Furthers Mission of Educating the Land Surveying Profession
Frederick, Maryland – October 10th, 2024 — On the eve of the release of the 2009 Manual of Surveying Instruction for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States, the Public Land Survey System Foundation (PLSSF) was created through a partnership between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). Then and now, the foundation’s guiding purpose was to support the education of the survey profession in the proper legal procedures associated with retracing PLSS surveys and other Federal boundaries.
Additional goals include:
*The creation of a single point of contact for surveyors in the United States for knowledge and information about the PLSS;
*To fund educational opportunities, scholarships, and other training for the improvement of the survey profession as it relates to PLSS issues;
*To fund projects for research or special efforts related to PLSS issues; and
*To publish additional BLM materials which are of interest to the private and public sector surveying community but for which BLM has no budget to produce.
Via https://plssfoundation.org, the foundation has made available (for a fee) three initial professional development courses, including Accretions, Avulsions and Relictions in the Public Land Survey System. The courses, previously available only to Certified Federal Surveyors (CFedS), are now available to anyone that wishes to further their understanding of water boundaries within the PLSS.
Glen Thurow, Certified Federal Surveyor (CFedS) program liaison, remarked: “It is my belief that professional land surveyors nationwide will find this material interesting. After all, it is an excellent example of the kind of training CFedS receive and enjoy on an ongoing basis”.
About the PLSS Foundation Panel
Made up of nine volunteer surveyors, the PLSSF panel is committed to preserving the United States’ unique cadastral infrastructure through the support and study of the PLSS. To contact the panel or suggest an idea, please visit: https://plssfoundation.org/contact/