con- tract system was abolished, the corners of the public land surveys have been monumented with standard metal posts. The unit of survey of the public lands is the township, being an area 6 miles square. The township is sub- divided into 36 sections, each 1 mile square. Monuments are established at the four corners of each section as well as the one-fourth corner of the boundaries of the section. Cadastral surveys by the Bureau of Land Management, unlike scientific surveys of an informative character which may be amended with changing conditions or because the survey was not executed according to present standards, cannot be ignored, repudiated, altered, or corrected, if they mark the boundaries of lands patented by the United States. The plat of the cadastral survey is a graphic representation of the survey made in the field. It shows the courses and lengths of the survey lines between monu- ments, the description and area of each parcel of land included in the survey and, as far as practicable, a deline- ation of the important relief, drainage, and culture. The township plats are generally prepared at the scale of 2 inches equal 1 mile although plats of less than a full township are frequently prepared at the scale of 4 inches equal 1 mile. The direction of all lines of the public land surveys is determined with reference to true north or south at the point of record, based on solar or stellar observations. Areas in Continental United States There are approximately 116,000,000 acres of the pub- lic domain in continental United States, located in 11 Western States, which have not been surveyed. This is equivalent to about 15 percent of the total areas of those States. The unsurveyed area in general consists of two types; rough mountainous lands covered with timber and brush, which has been included in national forests, and desert or arid lands, located in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. The value and future need of timber and the potential mineral deposits in the unsurveyed areas con- stitute one of the primary needs for the completion of cadastral surveys. Original surveys are also needed for the establishment of the boundaries of the areas leased under section 15 of the Taylor Grazing Act and for grazing administration; and also for the identification of lands leased under the Oil and Gas Act. Title to approximately 55 percent of the area of the 11 western States is still in the Government. When the contract system was abolished, approximately 67 percent of the area of those States had been surveyed. Since 1910 approximately 137,000,000 acres have been surveyed, and corner positions have been monumented with iron posts. During the same period more than 50,000,000 acres were resurveyed and the corner positions marked with iron posts. The Government still has an interest in about half the area surveyed prior to 1910 which is not properly monumented. For example, the United States owns approximately 2,600,000 acres of Oregon and Cali- fornia revested land. Many of the original surveys were made from 75 to 90 years ago. The corners are obliter- ated and the entire area should be resurveyed. Timber values in the Oregon and California area are extremely high-often running $250,000 to $400,000 a section. A difference of 100 feet in the location of a section corner may involve timber valued at $5,000. The demand for resurveys in continental United States will depend to a large extent upon the development of the river basins. For example, 10,000 square miles are now being resurveyed in the Missouri River Valley as requested by the Bureau of Reclamation, and it appears that before the project is completed the resurvey of a considerably larger area will be necessary. Resurveys are needed for grazing administration, de- termination of the boundaries of the areas leased under section 15 of the Taylor Grazing Act, and determination of the boundaries between Government land and privately owned lands. They are also needed in the national forests and on the public domain in connection with the sale of timber, in the settlement of trespass cases, and for the identification of lands leased under the Oil and Gas Act. Resurveys and subdivision of sections are necessary for the proper administration of the Small Tract Act passed in 1938. Numerous small tract classifications have been made in Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico, and Florida. The surveys are needed in order that the appli- cants may be able to locate the tracts. Surveys Needed in Alaska The area of the Territory of Alaska is 365,481,600 acres. The rectangular system of surveys has been ex- tended over 2,499,784 acres, or less than 1 percent of the 361 |