ALASKA DOT&PF CENTRAL REGION RIGHT-OF-WAY RESEARCH RESOURCES

Transcription

1 ALASKA DOT&PF CENTRAL REGION RIGHT-OF-WAY RESEARCH RESOURCES PRESENTED TO : ALASKA SURVEYING & MAPPING CONFERENCE FEB. 18, 2016 Authors: Krysta Gard, PLS Rachel Shoemake, PLS Ryan Quigley, PLS Eric Fuglestad, PLS ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 1

2 ROW RESEARCH RESOURCES Publicly available & on-line resources I do want to briefly touch on some of the public sources of information relating to ROW s. 1. State Recorder s office. In my mind, there are two main categories on the recorder s site. The Historical Books, and the searchable books. While searching the historical books for a specific document is not easy, it has proved to be a great asset. Sometimes a brute force search will uncover some interesting documents. As a State agency, we can easily look at and review all of the recorded documents in the searchable index, whereas, the general public may need to order the material, thus inserting some possible wild goose chases. A quick sample of some of the material we can find in the recorder s office is as follows: ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 2

3 a. Grants of ROW. / Notice of Dedication Chapman on Sterling Hwy, Historical Books ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 3

4 b. ROW Easements - Seward Hwy, Historical Books ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 4

5 c. Federal ROW grants, searchable ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 5

6 d. Deeds, Historical Books While this may not be a deed in the generally accepted sense, it is an example of some of the documents one can discover with a brute force method of historical book research. By that I mean looking at each and every page in the book. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 6

7 e. Notice of Utilization, historical books ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 7

8 f. Subdivision Plats (of course), searchable A reminder with subdivision plats. We must be careful and note the boundary of the subdivision, especially with respect to existing roadways. There are many deeds and subdivisions out there that break up lands abutting a highway or road, or that exclude the roadway. This results in third party interests in the ROW instead of a dedication. Others???? ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 8

9 2. BLM Records at BLM Alaska Homepage a. PLO s, etc. Here are found federal orders, directives, and laws which pertain to Alaska. These documents include, but are not limited to: * Acts of Congress * Air Navigation Sites, which are documents published in the Federal Register establishing and relinquishing properties associated with supporting air commerce. These lands included not only the airports, but also aids to navigation and some weather reporting stations. * Executive Orders, (EO s) * General Orders * Power-site Reserves * Presidential Orders & Proclamations * Public Land Orders, (PLO s) * Secretarial Orders, (SO s) ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 9

10 * And others. These provide the background to many actions that help fill in the blanks. These federal records enable us to connect the dots, giving us an understanding of the laws which affected the establishment of property rights, and those which established transportation corridor right-of-ways. b. Township plats & Master Title Plats (MTP s). The MTP s are your source for identifying the Federal Highway ROW grants. And the Township plats can be a source of historical location of transportation facilities. c. ROW grants and case files. These are generally found at the BLM Library. In the case of the ROW grants, these were issued to the State for construction across federally managed lands, post Statehood. This is also the source of background information regarding private entry. Some of this material is archived outside Alaska and must be ordered. d. US Surveys & Special Instructions. These resources can be a source for identifying the possible existence and various names of a public roadway, for example, the Seward Highway. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 10

11 1980 s SEWARD HIGHWAY ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 11

12 1952 SEWARD-ANCHORAGE HIGHWAY ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 12

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14 1941 SEWARD-HOPE HIGHWAY ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 14

15 1931 MOOSE PASS HOPE ROAD ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 15

16 1920 MOOSE PASS MILITARY ROAD ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 16

17 e. BLM Conveyance documents. Here we find Federal Patents, Interim Conveyances (I.C. s), and Tentative Approvals (T.A. s). ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 17

18 ndex=0 These two web sites provide us with copies of BLM Patents, from the earliest GLO Patents up to the most recent BLM deeds. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 18

19 f. Alaska Case Retrieval Enterprise System (ACRES) Here we find the timeline for individual properties which were patented by the BLM. The dates are critical in determining the applicability of various possible ROW acts. Also, don t forget the Historical Index menu also found at this location. This reports the entire (hopefully) Federal record of the township. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 19

20 Here we find the archived BLM Case file for land entries. The various reports and correspondence provide the timeline and supporting documentation of the settler upon his property. This information includes dates of entry, construction, application, and patent. We also find BLM inspection reports of the property, verifying the above dates, and miscellaneous correspondence and notes. While these are ordered from back east, the historical record they provide can be of great assistance in arriving at a defensible position with respect to right-of-way. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 20

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23 3. USGS Historical Aerial Photography, Not real comprehensive coverage, but a nice quick way to access some historical aerial images to answer the question, What was happening when? Was the road in place? Any evidence of the route? These photos seem to go back to the 1940 s at the earliest, but mostly beginning in the 1950 s with the advent of the Cold War construction efforts. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 23

24 4. USGS Historical Mapping, ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 24

25 5. DOT ROW Site, Again, a reminder that this site is in constant flux with more projects being added to the database. For best results, use the MTR search function. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 25

26 6. Central Region As-Builts Here we find construction as-builts going back into Territorial days. Especially with the older projects, these documents can indicate the location and quantity of ROW monumentation associated with the projects. Sometimes, with some of the older as-builts from the 1940 s and early 1950 s, more information is provided with respect to the ROW than can be found on the Control Section in this era. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 26

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29 7. AK Dept. of Commerce, Community Profile Maps, ilemaps.aspx For work in the villages, I strongly recommend that you check the site to see if mapping has been completed. These documents provide a great snapshot in time, and the associated files have quite a bit of research material. They will give you a great jumpstart on your research. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 29

30 8. DNR, Land records State status plats, Land Estate maps, Mineral Estate maps, and Water Estate maps are found here. State DNR Land abstracts and DNR Case File abstracts, as well as ties to BLM records. Lots of data and resources. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 30

31 9. United States Statutes There have been many instances where we have gone back to the Federal Statutes to get a better understanding of the program and authority under which a patent has been issued. Again, this broadens your base of facts to help in determining what factors may affect a public ROW through a piece of property. Connect the dots. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 31

32 10. ALASKA S DIGITAL ARCHIVES While generally a long shot, there have been instances where photographic evidence can be used to place a date on public use of a transportation route and/or the relative location of old buildings. This assists in the location of historical lot locations. A word to the wise though, if you haven t explored this archive, be prepared to lose some hours traveling through time. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 32

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34 DOT&PF Central Region In-house Here in Central Region ROW Engineering, we realize that staff doesn t have a complete index, physical or mental, of the research source materials located in our offices. Personnel come and go. All have their own experience, knowledge, skill sets, and opinions. Documents are continually being re-discovered. Whether their existence was known to past employees, or they were sent off to storage and now may have come back through, or simply may have been forgotten, the fact is that one cannot assume that any listing of source documents is complete or accurate. Some Examples: BPR Real Estate files: Two filing cabinets in our office were known to contain the originals of some of the recorded ROW easements from territorial days. A mimeographed index at the front of a drawer listed BPR file numbers 1-1,000. So, that was the limit of what was assumed to be in the drawers. A couple of years ago, Rachel was looking for a file towards the end, near to 1,000. She noticed a lot more files beyond 1,000 and asked What are these??!! Low and behold, more BPR original ROW documents. She and I had both missed these additional documents during several years of active use of these files. Dept. of Highways Original Acquisition Documents, selected projects. About a year ago, 10 banker s boxes full of files showed up and were slated for some unknown fate. Don t know who, but someone asked, What s in these boxes. Again, surprisingly, from out of the blue, here are the original acquisition documents, and occasionally other correspondence, of many federally-funded projects from the Department of Highways era. They had been taking up space in the ROW Admin section, under some desks, and our admin staff wanted the leg room. Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp. Mat-Su Colony maps. Last year while trying to get an understanding of the historical sequence of road construction in the Valley, the question was asked, I wonder if ARRC has any old maps or other records from the Colony days. So Krysta was able to stop in the Palmer office of ARRC, and eureka! There in some filing cabinets were some 100 original ink on linen as-builts of most of the Colony tracts. They were done either by, or under the supervision of, Anton Anderson, the colony locations engineer. This has particular significance to me since ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 34

35 Anton was my dad s first boss at the Alaska Railroad in the late 1940 s. In the furnace room, more maps, including some war vintage USGS maps, were discovered in cardboard tubes. All of this material has been scanned, and digital copies are located on our network. Completed Roads in Alaska, Oct. 11, Once again, during the course of searching for some information in the backroom, Ryan discovered something of special interest. This book provides a bar graph of the various timelines for most of the Federally-funded projects in AK as of Oct. 11, For some reason, it has a Spanish sub-title, which I m sure makes for an interesting back story. To emphasize, the scope and identity of the resource material available in AK DOT & PF s offices is continuously being enlarged. And, there is much which has not been explored to its full potential. For example, Anton Anderson s field books from the ARRC / Colony days are being scanned and indexed. It has been noted that he had several road traverses. We can hardly wait to see what data can be pulled from these historical documents. AK DOT&PF South Central reference materials Analog documents Again, the volume of material is quite large. I will be highlighting but a few of the sources available in the office. Some of the material is being scanned to the network. To begin: LITTLE OLD ROADS Don t let the name fool you. There are big roads in these files, and many new roads. It is essentially a collection of many years of research, and Where do I put this?, by various central region ROW folks. The contents of these files are assortments of deeds, sketches, opinions, and just plain miscellaneous stuff. This material can be extremely valuable in making a ROW determination. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 35

36 HANGING FILES These are full-size blueprint copies of many of the ROW maps, both recorded and those not in the public record. In some cases, misc. comments or addenda have been noted on the older prints by in-house staff over the years, these comments and notes are not necessarily found elsewhere. FLAT FILES Here we have the original mylars of highway ROW drawings. Many of these documents were never recorded. Probably one of the greatest benefits of this collection is that it allows for one to scale distances when the printed copy is unclear or unreadable. PROJECT FIELD BOOKS We have two sets of historical field books. Highways and Airports. These are stored in two separate locations in the building. And again, the collections are not necessarily complete. The highway set includes ARC & BPR books from as early as 1923, a traverse and level loop of the Kanatak Becharof Line. A book contains work in the Dillingham area, Homer East End Road, Spenard Canal & Aviation Field, and in the Naknek area. A book beginning Nov of the Homer area roads, notes that their equipment included a Gurley Level in condition good, and a Buff & Buff Transit that needs general overhaul, vertical arc unreadable, compass broke, sunshade glass missing, buttons under leveling screw missing, & bolt that holds eye piece missing. I wonder how their survey went!? The vault is also the repository for the State Field DOT Books. The aviation set begins in the mid 1950 s with some diaries, and remote airports. While most of these books are construction layout and control, there is some boundary work contained in their pages. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 36

37 MICROFICHE There is an extensive set of microfiche cards in our office. These contain copies of the correspondence, documents, and general reports for many of the road projects in southcentral, dating from roughly the mid 1950 s to the mid 1980 s. Microfiche index binders help in determining the existence of photographed records of a project, but you need to know that there have been several different filing/listing conventions over the years. For instance, you find projects listed under S for the Sterling Highway, as well as F, for (route) F-021. In separate drawers are aperture cards for material sites and airports. PROJECT BINDERS These are the locations of parcel plats, parcel computations, and some general notes and correspondence for projects completed prior to the full digitalization of the process in recent years. OLD ROLLED DRAWINGS There are some old drawings still kept as rolls that have not been scanned. CENTRAL FILES This resource is not located in the ROW section. It is a collection of historical photography, Design Study Reports (DSR s), miscellaneous project microfiche, etc. When all else fails, this room can provide the missing link to set you on your way. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 37

38 On the digital network A large amount of data has been scanned to the network. I will attempt to give you some idea of the scope of the material, but again, I am purposely omitting many resources. LIBRARY To start, located in the Library folder we find: ALASKA ROAD (ARC) COMMISSION HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS Annual reports dating from These give a general overview of the activities for the year to the supervising staff in D.C. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 38

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40 This is an interesting entry. ARC was performing Cadastral Surveys, locating the highway system in the rectangular public survey grid, and furnishing the BLM Cadastral Engineer with the plats, who utilizes them in his work. Information unknown until the research was done. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 40

41 Anchorage Division Situation Reports. These are the project status reports to the Chief Engineer in Juneau. They report on the work accomplished on new construction, maintenances, and proposed future projects. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 41

42 Kenai District Weekly reports. We have a few weekly reports for projects in the Kenai area. This gives a more accurate time frame of specific activities associated with road construction. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 42

43 Miscellaneous correspondence Here is the policy for abandonment of roads. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 43

44 Misc. District Maps of various vintages Misc. Other maps of various vintages Misc. Farm Road correspondence with some sketches ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 44

45 BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS (BPR) HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS For some reason, our BPR historical records are not near as complete as those of the ARC. But some data is better than none. Bi-Annual Reports: Our library is not complete, but we do have bi-annual reports from These do provide some record of construction within the National Forests in Alaska. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 45

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47 Monthly Reports: These are a more detailed report on the monthly activities on BPR projects. Again, this is not a compete library. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 47

48 BPR Mapping: These are the maps depicting most of the routes transferred by the Omnibus Quitclaim Deed to the State. These are helpful in determining any previous names of the various roads. For instance, O Malley, Huffman Roads and a portion of Birch Road are identified as O Malley Loop Road, Route 512 in the mapping below. So, when researching for ROW documents prior to statehood, these names need to be recognized and known. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 48

49 BPR REAL ESTATE RECORDS: These are the documents I mentioned previously. We do have a spreadsheet database of these records facilitating the research of the early documents. The fact that these are the original documents means that they are readable, as opposed to some of the scanned historical book documents found on the DNR Recorder s site. In addition, many of the files include the accompanying sketches, again original & legible. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 49

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52 (ALASKA DEPARTMENT / DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS Historical documents Annual Reports spanning the years These reports are a great source of determining the initial construction dates for many of the federal roads which could determine their ROW width. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 52

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54 Interesting to note, the estimated damage to the highways and structures from the 64 earthquake was $65 million dollars. Which, in those days was an awful lot of money. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 54

55 Original parcel documents: This is the material I mentioned previously. Again, we have created a searchable project spreadsheet, so finding the project is greatly facilitated, and by using the old plan sets, the original acquisition documents are readily found, and readable. We are in the process of scanning this collection of documents. But, again as with any scanning effort, the quality of the scanned images sometimes leave a bit to be desired. At least we still have the paper. Here is a sample comparison between the original documents and the recorded papers. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 55

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58 As you can see, the type of document that is the least legible in the Recorders office is the sketch. So having the originals is a life saver. TERRITORIAL BOARD OF ROAD COMMISSIONERS Annual Reports beginning with 1917 and ending with These are bi-annual reports, and the collection is not complete. Once again, some historical data and narrative which could have a positive effect on ROW determination. For instance, if the route was maintained by the Territory, then the possibility exists that the 17 Act could apply. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 58

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62 ANNUAL GOVERNOR S REPORTS We have downloaded a couple of annual governor s reports from Google Books & These can be filed under the heading of Interesting Historical Information. But again, when you are trying to put together the historical timeline for a route, you never know where you may find some pertinent information. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM) Under the heading of BLM we have gathered several informational pamphlets and other publications of the BLM. We have scanned some Township indexes We have downloaded the Small Tract Classification Orders from the BLM site. We have started a database of the Land Entry Case Files for those properties that we or our consultants have obtained. There are copies of some misc. correspondence addressing various questions and issues that have been raised and addressed over the years. MISC. HISTORICAL / RECORD INFORMATION The network library has also become a digital catch-all for various historical and other data relating to right-of-way. Maps, letters, memorandums, publications covering anything from the 17 (Territorial) Act, 17(b) trails, AK Trails database, Chugach National Forest material, Fort Richardson, Elmendorf AFB, Claus-M. Naske reports, Some of the categorized materials include: SCANNED ROW MAPPING This is the digital collection of the drawn, and/or mapped, right-of-ways in Southcentral AK. Most, but not all of these documents, can be found on the website. These documents include projects on Kodiak Island and in the Bristol Bay/Aleutian Islands, which are now the responsibility of Southcoast Region. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 62

63 SCANNED AIRPORTS Unfortunately, the research material for airports is somewhat scattered. There is material located in several different folders, but a good starting point is the SCANNED AIRPORTS folder. Some of the recorded documents and scanned department drawings for the many airports located within the Central District can be found here. RESEARCH We have a Research folder. This contains the research and reports for right-ofway determination requests over the past decade or so. This data can be used as a starting point for research, but again, we cannot stress enough, that we all must distrust & verify, after we read the document, subsequent to show me the document. OTHER DOT SOURCES In the Highway Design library (LIB) drive, the Archive folder contains scanned images of road projects here in Central Region. The as-advertised folder contains projects from The as-built folder contains projects from the mid 1950 s. As mention previously, especially with the older projects, these record drawings are the source for locating ROW markers which were set for the project. In addition, one can also review the ROW which was accepted for the construction. The documents in both of these folders consist of ACAD drawings, and/or pdf s. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 63

64 CONCLUSION Hopefully, this little presentation was helpful. We may have reminded you of resources that have been forgotten, and possibly informed you of others that are new to you. But the main thought we want you all to take away from this is that, we here at Central Region ROW are more than willing to help you with your research along public right-ofways. Remember, your conclusion is one that you are willing and able to defend. We can help you get to a decision, but we cannot make the decision for you. With the current trajectory of the State budget, the days of calling us and asking what is your ROW across this property are over. The material is available for you to come to your own determination. With this resource added to your data banks, you should be able to: 1. SHOW ME THE DOCUMENT / READ THE DOCUMENT 2. Be able to DISTRUST & VERIFY 3. Recognize that A ROW MAP DOES NOT A TAKE MAKE 4. Be able to determine that THE EXISTING ROAD CENTERLINE IS NOT NECESSARILLY THE ROW CENTERLINE. Thanks for your time. ROW RESEARCH.docx Page 64