This month we offer a helpful LSD chart you can print and
clip to your windshield visor. A handy reference for even
the most experienced road warrior.
Any parcel
of land in Alberta can be located by its legal land description.
Legal land descriptions are based on the Alberta Township
Survey (ATS) system. The ATS is a grid network dividing the
province into equal-sized parcels of land. Land is designated
as being west of the 4th, 5th, or 6th Meridians (110°,
114°, 118° west longitude, respectively).
Between
meridians are six-mile-wide columns called "ranges."
Ranges are numbered consecutively from east to west starting
at Range 1 west of each meridian. "Townships" are
six-mile-wide rows that intersect ranges and are numbered
consecutively from Township 1 at the Montana border to Township
126 at the Northwest Territories border.
The
word "township" also describes the six mile by six
mile square formed when the range and township lines intersect.
These townships are further divided into 36 sections, each
measuring one mile by one mile (1.6 km). A section, being
one square mile (2.56 km2), contains 640 acres
(259 hectares) by definition. A section can be further divided
into quarters of 160 acres (64.75 hectares) each.
Legal land descriptions are written as follows:
1 - 87 - 18 - W4
Section - Township - Range - West of the 4th
Meridian
