A law that set up a plan for surveying western lands this method is still used today?

The law you're referring to is the Land Ordinance of 1785, which established a systematic process for surveying and dividing land in the western territories of the United States. This ordinance introduced a grid system that divided land into townships and sections, a method that is still used in modern land surveying and property descriptions today. The organized approach helped facilitate settlement and development in the west, creating a blueprint for land management that continues to influence land use policies.