Five meridians, and lines that in many places exist only on paper. Here is what the legal description on your deed, lease or division order is actually telling you, and where to check it for free.
Alaska uses plss in principle, largely unsurveyed on the ground. Five meridians, and lines that in many places exist only on paper.
A principal meridian and its base line are the origin of a rectangular survey. Township and range numbers count outward from that origin, which means the same township and range numbers repeat under every meridian. The meridian is the part of the description that says which grid you are on.
Much of Alaska had not been surveyed when ANCSA passed in 1971, which is why Congress authorized Interim Conveyances, a legal document transferring title to Alaska Native corporations before a final survey is finished, later replaced by patent once boundaries are confirmed. Where no survey exists the grid is carried as a protraction diagram, which BLM describes as a rectangular plat based on aerial photography and a best guess at where the township, range and section lines fall.
An Alaska description can name a section, township and range that has never been monumented. The lines exist on paper only, and they can move when a real cadastral survey is finally run, so find out whether your township is surveyed or protracted before you rely on the acreage or the boundary. Alaska also has no counties. Recording is by recording district, and there are 34 districts served by two offices, so an heir looking for the county recorder will not find one.
Alaska DNR Land Records holds state land case files.
What it covers, how many net mineral acres it actually is, and whether anything is producing on it. Free, no obligation, and the answer does not change if you never sell anything to us. We do this every day and it usually takes us an hour.
Ask a Landman Get a Free ValuationCompiled from BLM, state land offices, state archives and statute, current as of 2026-08. Berlin Royalties is a mineral buyer and a landman shop in Tulsa, not a law firm or a licensed surveyor. Nothing here is a boundary opinion, and a description that matters to a transaction should be run by a title attorney or a licensed surveyor in the state where the land sits.