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allow for non-boundary surveyors. Considerable discussion NCEES President. He reviewed current and upcoming efforts including
ensued with the committee charged with creating three or four the PLSS exam which has been adopted and is expected to be available
specific questions to be posed to NCEES President Andy starting in October 2027, and the Geospatial exam which is currently
Zoutewelle before his presentation to the full Board of Directors under review by a task force. NCEES has 55 jurisdictions represented
on Friday the 21st. on their Board of Directors with each member being selected by their

• By-Laws & Policy Review: With newly approved By-laws, we member licensing board. A minimum of ten members must request
worked to update our policies and procedures to align with our consideration of a test for it to be considered. A task force is then
By-laws. appointed to review the merits of the request and make
recommendations. After the task force has completed their work, the
• Government Affairs: This meeting focuses on the experiences
of the Directors during the previous Day on the Hill. As mentioned proposal will be sent to the four NCEES zones for review and
above, we all felt our voices were heard and this may have been consideration. The process to approve a new exam appears to be
in part due to the fact that the legislators were not in session so thorough and lengthy. Once implemented, the test becomes a resource
the staff had more time to listen and concentrate on the issues we for each jurisdiction, but it is not mandatory, and each State licensing
brought before them. I highly encourage every member to visit Board may decide the applicability for their State.
the NSPS website and read the Government Affairs Report found The Workforce Development committee continues to be one
under the Advocacy tab. Of special note this year is the Alpha-gal of the most active committees. They are working with CareerViewXR
Allergen Inclusion Act found on page 4 of the report. This is a to create virtual reality educational videos and we had a presentation
relatively new tick-borne allergy that is potentially life threatening by Matthew Chaussee to explain the opportunities that will be available
and we should be aware of. to each state . I was not able to view the demos myself, but there were
a few VR headsets circulating that contained one minute, three minute
• PAC: As with our State lobbying efforts, funding is an important
component of having a voice in legislative efforts. Please consider and seven minute videos enjoyed by many attendees. If you have not
donating to the PAC by selecting Jefferson Club on the PAC tab. already visited the beasurveyor.com website, I encourage you to do so
There are specific dollar amounts tied to the Jefferson Club, but as it contains a wealth of information. The Outreach 101 guide and
any dollar amount is gratefully accepted. CrEW guide I mentioned at our annual meeting in January are now
available on the website. I also touched on the initiatives of the Young
• Fellows Meeting: We ended the day with the Fellows meeting, a Surveyors Network Mentorship program at our annual meeting; they
gathering of those individuals nominated for inclusion based on currently have applications from 22 mentees with only 8 mentors to
years and nature of participation in NSPS. Our guest speaker this support the program. Reach out if you think you can assist! The
year was Earnest McCarty, a professional land surveyor and Military committee has also been very active, working with lobbyist JB
Geospatial Program Manager at US Army Corps of Engineers. Byrd on the TPS legislation and attending “hiring our heroes” events.
March 20th was NGS day. We were fortunate to have Racheal Many committee reports are found on the NSPS website, and several
Demsey, NOAA Deputy Assistant Administrator as a guest speaker who committees are looking for members outside the State Director level.
recognized surveying as a foundational science. She was joined by Any NSPS member may participate at the committee level, and the
speakers Galen Scott, NGS Constituent Manager and Dru Smith, NSRS Scouting committee is seeking active members to attend monthly
Modernization Manager who provided a PowerPoint update on the meetings as they prepare for the 2026 Scouting jamboree to be held
National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). It was noted that the rollout July 22nd through 31st in West Virginia. The Certified Floodplain
is delayed due to financial and staff reductions within NOAA, with no Survey Board has a training program in place and is seeking State
set date for implementation available. The NSPS website has a direct involvement for support of the program and trainers within each
link to NGS online learning resources under the Resources tab. The State. I hope New York will host the training and testing in the near
morning presentation was followed by the Student Competition future. The NSPS Foundation is always seeking new members to help
Awards luncheon, one of the highlights of our week. We were so support their mission and it is easy to join by making your donation
proud to see two teams participating this year from Alfred State online under the Foundation tab. Over seventy applicants applied for
College, one in the AS division and one in the BS division and were scholarships and Disaster Relief over the past year, so the need is
elated to have our AS team awarded third place in the competition. great.
The afternoon was filled with the workforce development committee I have just touched on some of the highlights of our very busy week
meeting and the general membership meeting, followed by the and I am sure there were many I will wish I included once I read this
installation of officers’ dinner. again but it is time to conclude. Remember – there are many ways to

March 21st Our Board of Directors report session and meeting give back to your profession. Get involved with scouting, join the PAC
filled the day on Friday. It was a new perspective for me sitting at the or Foundation, become a CFS trainer or Mentor. The rewards are
dais as opposed to being in the audience. The meeting began with a many for investing your time and knowledge.
very interesting and information presentation by Andy Zoutewelle,

EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 61 • NO 3 / 2025 • MAY/JUNE 21