For the 4th Quarter release of Unlimited Basemap Access, our users can now expect to find, as an additional layer, Oil and Gas Fields.  The information provided in these polygonal features include:  Field ID, Field Name, Field Type as well as State & Source.

These Oil and Gas Fields will be found all throughout the Appalachia Basin, as well as the following states:  Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada & California.

In keeping with our goals of continually evolving, WhiteStar is happy to announce the addition of this new layer to the Unlimited Basemap Access (UBA).  For more information on UBA, or any of our Unlimited Access products, please feel free to contact us at 800.736.6277 or 303.781.5182.

-Jeff Smith

Quite often I’m asked if landgrid changes. It sure does. Since March 2005 we have added data to over 13,000 townships across the US. As Jeff Smith stated in his September 1st blog, most of the changes have occurred with the addition of BLM and other government data. The US Forest Service publishes maps that include newly added sections and townships. We have been working on capturing this data as well.

In addition to the PLSS, Texas has seen it’s fair share of edits. Since March 2005 over 30,000 data modifications have been made. At WhiteStar we take pride in the continual improvement of our databases.  Our Unlimited Grid Access subscribers are able to take advantage of these continual improvements.  For more information on Unlimited Grid Access click here.

If you have any questions about Unlimited Grid Access feel free to contact us and we’ll give you a personal demo.

-Mike Schiewe

From time to time we are asked why there are “holes” in the land survey. This is particularly true in western states. There are a couple of reasons for this - originally the public land survey system was designed to patent “useful” lands such as agricultural land, which didn’t include mountainous terrains. Surveying funds were first expended on areas where the return to the government would be greater, i.e. arable lands. Secondly, Spanish and French Land grants already existed in many western states, most notably California, Arizona, New Mexico and up into Oregon and Washington. The plss had to “infill” around these existing land grants and honor the existing land claims. Many of these grants are quite large, for example the Tierra Amarilla Spanish Land Grant in New Mexico, and do not have any internal subdivisions. Nonetheless, over time government agencies have on occasion “protracted” pseudo townships and ranges into these areas to provide for a more complete fabric. Where possible, we have captured this data into our enhanced data products and have attributed it accordingly.

For the last couple of years one of my tasks has been to incorporate the BLM survey data into our existing PLSS data set for the areas which were shown as  unsurveyed on the USGS topo maps.  As many of you are, I’m sure, very aware, once you get out to the Rocky Mountain region and head west, there are many areas which were not surveyed; and as such your maps end up with extensive holes.  By incorporating the BLM survey into the PLSS survey, we have managed to ‘fill-in’ quite a considerable portion of these areas.

While there are a couple of states like Idaho & Nevada, which still have sizable areas without a STR grid system, many of the other western states now have nearly 100% coverage.  To date, we have filled-in the following states:  Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, California & Florida.

Stay tuned for enhancements to Oregon & Washington!

-Jeff Smith