Mission Equity Properties LLC
Scottsdale, Arizona
Fax:  480-421-9152

Email: missionequity@hotmail.com

Township and Range:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) established survey meridians and base lines that were the starting points for each region of townships.  Originally surveyors named the earliest pairs by number (the first through sixth principal meridians); the rest are named for geographic features.

A township is both a square six miles long on each side as well as the method to locate the north-south (horizontal) row from the base line where the township lies. In the graphic below, the township is located at Township 1 North because it is in the first row north of the base line. Ranges are rows of townships east or west of the meridian (vertical). In the graphic, the township is located at Range 1 East because it is in the first row to the east of the principal meridian.

Within each township are 36 sections, each one-mile square. Each section contains 640 acres. The sections are numbered from 1 to 36 in the following order:

The largest grouping is the township which is named in reference to a Principal Meridian (P.M.) and a Baseline. T2N, R1E refers to Township 2 North (of the Baseline), Range 1 East (of the Principal Meridian).

Within each section, the land is referred to as half and quarter sections. A one-sixteenth division is called a quarter of a quarter, as in the NW1/4 of the NW1/4. The descriptions are read from the smallest division to the largest.

One Section of land contains one square mile.  Please contact the BLM office with questions you may have regarding the correct manner in which to read these maps and legal descriptions.