Department-wide Cadastral Services Outreach Program to Educate and Promote the Range of Available Services; Potential Benefits of These Services
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENTWASHINGTON, D.C. 20240http://www.blm.govMay 29, 2012In Reply Refer To: 9670 (350) PEMS TRANSMISSION 06/06/2012Information Bulletin No. 2012-087To: All Washington Office and Field Office Officials Attn: Field Office Managers and State Office Chief Cadastral SurveyorsFrom: Assistant Director, Minerals and Realty ManagementSubject: Department-wide Cadastral Services Outreach Program to Educate and Promote the Range of Available Services; Potential Benefits of These Services Including the Opportunities to Maximize"Absolutely fundamental to orderly, systematic land management is to know with a degree of certainty the boundaries of the lands being managed. Every aspect of the Bureau of Land Management’s mission and programs relies on legally defined land boundaries. . . . I encourage all BLM employees, especially those involved in processing and approving high-value realty transactions, to take the opportunity to use the information in this brochure as a resource for learning more about the boundaries that affect the federal interest lands you manage." -- Bob Abbey, BLM DirectorThe Management of Land Boundaries brochure is available for download at the “Cadastral Survey Review of Boundary Evidence” here: https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/Management%20of%20Land%20Boundaries.pdfA recent Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General (OIG) Audit Report “Department of the Interior’s Management of Land Boundaries” (Audit No. C-IN-MOA-001-2009) reported that the proper survey and management of high value land with antiquated surveys has the potential to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from land with valuable surface and subsurface resources. Therefore, the OIG recommended the Bureau of Land Management (BLM):Develop and implement a department-wide cadastral survey outreach program to educate end users and promote the range of available services and the potential benefits of those services including the opportunities to maximize:
- collection of significant revenues from high value unauthorized use;
- protection of Federal lands from environmental and other damages;
- identification of accurate land boundaries management of rights-of-way, land withdrawals, land exchanges, and land disposals; and
- identification of land features including roads, trails, and hazardous sites.
Director Abbey, through the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, concurs with the recommendation. The BLM response to the OIG pledged to develop and implement an outreach program to address the findings of this report. This program would include a discussion of the new standards for boundary evidence products; new policies; enhancement of training curriculums; website publication of best practices, lessons learned, and fact sheets; and presentations at BLM state office conferences and workshops.The Management of Land Boundaries is consistent with the response to the recommendation. All BLM field managers and program leads should read the brochure and distribute it to their employees and Federal-interest land users. This initiative supports efforts to protect the environment, conserve energy resources, prevent unauthorized uses, and collect currently uncollected revenues.If you have any questions, please contact me at 202-208-4201, or your staff may contact Don Buhler, Chief Cadastral Surveyor, at (202) 912-7344 or dbuhler@blm.gov.Signed by: Authenticated by:Michael Nedd Robert M. WilliamsAssistant Director Division of IRM Governance, WO-560Minerals and Realty Management