Hello members! As I started to write this report, I decided to check out the last time I wrote a report for you. The summer of 2019 was the last Foresights the UCLS produced, and that was also my last report to you, pre-COVID-19. What an absolutely crazy couple of years it has been, my friends. I hope you all have been well and safe during the last few years. I’m excited that the UCLS Foresights is back, and I’m doubly excited we are on the back end of the pandemic.
Ironically, my entire two-year chairmanship with WFPS happened to be during COVID. So, every single meeting – except my first meeting as Chairman in March 2020 in Washington State – was a virtual meeting. As a side note, as I was getting on the plane at SeaTac leaving this first meeting as chairman, the national news in the airport was reporting the first COVID-19 death in the U.S. just happened to be in SEATTLE, where I was!
Over the last few years since my last report in Foresights, WFPS has been hard at work raising the bar for our profession. Here are some of the highlights of what we’ve been working on:
- In the past, WFPS directors met three times a year in one of the member states. Over the last few years and all through my chairmanship, the WFPS Executive Committee (Excom) has been meeting monthly to ensure ongoing activities discussed during the three yearly board meetings are still attended throughout the year between each board meeting. This has proven to be a great extra set of meetings in that work inside WFPS doesn’t get dropped between the three annual board meetings. These Excom meetings are held virtually to keep director costs as low as possible for our member states.
- Most recently, WFPS was very involved in preparing, planning and executing the Western Regional Survey Conference in Las Vegas. This conference was from March 30 to April 2, 2022, and was very well attended. We had over 950 attendees from 31 states across the country. This conference included 22 hours of continuing education spread across four simultaneous tracks. It’s possible I’m being a bit myopic here since I’m also the Chair of the Conference Committee for WFPS, but I would dare say this was one of the best conferences I’ve attended in my 27 years of surveying. Thanks to all the Utah attendees and all four states who helped make this conference such a success, including the UCLS, NALS, CLSA and APLS. Yours truly received the WFPS chairman plaque during the awards ceremony.
- WFPS is excited to announce the release of the FS Exam Study Course, which includes approximately 16 hours of videos and a manual. Topics included are based on the current NCEES Fundaments of Surveying (FS) exam specifications and recommended knowledge. https://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/FS-CBT-specs.pdf. Presenters: Dane Courville, PLS, and Knud Hermansen, PLS, PE, Ph.D. WFPS understands the concern of not having enough surveyors in the profession to handle the current and future workloads. As such, WFPS has researched what prices other FS prep courses are selling their information for, and we set our prep course lower than all of those. Setting this price point so low is to get more young people in our profession to move forward towards licensure. All WFPS member states only pay $199 for the program, and non-member states only pay $299. If you know a young surveyor struggling to pass the FS exam, have them check out the program at wfps.org/publications.html.
- Scholarships and disaster relief fund: Since my last report in 2019, WFPS issued student scholarships to Nathan Mersino and Heather Keenan and awarded funds for disaster relief to an individual after losing her home to the California wildfires. More scholarship and disaster relief information, as well as the application forms, can be found at http://wfps.org/scholarships.html.
In my mind, one of the biggest benefits of WFPS is the collaboration between the 13 states. For example, the UCLS may be struggling with getting a bill passed through the legislature, and maybe CLSA has already worked through its legislative process on the same issue. CLSA can give UCLS guidance, thoughts, ideas, and lessons learned so that the UCLS can hopefully get its bill through the legislature.
Here are some highlights from each state as of our last meeting in Las Vegas prior to the last conference.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 13 WESTERN STATES
ALASKA (ASPLS) Steve Buchanan – ASPLS co-hosted a virtual conference with HLSA. The conference was held at the end of April, featuring Gary Kent, Landon Blake, and Kris Kline as speakers, in addition to several Alaska and Hawaii-specific educational tracks. More information about ASPLS can be found on its website AlaskaPLS.org.
ARIZONA (APLS) Mike Fondren – Current membership is 386. Last year APLS launched a firm membership option in which firms can join a membership tier depending on how many RLSs they have on staff, and all their survey technicians (associate members) are complimentary. This new membership category has helped to get more survey technicians involved in APLS. In 2021, APLS successfully defeated a bill that would prohibit counties from requiring surveys as a condition for approving land divisions. The bill has resurfaced as HB 2554, and APLS is again on record as opposed. More information about APLS can be found on its website AzPLS.org.
CALIFORNIA (CLSA) Ray Mathe & Kevin Hills –
No report submitted.
COLORADO (PLSC) Todd Beers & Steve Parker – Current membership is 408. PLSC continues to actively participate in Quality Based Selection (QBS) meetings. PLSC successfully amended a reciprocity bill to retain the requirement for the state-specific exam. There is a bill that would eliminate the position of County Surveyor from the state constitution, and PLSC is actively opposing the bill. PLSC introduced a bill to require real estate forms to include a line item for improvement location certificate. The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) has voluntarily agreed to amend the forms, and PLSC has withdrawn the bill. GIS in the Rockies was held Sept. 28-29, 2022. PLSC continues to be active in outreach activities such as career days and guidance counselor events. More information about PLSC can be found on its website PLSC.net.
HAWAII (HLSA) Cliff Yim – Current membership is 91. HLSA co-hosted a virtual conference with ASPLS, held April 28-30, 2022. The state of Hawaii has phased out most of the COVID-19 restrictions. House Bill 2332 proposes an exemption on granting of easements on public lands from formal subdivision process. While the bill intends to facilitate the transfer of non-agricultural land from the Department of Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture, HLSA is concerned regarding the vagueness of the language. HLSA is working with the legislature to amend the bill for clarification. More information about HLSA can be found on its website HLSAhawaii.org.
MONTANA (MARLS) Dick Smith & Russ Kluesner – MARLS 2022 Conference was held in February in Missoula, MT. Attendance was great, and people were happy to be back to in-person conferences. MARLS has hired a new website developer to maintain its website. The site is now more user-friendly. MARLS’ board approved funds to hire a lobbyist to assist with tracking bills that may affect the profession. MARLS continues to work on the update of its Standards of Practice manual, and the third edition of the MT Subdivision and Surveying Laws Digest is now available. More information can be found on its website MARLS.com.
NEVADA (NALS) Trent Keenan & Greg Phillips – Current membership is 276. NALS membership continues to increase. NALS participated in the 2022 Western Regional Survey Conference with Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and WestFed. The 2023 Conference will be held March 25-28 at the Silver Legacy in Reno, Nevada. There are currently 90 students enrolled in the Great Basin College (GBC) four-year degree program, and 12 will graduate this year. NALS is working closely with the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) to bring a second four-year degree program to Nevada. NALS continues to publish, print, and mail four issues yearly of the Nevada Traverse. The magazine is also available on the NALS website. The NALS Board of Directors wrote a letter to the NSPS Board of Directors, officially opposing the proposal to remove voting rights from the NSPS membership for the election of NSPS Officers. NALS continues to have strong participation in outreach events. NALS hosted a fall seminar and golf tournament October 21-22 in Mesquite. More information about NALS can be found on its website NvLandSurveyors.org.
NEW MEXICO (NMPS) Allen Grace & Diego Cisneros – Current membership is 225. NMPS held its conference in the fall for the first time on October 21-22 at the Isleta Resort and Casino. NMPS is recruiting new leaders for the Young Surveyors Network. More information about NMPS can be found on its website NMPS.org.
UTAH (UCLS) Mike Nadeau – Current membership is 335. UCLS participated in the 2022 Western Regional Survey Conference with Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and WestFed. The conference was held on March 30-April 2, 2022, at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada. UCLS Fall Forum focused on CST training. UCLS worked with the legislature to introduce a bill that corrected legislation passed last year that confused the boundary line adjustment and boundary line agreement language. UCLS continues to provide outreach through the scouting merit badge program, CST, and Trigstar. A Young Surveyor Network has been established in Utah. More information about UCLS can be found on its website UCLS.org.
WASHINGTON (LSAW) Ben Petersen & Tony Chenier – Current membership is 860. The 2022 Conference was held at the beginning of March in Vancouver, Washington. Although numbers were down from usual attendance, those present were happy to be back to in-person conferences, and the program was well received. A fall seminar was held November 4-5 in the Seattle area, and the 2023 Conference is scheduled for February 15-17 in Spokane, Washington. The LSAW Foundation has established the James Coan Memorial Scholarship, awarded annually. LSAW continues to participate in a lobbying coalition with engineers and architects. Through the coalition, we opposed and defeated a bill that would have required prevailing wages on private hazmat projects. LSAW will reintroduce its monument preservation bill next year. The Evergreen State Surveyor magazine is available on the LSAW website. More information about LSAW can be
found on its website LSAW.org.
WYOMING (PLSW) John Lee – Current membership is 131. PLSW authored legislation to address the 2022 datum that removes the date reference. PLSW is also monitoring HB0002 which proposes adding the same water rights requirements for additions to cities and towns currently required for county subdivisions. Lines and Points magazine is pushed quarterly and is available on the PLSW website. The University of Wyoming continues to offer a minor in land surveying and a land surveying certificate program. Information about PLSW can be found on its website PLSW.org.
WFPS OFFICERS 2022-2023
The following board members ascended or were elected as officers for the 2022-2023 WFPS term. They were installed at the meeting on Oct. 16, 2021, in Chandler, Arizona (this was also WFPS’ first in-person meeting).
- Ben Petersen (Washington) – Chair
- Russ Kluesner (Montana) – Chair-Elect
- Trent Keenan (Nevada) – Secretary/Treasurer
- Mike Nadeau (Utah) – Immediate Past Chair
INTERNATIONAL RIGHT-OF-WAY ASSOCIATION
The WFPS Board of Directors has authorized the Executive Committee to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Right-of-Way Association (IRWA). The MOU will allow the two organizations to collaborate more effectively and disseminate information within our associations.
WESTFED EDITOR’S FORUM
WFPS was pleased to host a virtual Editor’s Forum in April. Editors for each of the WestFed state associations were invited to attend and share information and exchange ideas for building better magazines. The meeting was well received, and all in attendance indicated that it was a great benefit that WestFed can provide to the state associations. The WestFed Editor’s Forum has officially been established. For information, please email the WFPS Executive Office at admin@wfps.org.
What can WFPS do for you?
As I’ve always stated in my past reports, I challenge the UCLS members to bring up surveying issues that can be brought to WFPS on a regional platform. As your director of the WFPS and the immediate past chairman of WFPS, I represent you. So please don’t hesitate to contact me at MikeNadeau.UCLS@gmail.com.
