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Ownership in the Powder River Basin, WY and MT

Frequently anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   U.S. Geological Survey Central Energy Resources Team, 1999, Ownership in the Powder River Basin, WY and MT: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-A, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO.

   Other_Citation_Details: in subdir: scale100k

   This is part of the following larger work.

   Biewick, L.R.H., Urbanowski, S. R., Cain, S., Neasloney, L., 1998, Land Status and Federal Mineral Ownership in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana: a digital data set for geographic information systems: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-102, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO.

   Online Links:

   • <http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/fedland/prb_own.html>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -107.37168386

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -104.55458943

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 46.42181673

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.74191423

3. What does it look like?

4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Beginning_Date: 1980

   Ending_Date: 1998

   Currentness_Reference: publication date

5. What is the general form of this data set?

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map

6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • Label Point (14694)
      • String (33957)
      • GT-polygon composed of chains (14695)

   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 1.0. Longitudes are given to the nearest 1.0. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927.
      The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.4.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.98.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   PRB_OWN.PATFEDCOAL

   FEDCOAL region subclass attribute table for PRB_OWN (Federal coal ownership) (Source: ARC/INFO)

   PRB_OWN.PATFEDOG

   FEDOG region subclass attribute table for PRB_OWN (Federal oil and gas ownership) (Source: ARC/INFO)

   PRB_OWN.PAT

   Polygon attribute table of PRB_OWN. (Source: ARC/INFO)

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

   Items in the Region subclass FEDCOAL Polygon Attribute Table AREA Area of poly/region in square coverage units Computed Positive real number PERIMETER Perimeter of poly/region in coverage units Computed Positive real number FEDCOAL# Internal feature number Computed Sequential unique positive integer FEDCOAL-ID User-assigned feature number User-defined Integer

   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: this document

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

   Items in the Region subclass FEDOG Polygon Attribute Table AREA Area of poly/region in square coverage units Computed Positive real number PERIMETER Perimeter of poly/region in coverage units Computed Positive real number FEDOG# Internal feature number Computed Sequential unique positive integer FEDOG-ID User-assigned feature number User-defined Integer

   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: this document

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

   Items in the Polygon Attribute Table AREA Area of poly/region in square coverage units Computed Positive real number PERIMETER Perimeter of poly/region in coverage units Computed Positive real number PRB+_OWN# Internal feature number Computed Sequential unique positive integer PRB+_OWN-ID User-assigned feature number User-defined Integer SURF land ownership, surface management status U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) FEDMINS Federal mineral ownership, subsurface ownership U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) SURFACE AND MINERAL MANAGEMENT STATUS ATTRIBUTES SURF 8,8,C (Land Status) PRIVATE STATE BLM (Bureau of Land Management) FS (Forest Service) BJ (Bankhead Jones Land Use Lands) TL (Tribal Lands, BIA) NG (National Grasslands) DOD (Department of Defense) FED (other Federal) PWR (Public Water Reserves) WATER FEDMINS 8,8,C (Minerals owned by the Federal Government) NONE ALL OTHER COAL (coal only) OGC (oil, gas and coal only) OGC+ (oil, gas, coal and other) OG (oil and gas only) R (restricted minerals) refer to "readme"

   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: this document

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • U.S. Geological Survey Central Energy Resources Team

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   100,000-scale surface and mineral management status maps published by the BLM. Margaret Ellis, U.S. Geological Survey, created the coverage for the outline of the Powder River Basin based on geologic studies. The basin outline represents the base of the Tertiary Fort Union Formation, or the general Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The northeastern portion of the boundary was generalized along the Miles City Arch area and the Yellowstone River. 100,000-scale quadrangles in Montana. 100,000-scale quadrangle.

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   USGS Energy Resources Team
   c/o Romeo Flores
   Geologist
   Box 25046
   MS 939
   Denver Federal Center
   Denver, CO 80225-0046
   USA
   

   303.236.7774 (voice)
   

   Hours_of_Service: Monday through Friday 8:00 AM- 3:00 PM

Why was the data set created?

The Nation's coal resources are being assessed by the USGS. This assessment identifies and characterizes the coal beds and coal zones that will provide the bulk of the Nation's coal-derived energy during the next few decades. This assessment is different from previous USGS assessments because digital files and databases are being collected and stored in standardized formats, and being analyzed using a Geographic Information System (GIS).

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   NRIS (source 1 of 18)

   Montana Natural Resource Information System (NRIS), 1996, Montana Public Lands.

   Online Links:

   • <URL:http://nris.mt.gov/ftp/montana/blm/owners.html>
   • (Metadata document is <URL:http://nris.mt.gov/nsdi/nris/ab105.HTML>)

   Other_Citation_Details: from 1:100,000-scale BLM quadrangles (online)

   Type_of_Source_Media: online

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   100,000-scale quadrangles in southeastern Montana.

   Lame Deer, MT 100k BLM map (source 2 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1980, Surface and mineral management status, Lame Deer quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Lame Deer quadrangle, Montana.

   Birney, MT 100k BLM map (source 3 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1981, Surface and mineral management status, Birney quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Birney quadrangle, Montana.

   Lodge Grass, MT 100k BLM map (source 4 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1982, Surface and mineral management status, Lodge Grass quadrangle, Montana-Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownershipin the Lodge Grass quadrangle, Montana and Wyoming.

   Terry, MT 100k BLM map (source 5 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1982, Surface and mineral management status, Terry quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Terry quadrangle, Montana.

   Hardin, MT 100k BLM map (source 6 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1987, Surface and mineral management status, Hardin quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Hardin quadrangle, Montana.

   Bill, WY 100k BLM map (source 7 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1989, Surface and mineral management status, Bill quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Bill quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Newcastle, WY 100k BLM map (source 8 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1989, Surface and mineral management status, Newcastle quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the newcastle quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Broadus, MT 100k BLM map (source 9 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1990, Surface and mineral management status, Broadus quadrangle, Montana-Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownershipin the Broadus quadrangle, Montana and Wyoming.

   Midwest, WY 100k BLM map (source 10 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1990, Surface and mineral management status, Midwest quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Midwest quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Miles City, MT 100k BLM map (source 11 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1990, Surface and mineral management status, Miles City quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Miles City quadrangle, Montana.

   Lance Creek, WY 100k BLM map (source 12 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1991, Surface and mineral management status, Lance Creek quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Lance Creek quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Powderville, MT 100k BLM map (source 13 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1992, Surface and mineral management status, Powderville quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution: land and Federal mineral ownership

   Forsyth, MT 100k BLM map (source 14 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1993, Surface and mineral management status, Forsyth quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Forsyth quadrangle, Montana.

   Hysham, MT 100k BLM map (source 15 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1993, Surface and mineral management status, Hysham quadrangle, Montana.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Hysham quadrangle, Motana.

   Lusk, WY 100k BLM map (source 16 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1993, Surface and mineral management status, Lusk quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Lusk quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Sundance, WY 100k BLM map (source 17 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1994, Surface and mineral management status, Sundance quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Sundance quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Douglas, WY 100K BLM map (source 18 of 18)

   U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1995, Surface and mineral management status, Douglas quadrangle, Wyoming.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 100,000

   Source_Contribution:

   Federal land and mineral ownership in the Douglas quadrangle, Wyoming.

2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   Date: 1996 (process 1 of 1)

   100,000 hardcopy BLM maps were used for reference. The items SURF (surface ownership) and FEDMINS (Federal mineral ownership) were added to the Polygon Attribute Table (PAT) and both defined as 8-character fields. SURF was populated using the existing item, STATUS, or by visual 100,000-scale quadrangle BLM maps to identify bodies of water. Through interaction with the MT State BLM office, and by reference to the corresponding hard copy BLM maps, the item FEDMINS was populated. The ARC/INFO coverage's obtained from the MT State BLM office are more recent 100,000-scale quadrangles; therefore, the ARC/INFO coverage's were honored when small discrepancies were found, especially in areas less than 1/2 section. After attributes were assigned, the coverage's were proofed visually by creating hardcopy plots to compare with the BLM original maps. Each quadrangle coverage is housed in a USGS Central Energy Resources Team Data Library. A copy of each of the completed coverage's was provided in its original projection to the MT State BLM office and ultimately to the Montana State Library. All of the quadrangles that are appended for the Powder River Basin coverage have been projected to Lambert meters with the parameters used for this coverage. 24,000 scale, and include both the surface and mineral ownership status as well as types of minerals reserved to the government. The MOSS file is in State Plane meters - zone 5801; it was imported into ARC/INFO using the MOSSARC command and projected to Lambert meters with the parameters used for this coverage. The polygon attribute item, DATA, contains a 6-character ownership attribute coding scheme used by the WY State BLM office, and referred to as the "pizza" code. Letter identifiers within this code define surface ownership, subsurface ownership, agency with jurisdiction, and mineral reservation. The 6th character of the "pizza" code (withdrawal type) was incomplete, so was not used. In ARC/INFO, DISSOLVED on item 5 of the pizza code to eliminate the incomplete 6th character. Through interaction with the WY State BLM office and by referencing a "pizza" code key provided by that BLM office, the USGS populated the polygon attribute items SURF and FEDMINS to conform to the attributing standards that the USGS has set for our ownership coverages. 100,000-scale quadrangles (Bill, Midwest, Douglas, Sundance, Newcastle, Lance Creek, and Lusk). BLM separates for the most recent BLM surface and mineral management status maps were scanned and vectored using AutoCad. The AutoCad polygons were attributed and then converted to Arc/Info coverage's where they were merged into one seamless coverage using the Arc/Info UNION command. The completed coverage's contain polygon attributes in items SURF and FEDMINS. 100,000-scale quadrangle coverages were processed using ARC/INFO ERASE, APPEND, and UPDATE as needed to create one coverage for the entire basin. Following APPEND, this Powder River Basin coverage was processed using CLEAN to create polygon topology (BUILD wouldn't work because there were intersections). The before and after CLEAN coverage's were compared and no appreciable line offsets were found. The coverage was edited to delete extraneous polygons created during APPEND, and to add arcs where needed in a gap between the Montana data and the Wyoming data at the State line. DISSOLVE was used to eliminate quadrangle boundaries and any other extraneous arcs and polygons. Some minor polygons defining Federal Agency Protective Withdrawals and Public Water Reserves were lost in the DISSOLVE routine. In the Sheridan and Recluse quadrangles, some minor detail on Power Withdrawals and Classifications, and Bureau of Reclamation lands were lost. The Powder River Basin area ownership coverage was intersected with the Powder River Basin boundary coverage to eliminate the data outside of the Powder River Basin as defined for the National Coal Assessment. We have subsequently found problems with the region subclasses when we attempted to project this coverage. A message alerts that an unclosed region was detected. However, REGIONERRORS reports no unclosed region detected for this coverage. The DROPFEATURES command can be used to delete a region subclass from this coverage before projecting.

   Person who carried out this activity:
   

   USGS Energy Resources Team
   c/o Romeo Flores
   Geologist
   Box 25046
   MS 939
   Denver Federal Center
   Denver, CO 80225-0046
   USA
   

   303.236.7774 (voice)
   

   Hours_of_Service: Monday through Friday 8:00 AM- 3:00 PM

3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

1. How well have the observations been checked?

   No test was performed to assess attribute accuracy.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   fuzzy tolerance 8 m weed tolerance 0.862 m Approximately 51 meters, assuming source data meets National Map Accuracy Standards

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

   Based on published BLM surface and mineral management status maps; however, some of the data are more recent than the published maps. The more recent data are based on master title plats and information from State and other Federal agencies.

5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

   Polygon topology present.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

The surface and mineral management status are published as general planning and management tools. The official land records in the respective offices of the Bureau of Land Management or other Federal agencies should be checked for up-to-date status on any specific tract of land.

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 2)
   USGS Information Services
   Box 25286 Denver Federal Center
   Denver, CO 80225-0046
   USA
   

   1-888-ASK-USGS (voice)
   1-303-202-4693 (FAX)
   

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

   USGS Professional Paper 1625-A

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   This Compact Disc-Read Only Memory(CD-ROM) publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof.
   Although all data and software published on this CD-ROM have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and related materials and (or) the functioning of the software. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of this data, software, or related materials.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	Geographic features and attributes in format Shapefile (version 1.0)
     Network links:	<http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/coal/nca/rockiesgis.htm>
     Media you can order:	CD-ROM (2 disc set) (format ISO 9660)

   • Cost to order the data: See <http://mapping.usgs.gov/esic/prices/index.html>

---

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 2 of 2)
   USGS Energy Resources Team
   Box 25046
   MS 939
   Denver Federal Center
   Denver, CO 80225-0046
   USA
   

   303.236.1647 (voice)
   

   Hours_of_Service: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM- 3:00 PM

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

   compressed TAR files of ARC/INFO coverages, an ArcView project, a 'readme' document, and data management utilities.

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   The US Geological Survey provides these geographic data "as is." The USGS makes no guarantee or warranty concerning the accuracy of information contained in this geographic data. The USGS further makes no warranties, either expressed or implied as to any other matter whatsoever, including, without limitation, the condition of the product, or its fitness for any particular purpose. The burden for determining fitness for use lies entirely with the user. Although these data have been processed successfully on USGS computers, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS regarding the use of these data on any other system, nor does the fact of distribution constitute or imply any such warranty. In no event shall the USGS have any liability whatsoever for payment of any consequential, incidental, indirect, special, or tort damages of any kind, including, but not limited to, any loss of profits arising out of use of or reliance on the geographic data or arising out of the delivery, installation, operation, or support by the USGS.

4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 17-Dec-1997
Last Reviewed: 1998
To be reviewed: 1999

Metadata author:

USGS Energy Resources Team
c/o Romeo Flores
Geologist
Box 25046
MS 939
Denver Federal Center
Denver, CO 80225-0046
USA

303.236.7774 (voice)

Hours_of_Service: Monday through Friday 8:00 AM- 3:00 PM

Metadata standard:

FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)