EarthPoint Alternative: A Modern PLSS Converter for Professionals

A landman in Casper, Wyoming needs to verify 40 PLSS locations for an APD package due Friday. He opens a familiar bookmarked tool, gets prompted to launch Google Earth, and spends the next ten minutes troubleshooting a plugin error he has seen before. The coordinates never load. The deadline does not move.

That scenario plays out for professionals who relied on EarthPoint for years and now need something that runs in a modern browser, handles batch input, and returns coordinates they can paste directly into a BLM form or land management system.

What EarthPoint does well

EarthPoint built an 18-year track record as a PLSS grid overlay for Google Earth. For surveyors and landmen who wanted to visualize a section boundary on Google's satellite imagery in the early 2000s, it was genuinely useful. The domain has real authority and a user base that has trusted it for a long time.

The problem is that EarthPoint's core workflow depends on Google Earth desktop — an external application with its own installation requirements, browser plugin history, and version compatibility issues. For professionals in 2026, a tool that requires launching a separate desktop application to look up a legal land description adds friction that a web-based converter does not.

What professionals are looking for now

The PLSS professionals who are moving on from EarthPoint tend to need one or more of the following:

A converter that works in any browser. No plugin. No separate application. Paste a PLSS description, get coordinates back. This is the baseline.

API access for automated workflows. A landman team processing 50 APD locations per week cannot afford to look them up one at a time. They need an endpoint that takes a legal description and returns GeoJSON coordinates they can feed into a land management system. EarthPoint has no API.

Batch conversion from CSV. Upload a column of PLSS descriptions, download a column of GPS coordinates. This is a standard workflow for anyone managing a lease package, pipeline route, or crop insurance filing list. EarthPoint does not offer this.

Mobile access. Field crews, range managers, and title examiners working from a truck or a tablet need the same conversion capability that office staff have at a desk. EarthPoint has no mobile support.

Export formats beyond KML. GeoJSON, CSV, Shapefile — the formats that land systems and GIS platforms actually consume. KML is Google Earth's format; it does not flow naturally into other workflows.

How Township America compares

Township America's PLSS converter runs entirely in the browser. There is no installation. There is no dependency on Google Earth or any other desktop application. Type a description like NENE 12 4N 5E Indian Meridian or SW¼ Section 27, T18N R28W, 6th Principal Meridian and the result comes back in under a second.

For teams processing volume, the batch converter handles CSV input — upload a list of descriptions, download GPS coordinates for all of them at once. A 200-record lease package converts in under a minute.

For developers and land systems that need coordinate data programmatically, the PLSS API accepts a legal description and returns a GeoJSON FeatureCollection with the parcel centroid, boundary polygon, state, county, and principal meridian. The same BLM CadNSDI data behind the web tool backs every API response.

Coverage is all 30 PLSS states and all 37 principal meridians — from the Indian Meridian in Oklahoma to the Wind River Meridian in Wyoming to the Black Hills Meridian in South Dakota.

On accuracy: BLM CadNSDI data

One limitation worth understanding with any PLSS converter is data source. Tools that calculate coordinates from the township-range grid formula return approximations. The math assumes a perfectly regular grid, which the actual PLSS is not — convergence corrections, survey errors, and natural boundaries mean that many sections are irregular, and the actual parcel boundary may be hundreds of meters from the calculated center.

Township America is built on official BLM CadNSDI data — the same dataset that BLM field offices, state land offices, and FSA use to define parcel boundaries. Instead of calculating where a section should be, every conversion returns the centroid of the actual surveyed parcel polygon. For drilling permits, title searches, and FSA filings where the location has to be right the first time, this distinction matters. For more on why the data source determines the accuracy, see why approximate PLSS conversion is not good enough.

State-by-state coverage

Township America's converter covers every state in the PLSS system:

The major oil and gas states — Oklahoma, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Kansas — are fully covered with all associated principal meridians. The same applies to the agricultural states where FSA and crop insurance filings depend on accurate quarter section identification: Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota.

For state-specific converters, see the state pages — each one lists the relevant principal meridians and common use cases for that state.

Pricing context

EarthPoint's full-access subscription runs $50 per year. Township America's Starter plan starts at $10 per month, which includes the batch converter, standard API access, and export in CSV, KML, and GeoJSON. For teams and organizations, the Pro and Business plans add team management, higher batch limits, and priority support.

The use case comparison matters more than the price number. If you need Google Earth overlays for visual browsing, EarthPoint still does that. If you need coordinates you can use in a land system, an API integration, or a batch workflow, a different tool is the right choice.

Making the switch

If you are moving from EarthPoint to a web-based converter, the PLSS format is the same — Township America accepts the same legal description notation you are already entering. The PLSS converter accepts standard formats:

• T4N R5E Sec 12 NE¼, 6th Principal Meridian
• NENE 12 4N 5E Indian Meridian
• Section 14, T32N R21W, Principal Meridian, Montana

For bulk data, the batch converter how-to guide walks through the CSV format and column requirements.

For developers integrating PLSS lookups into a land system or internal tool, the API documentation covers authentication, request format, and response schema.