PLSS Data for XMap

Please find below the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) data for XMap®¹ desktop software This data layer provides a labeled grid showing the section boundaries in OpenSpace format and can be imported into any version of XMap 5 or newer software.

Each zipped file contains coverage for a single multi-State region as detailed below.  Please note that California is divided into northern and southern regions, and Alaska is downloadable as an entire region by itself and is divided into northern, western, eastern, southwestern, and southeastern regions. You will first need to download the zip file for the region containing the State(s) you require from the below list, then extract the State(s) you need from the zipped file. Finally, you will need to extract the .openspace file from the State zip(s) that you extracted, after which you follow the instructions below .

ALASKA

http://download.garmin.com/DeLorme/Files/Alaska_PLSS.zip

MIDWEST (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin)

http://download.garmin.com/DeLorme/Files/MW_PLSS.zip

SOUTH (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma)

http://download.garmin.com/DeLorme/Files/S_PLSS.zip

WEST (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon

 Utah, Washington, Wyoming)

http://download.garmin.com/DeLorme/Files/W_PLSS.zip

 Follow these steps to import PLSS files into XMap software:

1) Select the GIS tab and click the Workspace subtab button to the left of the tab area

2) Click the Layers button above the Workspace table and click Import to open the Import Layer wizard.

3) Browse to the location where the PLSS file (.openspace) was unzipped, select the file, and click Open*.

4) Select a database from the Database drop-down list in the Import Layer window and click the Next button. The layer import begins.

* To bypass the first three steps of the import process, drag the OpenSpace Transfer file into the map window in XMap software.

 The PLSS layer includes the following attributes for each section polygon:

 - TWP – Township number

- TWP_DIR – Township direction, usually N (north) or S (south) of the survey baseline

- RNG – Range number

- RNG_DIR – Range direction, usually E (east) or W (west) of the principal meridian

- SEC – Section number

 To search for a particular township, range, and section:

 1) Select the Attributes subtab button to the left of the tab area.

 2) Click the Query drop-down list, and choose Search by TWP RNG & SEC.

 3) Click the Run button to open the Run Query dialog box.

 4) Enter the necessary information and click Run. The results of the query are highlighted on the map and in the attributes table.

* To cancel the query and revert the selected section polygon to its default color, choose Cancel Query from the same drop-down list.

* To turn the PLSS layer on or off, select or clear the check box next to the layer name in the Workspace table or on the Map Data tab.

Section polygons are labeled using the following format:

                 T12N R13E S17

 In this example T12N refers to Township 12 North; R13E refers to Range 13 East; and S17 refers to Section 17. Because of the text decluttering process within XMap, labels may not appear at lower zoom levels.

Users of XMap Professional cannot change the color of the polygons, the style of the label, or any of the other characteristics of the layer; however, users of either the GIS Editor or Enterprise versions of XMap can modify the layer in numerous ways. For instance, the polygon color can be changed, the labels can be removed or edited, additional queries can be built, and selected areas within the layer can be highlighted and used to create a new layer. For details on how to perform any of these functions, refer to the Help system in XMap.

¹XMap Software has been discontinued but not XMap data format