Land surveys guide estate planning, set boundaries

...“I would say 99 percent of what we do is for a positive purpose,” Fagan says. “People around here get along pretty well.” He says most folks do not think of hiring a licensed surveyor when buying property, adding the lack of an updated survey could create a problem down the line... Click here to read full story

From Property Line Disputes to Natural Disasters: The Role of the Land Surveyor

Within a homeowners association, a key connection to build up from the start is that with a licensed land surveyor. From the initial construction process to future additions, land surveyors provide critical information with regard to regulations surrounding property boundaries. Click here to read full story...

Judge to rule on Nexus pipeline company's suit for access to land for surveys

Thursday the residents told Judge Collier they resented the "heavy-handed tactics" used by the company to convince them to allow surveyors on their land. One woman was so traumatized by the experience she broke down and cried as she testified. Greg Huber, lawyer for the landowners, said the residents each received letters demanding they allow the surveyors on their land. Click here to read the full story...

BLM’s new GNSS Protocols May set Undesirable Precedent

The United States agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million dollars, or about two cents an acre. In 1959, Alaska, with a land mass larger than Texas, California and Montana combined, became the 49th state in the union. For the professional surveyor, more than 20 million acres of federal government land is scheduled to be measured and divided for conveyance to the state for eventual sale to private individuals. Surveying can be a challenging profession, Click here to read the full story

Mapping the future for GeoPlatform.gov

GeoPlatform.gov, the web portal that provides direct access to the nation’s online geospatial resources, was launched in 2011 by member agencies of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). In the last 18 months, however, GeoPlatform.gov has shifted into high gear as it works to make its assets more usable with high-performance web services and better tools for managing the data.  Click here to read the full story...

FAA Finalizes Small UAS Rule

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has finalized the first operational rules, part 107, for routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones. The new guidelines open pathways towards fully integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. The regulations work to safely harness innovation and spur job growth. “We are part of a new era in aviation, and the potential for unmanned aircraft will make it safer and easier to do certain jobs, gather information, and deploy disaster relief,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We look forward to working with the aviation community to support innovation, while maintaining our standards as the safest and most complex airspace in the world.” According to industry estimates, the rule could generate more than $82 billion for the U.S. economy and create more than 100,000 new jobs over the next 10 years. The new rule, which takes effect in late August, offers...Click here to read full story

USDA Forest Service - Nevada Supervisory Land Surveyor Outreach Announcement

USDA Forest Service - Nevada Supervisory Land Surveyor Outreach Announcement

The Intermountain Region will soon be advertising the Boundary and Title Zone lead for the Nevada Zone, Supervisory Land Surveyor, GS-1373-11/12, position. The position will be located in Sparks, Nevada and is located on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Supervisor’s Office.

Response deadline is July 1st.

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) is Not a Design Professional for Certificate of Merit Purposes

Like many states, Nevada has heightened requirements for actions against design professionals for professional negligence. Commonly known in other jurisdictions as a “certificate of merit”, NRS 11.256 – NRS 11.259 require that a complaint filed against a design professional in the nonresidential construction context be accompanied by an attorney affidavit and an expert report which must include, among other information, a statement from the expert that...Click here to read full story

Invention makes 3D mapping more accurate

A new 3D mapping model integrates multi-platform satellite/aerial imagery and laser scanning data to achieve a higher accuracy in mapping products by 26-66% to centimeter level compared to the conventional mapping technologies. Click here to read the full story...

American Surveyor - Vantage Point: "I Should Have Hired a Surveyor..."

It isn't often that we see a line like that in the news, so it certainly grabbed my attention. More frequently I hear moaning about surveying being a dying profession. Here is just one (expensive) example of why I disagree.  Solebury Township in southeastern Pennsylvania still boasts a number of old hardwood trees, and the miscreant in this instance was a property owner who simply wanted a better view from the deck of the country home he had just bought but not yet moved into. He hired an arborist to clear some trees that he thought were on his property. 22 trees later, the landowner (a retired lawyer) realized...Click here to read full story...