Swamp and Overflowed Land Acts

Let’s look at swamp lands as they relate to various swamp and overflowed land acts.

These acts grant to designated states, areas of wetlands which meet certain criteria.

Most of the eligible swamp land area transferred to designated states was identified by the state after approval of the original survey plat.

Presently, this identification and transfer usually occurs when plats are approved and filed for an original survey of omitted areas which also contain swamp land.

Eligible states can also presently apply for swamp or overflowed lands using as a basis original field notes or plats of many years ago.

Louisiana and Florida have been active in recent years, in submitting applications of this type.

It is the surveyor’s responsibility to determine the extent of swamp and overflowed land, and the Code of Federal Regulations requires that the involved survey office assist the Land and Minerals Division in determining parcel eligibility under one or another of the acts.

Most of these surveys fall under the jurisdiction of the Eastern States Office of the BLM.

BLM surveyors should study the Federal Swamp Lands Act pertaining to the particular state in question if there is a possibility of Swamp Land Act involvement in a survey.

Here is a situation in which field note calls of topography and vegetation could be critically useful in a later administrative decision on swamp land eligibility.