Could anyone recommend a resource (internet, etc) that I can use to self educate re: survey, plats, units, sections, quads, etc? I am a newbie, own minerals, but am challenged by all these land man terms.
This is not a do-all, end-all, but a lot of people read "Oil and Gas in a Nutshell" by Lowe. It is available on Amazon.
Remember, that this is a very elementary book, but should get you going.
Buddy Cotten
The book Mr. Cotten recommended is very helpful. I would also recommend joining and attending a NARO (National Association of Royalty Owners) convention in your mineral rights state. With that being said, always seek professional help in an area of business you are not fully familiar with. There are many oil and gas attorneys, mineral managers, and other professionals in the business that will help you maximize your minerals at a reasonable fee. With this help and expertise, you will quickly be able to recover any extra expense you may incur while seeking out this help.
Mr. Garrison, Depending on which state your minerals are in; there are a few carved-in-stone Surveying tips I can give you for free.
Typical states are broken into Townships of about 36 squares called Sections, which are usually a mile on each side.
Ranges are an indicator of how many Townships away from the Central/Principal Meridian (usually a line that splits the state into more manageable areas), and are usually East or West of the Meridian.
Townships are usually North or South of the Meridian, but are set by the states as to where they start.
A typical "Plat" is actually a Survey drawing of an area that's being considered for construction, etc., and shows the lands involved, and some adjacent tracts.
For instance; a legal description of a tract of land usually states the origin of the ownership (...the same lands described in a lease dated 1/2/34, by Williams, et al to Davis & Sons, being the SE/4 of S34 T4S R31E, Miller County, Utopia, and recorded in Book 76, P 456 Miller County Clerk), and describes more particularly the interest being recorded.
In the example above, the S stands for Section, the T for Township, and the R is Range. The name of the county tells one where to look for it on mapping software like Google Earth.
Imagine an equal-sided square (the section), and imagine a cross in the middle, dividing east from west, and north from south.
Those pieces of section are called Quarter-Sections, and the lower-right one is the SE 1/4. Many more subdivisions are available by placing smaller and smaller crosses on the quarters, and the resulting smaller portions are described as "NE/4 SE/4 SW/4" which when read backwards is; in the sw 1/4 of the section, the se 1/4 of the ne 1/4", or the piece of land in the lower left half of the section, divided into quarters, of which the lower right piece is divided into quarters, and specifically the top right piece of that.
Clear like mud? It's usually easier to draw the section (square), add the first cross, then zoom in to the quarter section in the description, add a cross, zoom again, and keep repeating until you locate the lands in question.
There are usually 640 acres in any section, but that depends on which state, and fractional or "aliquot" portions, aka leftovers.
Quads are simply the term used by mappers to describe a "Quadrant" of mapped area, and are available from the USGS (US Geological Survey), or Surveying equipment stores if you can't find the "Quad Map" online.
They are available in several map dimension scale ratios like, 1:24000 (one foot equals 24000 feet on the map), or larger/smaller formats.
Without getting too deeply into Geodesy, suffice to say that most are defined by Latitude/Longitude or State Plane Coordinates along the edges (thousands of feet from the point of origin of the coordinate system, expressed as a large number in red along the side or top of the map page).
A Survey is simply a professional delineation of the boundaries, lengths and directions of property lines, separate tracts of land, or divisions of tracts, parcels or units, necessary when transferring ownership or conveying title of minerals, etc.
If this is the kind of information you need; let me know what else you'd like to learn about how to weave through the language, and I'll be happy to help. If you add an email address to the mail thingie on this forum; I can send you pictures as well.
Joe
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where can I go to get a good copy of Reeves County map/plat with sections and blocks, etc? Would like something I can hang and put in my office for reference when needed.
Call the Reeves County Appraisal District and ask them if they can make you a specific map for what you are wanting. http://www.isouthwestdata.com/client/webindex.aspx?dbkey=reevescad&time=2014851009026
thanks for your help, I'll do this
Kitchen said:
Call the Reeves County Appraisal District and ask them if they can make you a specific map for what you are wanting. http://www.isouthwestdata.com/client/webindex.aspx?dbkey=reevescad&...
There are some inexpensive mapping softwares out there and also a number of professional mapping programs that have free viewer softwares that you can download. the idea is that if you make maps for a client with a program it is very nice if the client can view the maps without having to purchase the program. There is a geology program called Rockworks which has a license level 2 called Earth apps that is free. It works with google earth and also several of the common map file formats, like .shp the shape file. lots of geospatial data is out there to download for free if you can open shp files. states, counties, ect have a lot of websites. The Rockware website has a lot of programs, many of which you can download for a free trial period. they also have some free stuff you can download after registering. The site is https://www.rockware.com/product/overview.php?id=165
Thanks Andy, appreciate your suggestion.
Andy G. Grubbs said:
There are some inexpensive mapping softwares out there and also a number of professional mapping programs that have free viewer softwares that you can download. the idea is that if you make maps for a client with a program it is very nice if the client can view the maps without having to purchase the program. There is a geology program called Rockworks which has a license level 2 called Earth apps that is free. It works with google earth and also several of the common map file formats, like .shp the shape file. lots of geospatial data is out there to download for free if you can open shp files. states, counties, ect have a lot of websites. The Rockware website has a lot of programs, many of which you can download for a free trial period. they also have some free stuff you can download after registering. The site is https://www.rockware.com/product/overview.php?id=165