George M. Cole - Land Tenure, Boundary Surveys, and Cadastral Systems

Land Tenure, Boundary Surveys, and Cadastral Systems

Land Tenure, Boundary Surveys, and Cadastral Systems

George M. Cole and Donald A. Wilson

CRC Press

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Version Date: 20160321

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-3165-2 (Hardback)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cole, George M., author. | Wilson, Donald A., 1941- author.

Title: Land tenure, boundary surveys, and cadastral systems / George M. Cole and Donald A. Wilson.

Description: Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, 2016. | A CRC title. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016012700 | ISBN 9781498731652 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Land tenure--Law and legislation--United States. | Land titles--Registration and transfer--United States. | Boundaries (Estates)--United States. | Surveying--Law and legislation--United States.

Classification: LCC KF574 .C65 2016 | DDC 346.7304/32--dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016012700

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Contents

George M. Cole is a professional surveyor and engineer with over 50 years of experience as a land surveyor. Beginning his career conducting hydrographic surveys of the Chukchi Sea as a commissioned officer of the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey, he has had a wide variety of assignments, including participation in the nations first satellite geodesy program, as the State Cadastral Surveyor for Florida, and as president of a surveying and mapping firm with projects in both the United States and Latin America. Recently, he has concentrated on surveying education with service as a visiting professor at the University of Puerto Rico (which was the inspiration for this book) and currently as an adjunct professor at both the University of Puerto Rico and Florida State University. He has made significant contributions to professional literature and is the author of several textbooks and numerous technical papers. He also has frequently testified on surveying matters before local, state, and federal courts, including before a special master of the U.S. Supreme Court. Cole holds a bachelor of science degree from Tulane University as well as master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees from Florida State University.

Donald A. Wilson, president of Land & Boundary Consultants, has been in practice for over 50 years, consulting to groups throughout the United States and Canada. He is both a licensed land surveyor and professional forester, having conducted more than 500 programs on a variety of topics, including description interpretation, boundary evidence, law, title problems, and forensic procedures. Mr. Wilson has more than 200 technical publications in several areas and has been involved with over 50 books, which include titles on Maine history and several books on fishing. Besides being coauthor of Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location and Boundary Control and Legal Principles, he is author of Deed Descriptions I Have KnownBut Could Have Done Without, Easements and Reversions, Interpreting Land Records, and Forensic Procedures for Boundary and Title Investigation. His latest title is Easements Relating to Land Surveying and Title Examination. Mr. Wilson is an instructor for VectorLearnings online professional courses and a regular presenter in the University of New Hampshires Professional Development Program. He is part owner of and lead instructor in Surveyors Educational Seminars and a regular seminar coordinator for the University of New Hampshire. In his professional practice, Don has testified numerous times, in a variety of courts, on boundary and title matters.

Since the dawn of history, land has been the primary source from which Man has taken the things that he needs for existence and for progress, for life in the lower margin and for luxury. Land still brings forth the grain, fruit and meat that feed him; the flax, cotton and wool that clothe him; the wood, stone and iron that house him. It supplies the fuels that warm himthe fuels that, transformed by his arts into energy, serve him in a thousand ways.

Charles Abrams (1979)

Mankind has always had a special relationship with the land, and with good reason, since it is a primary key to our existence. As suggested in the previous quote, land serves as the basic platform for life and source of nourishment, shelter, and energy for mankind. It also serves as the basis of income for humans. Reflecting that essential nurturing role, land has often been called Mother Earth.

As a result of the special relationship with and dependence on land, humans have long had a tendency to claim exclusive rights over tracts of land that they occupy, either jointly with other members of a tribe or community or as individuals. That tendency to claim a parcel of land as ones own and to defend it from others appears to be a natural tendency since it may also be observed with many other animal species. As an example, most people have observed a dog marking its territory. As another example, persons living in some parts of the United States have possibly experienced being threatened by mockingbirds defending the territory around their nest. Such actions are really not that far-removed from that of marking the corners of a land parcel with concrete monuments or the filing of a deed to the land at the county land records office. Both involve methods of defending a claim to land.