BLM Launches New Land Survey Website

The Bureau of Land Management today launched a new website that provides data standards for land records information and the Cadastral National Spatial Data Infrastructure (Cadastral NSDI). The site serves as a central location for land-ownership data standards, training materials, and reports on a variety of subjects. Reports include summaries of how land-parcel information has been used to respond in emergencies and how data sets for property boundaries have been developed.

Located at http://www.nationalcad.org, the website will primarily benefit such professionals as county assessors, surveyors, and others who want to collect or exchange accurate, current cadastral information. The site posts publications and other resources related to the Cadastral NSDI, which represents the technology, and standards, necessary to promote geospatial data-sharing within the cadastral community. Cadastral NSDI provides parcel-level information describing location, ownership, value, and interests in real property.

“This website is a real step forward in our efforts to make cadastral data standards available at one site,” said Don Buhler, Co-Chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s Cadastral Data Subcommittee. “With the launch of this site, people who need access to cadastral standards will finally be able to access information that was sometimes difficult or impossible to find.”

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), an interagency group composed of representatives from the executive branch, County and State government, and other members of the cadastral community, is co-sponsoring the site with the BLM. Featuring information from the FGDC’s Cadastral Subcommittee and its Eastern and Western subcommittees, the Web site provides an independent data source that reflects the diverse interests of the many contributors to Cadastral NSDI. The Web address for the site is independent from all agencies and vendors contributing to the site, ensuring that visitors can access the site even if a participating party’s Internet service is not working.

The site also hosts on-line educational materials and resources that were developed to support the implementation and use of FGDC’s Content Standard for Cadastral Data. The Cadastral Subcommittee encourages anyone who has informative materials to submit them to the cadastral community via this website.

Over the next few months, contact information for all agencies’ cadastral staff will also become available using a map-based application. FGDC’s Cadastral Subcommittee and the BLM will be partnering with the National State Geographic Information Council to further develop the content for this additional feature.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages 261 million acres of public lands, primarily in the 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural and other resources on the public lands.