Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area
GLO Record of the Week for June 13, 2021
The Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area in Lorton, Virginia, is one of the public recreation areas which is managed by the Bureau of Land Management Eastern States Office. Acquired by the Bureau of Land Management on October 18, 2001, this BLM property offers trails for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking to the public year-round.
Prior to BLM ownership, the area which makes up Meadowood Farm was owned by several individuals. In 1987, the various parcels were combined under the Meadowood Farm Partnership, LLC. The BLM began its acquisition of Meadowood Farm in 1997, and on October 18, 2001, finally obtained ownership of the property.
After the BLM acquired Meadowood Farm, the cadastral team began their search for the existing markings and monumentation made by previous surveyors. The goal was to evaluate the authenticity and reliability of existing boundaries based on their relationship to the survey records and deeds of the area. Since there were existing boundaries of all of the parcels which made up Meadowood, this was technically a dependent resurvey.
A sign indicating a survey marker was set nearby prior to BLM ownership.
Original survey monument set by Fairfax County
Beginning on April 5, 2003, Cadastral Surveyor Leon W. Chmura initiated the survey of the western portion of the Meadowood property.
In our continuing effort to track down BLM's cadastral surveys in the East, the GLO team set out to locate some of the original monuments set by Chmura and his staff.
As with all surveys, the BLM keeps the full set of survey notes. These notes are where the surveyors explain their process and create directions on how to track down the monuments which they set. Using these notes, with some help from Chmura, the original surveyor, we traveled to the western side of Meadowood SRMA.
Bearing tree
The notes led us to a bearing tree, marked with a nail at its base. Bearing trees are used in surveys to help identify the original location of a monument. Surveyors take note of their bearings, size, and species and mark them with a special cut or nail. From here, the direction to the official monument is listed. Using this information, we were able to locate a monument on the shoulder of Belmont Boulevard.
As is sometimes the case, this particular monument had seen better days.
Determined to locate a complete monument, the team continued to another location. The team arrived at a BLM access road along the boundary of the Meadowood SRMA.
Using the same techniques as before, Chmura followed the original notes to locate a survey monument just off of the survey road. Happily, this monument was still in great shape.
The team had successfully located a Point On Line or "POL." Not ready to give up just yet, the team followed the boundary line to the next POL, shown here at 226.2 feet from where the first one was located.
As with the previous monument, this monument is marked with the official seal of the BLM Cadastral Survey. In the center, the surveyors who set the monument mark the boundary direction and angle, in this case, a straight line. Two abbreviations are also set in the middle, "MDWD" which stands for "Meadowood" and "POL" which designated this as a "Point on Line."
The GLO team looks forward to bringing you the history of another cadastral survey soon.
