Flutterby™! : Survey Accuracy

There have been some recent reports about the Four Corners monument being in the wrong place. The National Geodetic Survey recently issued an official statement clarifying the issue. It's interesting to note how legal descriptions interact with technical accuracy:

Indeed, the monument marks the exact spot where the four states meet. A basic tenet of boundary surveying is that once a monument has been established and accepted by the parties involved (in the case of the Four Corners monument, the parties were the four territories and the U.S. Congress), the location of the physical monument is the ultimate authority in delineating a boundary. Issues of legality trump scientific details, and the intended location of the point becomes secondary information. In surveying, monuments rule!