Which system of legal description involves terms like baselines and meridians?

The system of legal description that involves terms like baselines and meridians is the government survey system. This method, also known as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), was established by the federal government to create a uniform framework for land description.

In this system, land is divided into townships and ranges based on a grid framework centered around principal baselines and meridians. The baseline runs east-west and the meridian runs north-south, serving as reference points for the survey of land. Each township is typically six miles square and is further divided into sections, making it easier to identify and describe parcels of land in a systematic manner suitable for recording and legal purposes.

This method is particularly prevalent in western states, where the government survey system was implemented to manage the distribution of land. The use of baselines and meridians is a distinctive feature that sets this system apart from other forms of land description, such as metes and bounds, which rely on physical features and measurements to describe property lines, or lot and block, which refers to subdivided portions of land laid out in a specific developmental plan.