National Surveyors Week: March 21-27, 2010

GAITHERSBURG, MD - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - This week is National Surveyors week. The third week of March has been set aside by Congress as a time for the recognition of the profession of Land Surveying. We may be familiar with the term surveying if we have bought a house or built a fence. But, how much do we really know about this profession? How long has it been around? What other services can a surveyor provide? Is surveying a potential career choice? This is the week to find out. This is the week to take a few moments and google “Land Surveying” and peruse more than a million Google links. This is the week to know the men and women across the nation who are Professional Land Surveyors.

This profession has been around almost since the beginning of recorded time. The earliest references to surveying can be found in the Bible. Multiple citations refer to boundaries and borders. For example, in Deuteronomy 19:14, “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark..” The Egytian surveyors were known as rope stretchers and their work was always necessary after the floodwaters of the Nile cleared the land of all boundary markers. The Roman aqueducts not only provided water to cities, but they also provided an opportunity to Roman surveyors to enhance their skill and improve their instruments. As long as there has been at least two land owners, their has been a need for a surveyor.

In more recent history, we turn to one of America’s greatest landmarks to appreciate the importance of land surveying. One of our greatest monuments, Mt. Rushmore, bears the likeness of three surveyors: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. These men were not only leaders of our country, they were also visionaries who saw the need for the accurate measurement and mapping of our great nation. Thomas Jefferson our third president and the author of the Declaration of Independence, also established the system by which federal properties west of the original thirteen colonies were to be referenced. That system, now known as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), continues to be the reference network for the vast majority of property surveys in our nation.

The State of Michigan, was the first state to be completely surveyed under the PLSS. The surveys of Michigan began in 1815 and continued through 1857, dividing the state into 6 mile squares known as “townships”, with each township containing 36 one mile squares know as “sections”. The importance of the work of these men is seen in the many maps, plats and documents that they prepared for all future property owners. There are also Michigan monuments that silenty appreciate the profession. In the upper portion of the lower peninsula, for example, we have Burt Lake and Mullet Lake. William Austin Burt, was a surveyor who among other great accomplishments, surveyed in many areas of Michigan, and even discovered the rich resources of iron ore near Negaunee on September 19th, 1844. John Mullett was a surveyor who also surveyed many areas in Michigan, including some of the preliminary surveys of the city of Detroit. These men, and many others, such as Wampler, Fletcher and Risden, set the very monuments that all Michigan surveyors still use today.

To appreciate the impact of the surveyor on the world that you live in, look around your property, your neighborhood or your city. All of the improvements that you can see, such as roads, utilities and buildings, are located precisely where a surveyor directed the construction foreman to build. A surveyor has the education and skill to take the information from a design plan and transfer that information to the ground. So, whether you are building a fence or an interstate, a surveyor will be part of your team of professionals.

Construction surveying is only one of many skills that a surveyor must master. The establishment of boundary lines, mapping land area and collection of spatial data for a variety of improvements are among the many services that a surveyor can offer. With a good knowledge of land law, a surveyor can also assist in property disputes as an expert witness. In all things related to the measurement of land, or the defining of boundaries, we can find the professional surveyor.

With the variety of services that today’s surveyor can provide, education is essential. The State of Michigan requires all professional surveyors to obtain a Bachelors of Science degree in Land Surveying or a related curriculum. Once the degree is earned, the potential surveyor must complete four years of appropriate experience. Only then, can a potential surveyor apply to complete the licensing exam, which is a two and one half day exam. By the time a surveyor is licensed, the surveyor has proven through education, experience and exam, that they are capable of providing the public with a valuable service.

In our history, surveyors led the way for settlers to move west. Today, surveyors help us to define and improve the world in which we live. But, what about the future? Will there always be a need for the services a surveyor can provide? As long as there is land to be measured, and mapped, and boundaries to be defined, there will be a need for surveyors. Even NASA appreciates the importance of this profession. When first venturing to new lands in a new world, NASA sent an unmanned vehicle. The task for this vehicle was to explore the moon to prepare for the future arrival of men. Appropriately, NASA named this vehicle “Surveyor”.

Take a few minutes this week to consider the profession of surveying, and appreciate the role that this profession has played in your life. It is a profession that has been part of society for centuries. It opened the western fontier of a new nation for ownership, it guided the men and women who built our nation, and it showed every land owner the physical extents of their own personal kingdom. Land Surveying is a great profession, and it is always a great day to be a surveyor!

To read the National Surveyors Week Proclaimation written by John D. Matonich, President of the National Society of Professional Surveyors, [CLICK HERE]. Mr. Matonich is also the President & CEO of Rowe Engineering, a consulting engineering firm in lower Michigan. He is a native of Bessemer, Michigan.