Eric D. Colburn, PLS

ACSM

ACSM Lobby Day Webinar Rebroadcast

Join the American Congress on Surveying & Mapping (ACSM) for a Webinar on August 3, 2010. This Lobby Day Webinar, originally broadcast on June 22, discusses useful tips for ACSM members in securing and attending meetings with your Members of Congress.

You may or may not be aware that ACSM is not having a Lobby Day on Capitol Hill this year, and instead is asking ACSM members to visit their Representatives and Senators during summer recess, from August 9 to September 9. In addition to the tips found in this Webinar, you will also find the following three issues that ACSM would like you to specifically discuss with your Representatives and Senators during the recess:

1. Preservation of Railroad Monumentation.
2. Repeal of the 3% Withholding Tax on Government Contracts.
3. Federal Funding for Trig-Star.

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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s Professional Land Surveyor Survey, I’m asking the question:

Should NSPS Separate from ACSM?

Recently, the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) announced that it is seeking to separate from the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM). In a joint NSPS letter by Wayne Harrison, NSPS President, John Matonich, NSPS Immediate Past President, and Curt Sumner, NSPS Executive Director, entitled “The Evolution of a National Voice, The Future of the National Society of Professional Surveyors“, the three layout the timeline set in place (2 years) and the reasons for this potential departure. You can read their letter here »» The Evolution of a National Voice, The Future of the National Society of Professional Surveyors.

On the flip side of this brewing controversy, if you visit the ACSM website you will find under Developing News, the following:

“NSPS to re-define its relationship to ACSM“

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New England Section ACSM - To promote geomatics education and to advocate for the advancement of surveying and mapping in New England.

GNSS Positioning Short Course Sponsored by New England Section ACSM and CALS

The New England Section ACSM and CALS are proud to present a GNSS Positioning Short Course offered on five consecutive Saturdays this summer starting on July 10, 2010 and ending on August 7, 2010. Each Saturday class begins at 8 am and ends at noon, and will be held at the University of Connecticut located in Storrs, Connecticut.

Summary:

This course will present the foundation information needed for a GNSS positioning professional to understand how their equipment works, with guidance to its proper usage. It is not a course on GNSS processing software or GNSS orthometric heighting.

Preparation:

Attendees are expected to be familiar with the operation of GNSS positioning equipment and to be proficient in surveying and mapping. Although the course will start with the basics of GNSS technologies, some prior knowledge of GNSS technology is assumed because of the speed of the presentation.

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It has come to my attention that the University of Maine is proposing budget cuts in its Survey Engineering Technology (SVT) program, and I’d like your help in getting the University to change its mind. If these proposed budget cuts are implemented in this survey program it could have a huge negative impact on our profession and in our land surveying businesses, too. The following information sent to me explains in detail what the issue is, how to voice your opinion on this matter, and how to let the University of Maine know how important it is to you that this program remain fully funded.

Please read through this information so that you understand how dire and unacceptable a situation this is. Then, I ask you to take immediate action by using the contact information below to contact the University of Maine with your opinion on this plan! As a professional land surveyor and as president of the New England Section ACSM, I will be contacting the University of Maine to let them know:

• How important this program is to me, as a professional land surveyor and a land surveying business owner,
• How important this program is to the students who are the future of our industry, and
• How this budget cut will impact our profession and industry locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

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The Professional Land Surveyor Podcast (PLSP)

Shownotes – Episode 1
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PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

Are You A Certified Survey Technician (CST) Or Interested In The CST Program?

Last week I was at a meeting for the New England Section of ACSM where the topic of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) Certified Survey Technician (CST) program was discussed.  What we discussed was how useful a program this certification can be to the individual and to the employer, amongst other things.

I am familiar with the CST program but I didn’t know anyone who was either certified nor working on becoming a CST. It turns out that one person at this meeting was certified and in fact was his state’s coordinator for the CST program, and he was able to explain how the CST program works and what is involved with becoming certified. If you are not familiar with the CST program, there is a link at the end of this article to the NSPS website with all the information you need to learn about the CST program.

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Ten Geospatial Organizations Endorse IFTN

Professional Land Surveyor Source: National States Geographic Information Council

The leadership of ten geospatial organizations has jointly agreed to support a simple resolution in support of a national digital imagery program:

Be it resolved that the undersigned geospatial organizations support the funding and establishment of an operational program consistent with Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) within the US government with the responsibility for acquisition of high resolution digital imagery over the United States.

The leadership of these organizations met in a conference call on July 22 to discuss the resolution and voted via e-mail over the following day in order to have a position in place for the July 23 Congressional oversight hearing on Federal Geospatial Data Management.

The following organizations agreed to support the resolution:

• American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)
• American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
• Association of American Geographers (AAG)
• Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CAGIS)
• Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA)
• GIS Certification Institute (GISCI)
• International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO)
• National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC)
• University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS)
• Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)

Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) is a NSGIC initiative to support the development of a sustainable and flexible digital imagery program that meets the needs of local, state, regional, tribal and federal agencies.

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Professional Land Surveyor Source:

American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)

Summer Storm Clouds

Summertime and the Living is Easy?

Nice summer weather is finally here in New England, although it’s still been on the cool side and we’ve been hard-pressed to go more than a day without some rain. After more than three months of nearly non-stop rain, it’s amazing what a few consecutive sunny days will do for your attitude. Now if we could get everyone to have a sunnier attitude about the economy maybe we could put this recession behind us.

Speaking of the economy, my impression is that things took a turn for the worse in June. My sense is that with layoffs mounting and becoming more widespread, people really pulled back on their personal spending. Who could blame them?

I do see, however, the light at the end of the tunnel. There are more and more signs of an impending recover, if where not already in one now. Actually, I believe that we are in a recovery, albeit at the beginning and rock bottom of one, and because the beginning of an economic recovery is still a very problematic and painful place to be it can be hard to distinguish from the recession itself.

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Certified Federal Surveyor Program (CFedS)

Congratulations to the new class of CFedS Graduates!

What is a CFedS?

The Certified Federal Surveyor (CFedS) program will:

• Increase the pool of qualified surveyors to complete the backlog of surveys in Indian Country.
• Ensure surveys on Indian lands comply with regulations and policies decreasing the chance and expense of rework.
• Offer Tribal surveyors the ability to better serve their Tribe with enhanced skills and knowledge.
• Provide opportunities to increase self-determination.
• This site provides an internet home for CFedS surveyors and groups that are requiring the services provided by the CFedS .

This site provides an Internet home for CFedS surveyors and groups that are requiring the services provided by the CFedS. The Certified Federal Surveyor site provides registration and training for licensed land surveyors to register for the CFedS program, monitor their progress through the course work and educational material, and to maintain their CFedS Profile for program users to access their services.

For groups that are using the services of the CFedS Surveyor this site provides tools to locate available CFedS services in their area and to contact potential service providers. Financial and contract arrangements for services will be handled directly by the groups procuring services and the CFedS Surveyor.

This site also provides a mechanism for continuous feedback on the performance of the functions in this site and the ability to contact CFedS Program Managers.

Congratulations to the new class of CFedS Graduates. Read the rest of this entry →

The New England Section ACSM

Connecticut Association of Land Surveyors

Course Summary

This one-day computer lab workshop co-sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Land Surveyors (CALS) & the New England Section of ACSM (NES-ACSM) is designed to empower surveyors to post process their own single point or pair of points solutions for local survey projects that require NAD83 coordinates, using free and demonstration software.

Those who have taken the course should be able to post process raw static GPS observations provided by themselves or others. Surveyors who formerly contracted out GPS and paid for the post processing might be able to comfortably contract out only for GPS data collection. Survey technicians will gain marketable skills for applying in their survey firm. Read the rest of this entry →