The Public Land Survey System is used as a surveying method to determine land parcels before they become purchased. It is necessary as a basis of land reform and is often used on land that is located in rural, undeveloped or wild areas.

The Public Land Survey System

PLSS stands for Public Land Survey System. It is a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels for legal and administrative purposes.

A Public Land Survey system divides land into a checkerboard pattern, commonly used in the United States. It is based on a grid system with lines running north-south (meridians) and east-west (baselines), creating townships and ranges. This system was originally used to divide and distribute public land for settlement and development.

Under the U.S. Public Land Survey (or government survey) System a section is one square mile. If you own two sections of land you own two square miles of land. Not all legal descriptions of land use the government survey method.