Joint Survey Summit 2011

Esri and ACSM are combining their conference in 2011

Esri and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping will sponsor

a joint conference in San Diego, California, beginning in 2011. The event

will combine Esri’s Surveying and Engineering GIS Summit and ACSM’s

annual conference. The goal is to create positive synergies between the

GIS and surveying professions by exposing GIS professionals to surveying and surveying and geomatics professionals to emerging geospatial technologies.

“This event will allow us to demonstrate to the world that the surveying,

engineering, and GIS professions do intersect with each other and can

work together effectively,” said Curt Sumner, ACSM executive director, at a press conference in San Diego on July 12. “We think it’s going to be good for the geospatial community at large.”

The Esri – ACSM 2011 Survey Summit will comprise technical sessions,

moderated presentations, and workshops, as well as an industry expo and opportunities for family enjoyment. A combined attendance of 1,200 is anticipated, according to Brent Jones, Global Marketing Manager Survey/Cadastre/Engineering at Esri. The event web site is expected to open soon and will be at www.thesurveysummit.com. A call for papers will be issued in August. Watch this space! and www.acsm.net — by Ilse Genovese, ACSM Communications Director; ilse.genovese@acsm.net

s h o r t t a k e s

A base map for Alaska

A ground breaking ceremony to commemorate the beginning of a

statewide collection of elevation data in support of a statewide base

map was held on July 22 in Anchorage, Alaska. This base map is critical

if Alaska is to be able to migrate to new GIS applications. Many of

the geospatial applications requiring a base map are not functional in

Alaska. Additionally, geospatial information—where it exists—exists in

silos, is inconsistent, and spreads across many levels of government and

private enterprise. As a result, vast economic benefits, disaster recovery

initiatives, and advancements in public safety go largely unrealized.

The proposed base map will facilitate a coordinated GIS program and a

progressive plan of economic development in Alaska, benefitting both the

public and private sector. — Karen Felts, DOT; karen.felts@alaska.gov

Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society (SaGES) formed

Supporters of the North American Surveying and Mapping Educators

Conference organize formally as the Surveying and Geomatics Educators

Society

Dr. Charles Ghilani, Professor of Engineering at Pennsylvania State

University-Wilkes-Barre, and newly elected President of SaGES, announced the formation of the society recently. SaGES will hold biennial conferences on surveying and geomatics education topics and conduct business which promotes effective teaching and learning of surveying, mapping, geomatics, and other spatially related education. The XXIII conference on surveying and geomatics education is scheduled to be held June 8 – 11, 2011, at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez.

The North American Surveying and Mapping Educators (NASME)

conferences have been held since the 1930s. SaGES developed from

business meetings held at the conclusion of the last two NASME

conferences in Big Rapids, Michigan (2007), and Johnson City, Tennessee

(2009), where the consensus was reached to create a formal organization to sustain interest and activities on issues related to geomatics education. SaGES officers and board members took office on January 1, 2010. Tom Seybert, Bill Hazelton, Jim Crossfield, and Bob Burtch, all distinguished surveying, mapping, and geomatics educators, were elected as members of the SaGES Board. The officers, in addition to Ghilani, are: Steve Johnson, president-elect; Joe Paiva, secretary; and Rich Vannozzi, treasurer. Speaking on behalf of the Board, Ghilani invited “all who are engaged in full- or part-time teaching of geomatics subjects as well as those with a strong interest in geomatics education” to join SaGES. For more information about the society, including its bylaws, visit the temporary website at http://surveying.wb.psu.edu/sages.

— by Joseph V.R. Paiva, jvrpaiva@swbell.net; 816.960.6693

y o u r e p o r t

News from MSPS

Missouri enacts House Bill 1682

The bill, which pertains to Cadastral Mapping and Geographic Information

Systems, was signed into law by the Governor of Missouri on July 13th.

This new law has been established to create accurate parcel mapping

and so protect the general public in assessment determinations on their

properties. Implied by the law is a direct relationship between GIS and

surveying professionals working together for a common cause as mappers.

Mo McCullough, MSPS lobbyist, and Joe Clayton of MSPS attended the

signing ceremony. Thanks to John Teale, Joe Clayton, and the MSPS

Vision 21 (now 22) Committee for all the hard work they had put in to see this effort through. Truly an outstanding accomplishment and a laudable achievement in the name of public protection! Access

http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills101/biltxt/truly/HB1692T.HTM to read the full text of the bill. — William S. Kankolenski, PLS, Missouri NSPS

Governor; BKankolenski@cmarcher.com

MSPS at the Missouri State Fair

This year’s Missouri State Fair (Aug. 12-23) and MSPS’ contribution to it

will be unique. A GPS base will be established by the Governor at the fair

to mark the point of beginning of a coordinated statewide measurement

session organized by Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Land

Survey Program, and State Land Surveyor Darrell Pratte. The project will

support Missouri’s Height Modernization Program [http://www.dnr.mo.gov/

geology/landsurvey/HeightModernizationSurvey.htm]. Land surveyors are volunteering to occupy their favorite benchmarks so that they can be included in the measurement adjustments. Stream gauges and other survey markers will be updated as Missouri moves forward in providing an accurate and uniform measurement system for multiple users within the State. — William S. Kankolenski, PLS, Missouri NSPS Governor; BKankolenski@cmarcher.com

News from IPLSA

Regulation for Writing Parcel Legal Descriptions

The IPLSA worked with the Illinois Department of Financial and

Professional Regulation to implement Minimum Standards for Writing

Parcel Legal Descriptions in the Administrative Rules of the Illinois

Professional Land Surveyors Act. The standards went into effect April 27,

2010. They read as follows:

g) Minimum Standards for Writing Parcel Legal Descriptions. A description

defining land boundaries written for conveyance or describing the extent

of a survey or for other purposes shall be complete, providing definite

and unequivocal identification of the property lines or boundaries of a

unique parcel. The description shall be sufficient to be platted, located

on the ground and, when appropriate, mathematically closed. The

description shall commence at or relate to a physically monumented

corner or boundary control line of record.

1. If the land is located in a recorded subdivision, the description shall

contain the number or other description of the lot, block or other

part of the subdivision, or shall describe the parcel by reference to a

known corner of the lot, block or other recorded reference.

2. If the parcel is not located within a recorded subdivision, the

description shall state the section, township, range, principal

meridian and county, and shall describe the parcel by reference to

quarter section, quarter-quarter section, government lot, or metes

and bounds, beginning/commencing at a monumented corner and

referencing an established and monumented line in the United States

Public Land Survey System.

3. In any case, when a new description is created or a previous

description is rewritten, enough of the original description should be

         maintained so as to form a trail or chain to follow the history of the

         parcel.

For more specific information, contact Robert E. Church, Associate

Executive Director, Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association; bob@iplsa.org

News from OSLS

Amended Minimum Standards for Corner References

Oklahoma State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and

Surveyors amended the Minimum Standards with two notable additions:

“A survey plat, sketch or map must be created whenever a land or boundary survey is done. Every survey plat, sketch or map must contain the legal description of the land being surveyed, either on the face of the survey plat or attached to and referenced to the survey plat.”

“Monuments for the exterior corners of a subdivision shall be set by the surveyor who certified the plat of the subdivision prior to the recordation of the subdivision plat. It is the responsibility of the surveyor to set the interior corners on all lot and block corners prior to the conveyance of the lot, block or any part thereof [or] within thirty

days of completion of the infrastructure improvements, but no later than one year after recordation of the subdivision plat.”

The amended Standards went into effect on May 17. The state repository for mandatory section corner references, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, has since implemented a filing fee of $5.00 per corner record. — Burk Cornelius, PLS, Executive Director, Oklahoma Society of Land Surveyors; www.osls.org; burk@osls.org.

News from LSAW

Measuring Mt. Rainier

About two dozen members of the Land Surveyors Association of

Washington and one USGS employee will be measuring the height of Mt.

Rainier during the fourth week of July. The height published by USGS

is 14,410 feet. Two previous measurements by the LSAW were within

about 0.04 feet of each other, at 14,411.1 feet. The measurements and

observations by three teams will be provided to the scientific community

and the USGS.

A three-person team will climb the West Face of Mr. Rainier and a

nine-person team will scale its East Face. The plan is for the teams to

meet at the summit on Saturday July 24. A 12-person group will be

providing support at the base camp while also making measurements and observations. The teams have been training for this mountaineering and measurement event since January of this year. On their way to the summit, the team on the West Face will have to accomplish a veritable climbing feat to measure St. Andrews Rock and Sunset Amphitheater. It will be the first time that gravity measurements would have been made on this part of Mount Rainier. The only other gravity measurements in that area were made in the late 1970s, by helicopter. The team on the East Face will ascend from Camp Muir through Cathedral Rocks, camping on the Ingraham Glacier, and then go up Disappointment Cleaver to the summit. The same route was used in the two prior expeditions.

The forthcoming climb will be the third LSAW has made to measure

Mt. Rainier. The first two were in 1988 and 1999. The 1988 expedition

comprised as many as 150 surveyors and volunteers, and the equipment

of the day were 80-pound receivers. The 1999 expedition had it much

“easier”; the receivers only weighed 10 pounds each and the team

numbered 40. The 2010 expedition will use receivers weighing about

2 pounds each—considerably less than did the antennas used in the

previous expedition.

Another striking difference between the 2010 and the 1999 expeditions

is that the teams will record the climb on video. The recording equipment

is battery powered and will be recharged with folding solar panel

chargers. The video will be streamed live through one of the Seattle TV

stations.— Mick Sprouffske, PLS, president, Land Surveyors Association of

Washington; info@lsaw.org.

News from SCSPLS

Terry M. Watson: SCSPLS 2010 Surveyor of the Year

The South Carolina Society of Professional Land Surveyors recently honored Terry M. Watson, of Conway, SC, by selecting him South Carolina “Surveyor of the Year” for 2010. Mr. Watson was presented with the award at the Society’s 2010 Annual Convention at the Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms Beach, SC. The award honors his outstanding contributions to the profession of land surveying in the State of South Carolina—as an active member of SCSPLS since 1979, a founding member of the Grand Strand Chapter of SCSPL, and the first SCSPLS Chairman of the State Parks Committee, among other professional service accomplishments. Myrtle Beach State Park became the first completed survey (by members of Grand Strand Chapter) donated to the State by SCSPLS. Watson continues to serve on several community boards and isactive in Career Day presentations at local schools. He and his wife, Judy, reside in Conway, South Carolina.

DALE C. SWYGERT becomes SCPLS president

Elected at the SCPLS Annual Conference in Isle of Palms Beach, SC, Dale C. Swygert will serve as president for the duration of FY July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011. Dale has been employed by Survey & Mapping Services, Inc., since 1984, the same year he received his license. He has served the SCSPLS as secretary, vice president, treasurer, vice president, and on various committees. He is also a past president and Surveyor of the Year of the Midlands Chapter. Dale continues to be actively involved in his community. He and his wife reside in Gilbert, SC.

— Both contributions by Brenda Smith, SCSPLS; brenda@scspls.com

News from SAMSOG

An Augusta area utility contractor had their GPS base station and machine control equipment stolen in early July. If you can help in any way, please contact Dave Minickiello (706-860-5981 voice; 706-860-9639 fax). Equipment: Topcon GR-3 GPS receiver unit and several Topcon machine control receivers. Serial Number: 40747 (442-144).

Company: Garnto & Gearig Brothers Construction, 621 Ponder Place,

Suite No. 3, Evans, Georgia 30809. — Ginger Walker, SAMSOG Executive

Director; ginger_samsog@bellsouth.net

C o r r i g e n d u m

It was not in 2010 that a North Dakota Governor signed a Survey Week

proclamation for the first time. In fact, this happened on March 9, 1984,

under Rod Westrum’s presidency. North Dakota Governor Alan Olson

signed the Survey Week declaration, and Rod Westrum, Greg Johnson,

John Wicklund, Rolly Ackerman, and Ed Ficek were present at the signing

ceremony. — Curtis Glasoe, PE & RLS, Grasslands Engineer; clasoe@

fs.fed.us.

M e e t i n g s

The annual MSPS meeting will be held October 7-9 at Lake of the Ozarks

and will have sessions on Instrumentation and Measurements to Minimum Standards, Mandatory Recording, Boundary Resolution, and Business Practices.