Land Surveyors Dictionary

N Terms

             N (Land Status Records)  – North.
             NA (Land Status Records)  – Native Allotment.
             NAV MER (Land Status Records)  – Navajo Merdian.
             NB  – Nebraska.
             NC  – North Carolina.
             nc (Land Status Records)  – Noncompetitive.
             ND  – North Dakota.
             N. DAK.  – North Dakota.
             NE (Land Status Records)  – Northeast.
             NEB.  – Nebraska.
             N.E.P.A.  – National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
               The Act of Congress of January 1, 1970, Public Law 91-190, 83 Stat. 852, 42 U.S.C. 4321, et se1.
             NEV.  – Nevada.
             NF (Land Status Records)  – National Forest.
             NGS  – National Geodetic Survey.
             NG SEL (Land Status Records)  – Native Group Selection.
             NH  – New Hampshire.
             NIT (Land Status Records)  – Nitrate.
             NJ  – New Jersey.
             NM  – New Mexico.
             N. MEX.  – New Mexico.
             N MEX PRIN MER (Land Status Records)  – New Mexico Principal Meridian.
             N MON (Land Status Records ) – National Monument.
             N.M.P.M. (Private Practice of Surveying)  – New Mexico Principle Meridian.
             NOAA  – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
             NOE (Land Status Records)  – Not Open to Entry.
             NOL (Land Status Records)  – Not Open to Lease.
             NOM (Land Status Records)  – Not Open to Mining.
             NOS  – National Ocean Survey.
             NP (Land Status Records)  – National Park.
             NPPR (Land Status Records)  – Native Primary Place of Residence.
             N.P.S., NPS  – National Park Service.
             NRL (Land Status Records)  – National Resource lands.
             NV  – Nevada.
             NW (Land Status Records)  – Northwest.
             NWR (Land Status Records)  – National Wildlife Refuge.
             NY  – New York.
             NATIONAL FOREST     – A reservation of a forest or watershed which is administered by the Forest Service, United
               States Department of Agriculture.
             NATIONAL FOREST EXCHANGE        – An exchange whereby the Federal Government receives title to lands within a
               National Forest,
             NATIONAL FOREST HOMESTEAD ENTRY          – A homestead entry, not exceeding 160 acres, initiated under the
               Act of June 11, 1906 (34 Stat. 233, 16 U.S.C. sec. 506), which provided for the homesteading within National
               forests of public lands classified and listed as more valuable for agricultural than the forestry purposes. (Repealed
               October 23, 1962.)
             NATIONAL FOREST HOMESTEAD ENTRY SURVEYS            – Under the Act of June 11, 1906 (34 Stat. 233, 16
               U.S.C. sec. 506), surveys of homestead entries within national forests were performed, usually, by Forest Service
               surveyors under Special Instructions from, and subject to approval by the General Land Office. This Act was
               repealed Oct. 23, 1962 (76 Stat. 1157), and these surveys are no longer executed.
             NATIONAL FOREST HOMESTEAD LANDS          – Public lands in National Forests which were opened to National
               Forest homestead entry.
             NATIONAL FOREST LIEU SELECTION       – A parcel of land chosen to replace land located within a national forest,
               the rights to which were relinquished prior to March 3, 1905.
             NATIONAL MEMORIAL      – A reservation embracing memorials of national interest which is administered by the
               National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior.
             NATIONAL MONUMENT       – A reservation embracing objects of historic and scientific interest which is administered
               by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior.
             NATIONAL PARK    – A reservation embracing recreational areas which is administered by the National Park Service,
               United states Department of the Interior.
             NATIONAL RESOURCE LANDS       – All of the lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
             NATIVE ALLOTMENT (Alaska)     – Under the terms and provisions of the Act of May 17, 1906, as amended, the
               Secretary of the Interior is authorized to allot not to exceed 160 acres of vacant, unappropriated and unreserved
               nonmineral land in Alaska; or, subject to the provisions of the Act of March 8, 1922, of vacant, unappropriated and
               unreserved public land in Alaska that may be valuable for coal, oil or gas deposits; or, under certain conditions, of
               National Forest Lands in Alaska, to any Indian, Aleut or Eskimo of full or mixed blood who resides in and is a
               native of Alaska, and who is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years of age. An allotment will not be made until
               the lands are surveyed by BLM, and until satisfactory proof of 5 years continuous use and occupancy by the
               applicant has been approved by the Director of BLM.
             NATIVE TOWNSITE (Alaska)   – the Act of May 25, 1926, provides for the townsite survey and disposition of public
               lands set apart or reserved for the benefit of Indian or Eskimo occupants in trustee townsites in Alaska, and for the
               survey and disposal of the lands occupied as native towns or villages. The Act of Feb. 26, 1948, provides for the
               issuance of an unrestricted deed to any competent native for a tract of land claimed and occupied by him within any
               such trustee townsite. Native towns occupied partly by white occupants are to be surveyed under the provisions of
               both the Act of March 3, 1891, and the Act of May 25, 1926.
             NAVAJO EXCHANGE      – An exchange whereby the Federal Government receives title to lands within the Navajo
               Indian Reservation.
             NAVAJO LIEU SELECTION     – A lieu selection in connection with which the applicant relinquishes rights to land
               within the Navajo Indian Reservation.
             NAVAJO MERIDIAN     – The principal meridian governing surveys in a small part of northeastern Arizona; it was
               adopted in 1869. Originally, it also governed surveys in a small part of northwestern New Mexico. Only a few
               townships governed by it were surveyed in New Mexico and no disposals based upon those surveys were made. The
               Commissioner of the General Land Office, by letter dated July 28, 1936, canceled the Navajo Meridian and the
               surveys based on it in the State of New Mexico.
             NATIONAL RESERVE     – A reservation for naval purposes.
             NAVIGABILITY, LEGAL CONCEPT OF       – The doctrine laid down by the Supreme Court in The Daniel Ball, 10
               Wall. 557 (1871), to wit:  “Those rivers must be regarded as public navigable rivers in law which are navigable in
               fact. And they are navigable in fact when they are used, or are susceptible of being used, in their ordinary condition,
               as highways for commerce, over which trade and travel are or may be conducted in the customary modes of trade or
               travel on water.”
             NAVIGABLE WATERS      – Waters which afford a channel for useful commerce or travel. The beds of navigable
               bodies of water are not public domain and are not subject to survey and disposal by the United States. Under the
               laws of the United States the navigable waters have always been and shall forever remain common highways. This

               includes all tidewater streams and other important permanent bodies of water whose natural and normal condition as
               the date of the admission of a State into the Union was such as to classify the same as navigable water.
             NEAP TIDES  – Tides of decreasing range occurring semimonthly as the result of the moon being in quadrature; that is,
               when the tidal forces of sun and moon act at right angles to each other on the waters of the earth. Tides during these
               periods do not rise as high or fall as low as during the rest of the month. See TIDE.
             NEW MEXICO PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN        – The principal meridian governing surveys in New Mexico and the
               southwestern part of Colorado; it was adopted in 1855.
             NONIUS  – A scale featuring concentric circles used in determining angles. It was named for a Portugese
               mathematician and geographer, Nunez (1492-1577). Later, the nonius was replaced by the vernier scale (named for
               Dutch mathematician Peter Werner who, in his writings, used the name  “Pierre Vernier” ). As late as 1879, in
               Germany, a vernier was called a nonius.
             NONNATIVE TOWNSITES, ALASKA        – The entry of public lands in Alaska for townsite purposes, by such trustee
               or trustees as may be named by the Secretary of the Interior for that purpose, is authorized by section 11 of the act of
               March 3, 1891.
             NONRESPONSIVE BIDS     – Contract bids not conforming to the substance of the bid invitation are non responsive
               and may not be considered for award. The substance of the invitation includes the terms, conditions and
               specifications which affect price, quality, quantity and delivery terms.
             NON RIPARIAN BROKEN BOUNDARY         – A colloquial term which refers to the meander lines along a water
               boundary. The water is the actual (riparian) boundary and the meander line is the representative (nonriparian)
               boundary.
             NON RIPARIAN BROKEN BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT            – 1) A mathematical solution for restoring or
               determining the position of angle points of record courses by applying a correction to each record course
               based proportionately upon the length of the course. 2) The method generally used to mathematically close (balance)
               a figure in order to determine area. 3) May be referred to as the  “Compass Rule.”  See NON RIPARIAN BROKEN
               BOUNDARY, BROKEN BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT, COMPASS RULE and ADJUSTMENT*.
             NON RIPARIAN MEANDER LINE       – Any meander line which is surveyed as a fixed boundary or is reestablished as
               a fixed boundary. See FIXED BOUNDARY.
             NORTHWEST ORDINANCE (1787)      – An ordinance enacted by the Congress of the Confederation to provide for
               government of the Old Northwest Territory (Territory northwest of the Ohio River), and for the formation and
               admission of new states. The provisions were reenacted on Aug. 7, 1789 following the adoption of the Constitution.
               See TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO RIVER.
             NORTHWEST TERRITORY       – See TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO RIVER.
             NOTCHES   – V-shaped indentations cut upon the exposed vertical edges of a stone monument where the vertical edges
               of the stone have been turned to the cardinal.