[NHCOLL-L:2612] RE: Fwd: Re: Probole

[White, Rich]

USGS topo maps have Township, Range and Section designations on them.  I
don't think there is any quick way (ie, algorithm) to convert.  Also,
the TR designations don't correspond to "a" locality - the sections are
one square mile in extent, and old collections can have Section, quarter
section or quarter-quarter sections indicated.  A given Township and
Range includes 36 sections, and is therefore 6 miles on a side, for a
total of 36 square miles.  Note also that for some areas, T & R
designations were never formally given.

You will also find that the section lines (and therefore T and R lines)
were often "bent", and are not perfectly rectangular.  Providing
metadata guidelines for handling Township, Range and Section data on
localities is a problem.  Probably the easiest is to pick the center
point of the smallest division given (Section, quarter Section) and flag
it to indicate that this is an "area" rather than a precise location.

Rich


 
Richard S. White, Jr.
Director
International Wildlife Museum
4800 West Gates Pass Road
Tucson, Arizona 85745
520-629-0100 extension 252
Fax: 520-618-3561



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Timothy Tomon
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 8:35 AM
To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:2610] Fwd: Re: Probole


Hello,

I was wondering if any knows of a way to convert Township, Range,
Section data, apparently known as the Public Land Survey System, to
coordinates?

This is an example of one such locality that I have, in case I have not
adequately described what I am talking about:  

Michigan, Baraga County, T49N R34W S15	


Thanks for any help you can provide!
Tim Tomon