I was thinking about tackling this program over the winter but thought I should try to get some feedback on it first.?ÿ For those that have it do you get much use out of it??ÿ And was it something you pursued on your own or did your workplace encourage it?
It looks like the course costs $1200 which is quite a bit more than I expected it would be.?ÿ I would be paying for it out of my own pocket and it wouldn't be to win any particular project right this second.
I had a former co-worker go through the program and he found it informative and difficult and rewarding from a survey perspective.?ÿ He said if he would not do it again, knowing what he knows now.?ÿ In addition, we never obtained any work as a result of being a C-Fed.?ÿ Somehow the Indian reservations in our area shy away from the gov't telling them how to survey on their property.
In Alaska, a jurisdiction with a PLSS based cadastre, I found it to be well worth the time and money. I suspect that this would be true in any PLSS jurisdiction.
You'll be a more knowledgeable and confident surveyor regardless of whether or not it brings in work. It'll change the way you work on lands that are rooted in the PLSS.
You'll be a more knowledgeable and confident surveyor regardless of whether or not it brings in work. It'll change the way you work on lands that are rooted in the PLSS.
Trying to remember when I took it, either 2008 or 2009, when I was still tossing around the idea of moving west.?ÿ
Somehow I got roped into giving the keynote address at the CFedS Banquet at the ACSM Conference in 2010 (the year NSPS voted to withdraw from ACSM) and I believe I referred to it as "PLSS Grad School".?ÿ I still think that's a pretty fair description.?ÿ?ÿ
My employer paid for the course, which made the decision easier. I am glad I did it, and recommend it for anyone surveying in a PLSS State.
Good luck, Tom?ÿ
Not CFedS, but I took the BLM Cadastral Survey Course at a community college back in the mid-70s, part of their adult education program, taught by BLMers.?ÿ It was a few hundred bucks and 8(?) weeks of one day a week 2 (4?) hour evening classes. The only offering in the State was at a community college in a town 120 miles away so after each class I slept in my car then drove back the next morning.?ÿ Comprehensive, somewhat difficult; I still have the 3-ring binder set of course materials, maybe 15 pounds worth.?ÿ Sure made the LS licensure test questions easy.?ÿ I clearly recall there was a 1 hour session on dendrology.
The principals of one of the companies I worked for in Norman, OK had all taken CFEDS and were disappointed that it brought in no additional work. At least, not directly. They had nothing to say about the value of the knowledge for knowledge's sake.?ÿ ?ÿ
We have a State Forest in the mountains with 3 80s in difficult areas, incomplete township, benson township. One might have control on the Township line 2.5 miles into the wilderness. The idea was floated someone get CFEDS then Survey the 80s on instructions from BLM. It is National Forest boundary.
Since you are based in Idaho my answer is an emphatic yes; even more so if you work in areas where there are federal interest lands.
Also, if you've ever wondered about the PLSS solutions that past and present BLM surveyors post here, take CFedS. The course is very helpful in understanding how the BLM approaches rectangular PLSS surveys. No, it won't give you a full understanding of what a BLM Cadastral Surveyor knows. It will also give you an idea of the BLM process!
In conversations with other private surveyors I often hear crap like, "Those d^*ned BLMers rejected a monument that we private surveyors have relied upon for a long time." They aren't interested in an explanation for why it was rejected, only that they relied upon it at some time in the past. A good friend that has worked in the PLSS for several decades decided to take the course and every Sunday he would call me and tell me that the BLM was dead wrong. My reply was usually, "No, they are correct. Keep reading and you'll come to understand why the BLM does it that way!" He eventually caught on.
Lastly, Steve Parrish is the current CFedS Training Coordinator.?ÿ You will most likely find that your questions and interactions with Steve are worth more than the cost of the training.?ÿ You should also be able to apply your CFedS training to your license renewal continuing education, not to mention the 6 CEUs you need to take every two years to keep your certification active.
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I would like to see an explanation in their field notes beyond "not acceptable." If you're going to throw half a section into chaos a couple of paragraphs would be in order, it seems to me.
@mike-marks That was ARCS, a good training program.?ÿ Acronym stands for "Advanced Rectangular Cadastral Survey" .?ÿ I also took the training and though highly of it.?ÿ At that point in my career I was a PLS in private practice, however I was doing BLM Cadastral Surveys under contract.?ÿ The workgroup networking and discussion on case studies was invaluable.?ÿ ?ÿIt was a nice diverse group of students as it was about a 60/40 mix of BLM and private sector PLS's in our class.
Since you are based in Idaho my answer is an emphatic yes; even more so if you work in areas where there are federal interest lands.
Also, if you've ever wondered about the PLSS solutions that past and present BLM surveyors post here, take CFedS. The course is very helpful in understanding how the BLM approaches rectangular PLSS surveys. No, it won't give you a full understanding of what a BLM Cadastral Surveyor knows. It will also give you an idea of the BLM process!
In conversations with other private surveyors I often hear crap like, "Those d^*ned BLMers rejected a monument that we private surveyors have relied upon for a long time." They aren't interested in an explanation for why it was rejected, only that they relied upon it at some time in the past. A good friend that has worked in the PLSS for several decades decided to take the course and every Sunday he would call me and tell me that the BLM was dead wrong. My reply was usually, "No, they are correct. Keep reading and you'll come to understand why the BLM does it that way!" He eventually caught on.
Lastly, Steve Parrish is the current CFedS Training Coordinator.?ÿ You will most likely find that your questions and interactions with Steve are worth more than the cost of the training.?ÿ You should also be able to apply your CFedS training to your license renewal continuing education, not to mention the 6 CEUs you need to take every two years to keep your certification active.
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Very well stated Gene!?ÿ ?ÿ
I am a little biased, to the value of the training as I was on the originating steering committee for the creation of CFeDS, with Bob Dahl, Dennis Mouland, Ron Scherler, Jim Claflin (RIP), Mary Hartel and a group of other BLM Cadastral surveyors SME's (Subject Matter Experts).?ÿ ?ÿIt was a very interesting process on how the program developed.?ÿ Dennis's idea was for the SME group to come up of what the?ÿ desired outcomes?ÿ of learned knowledge was to create a key indexed to subject matter.?ÿ Then we worked on the examination blueprint and initial pool of questions for the exam.?ÿ We were a week into the workgroup.?ÿ Then Dennis said, NOW we develop the training to teach what is needed to bring the students to knowledge empowerment and ability to demonstrate it in the examination.?ÿ Brilliant.?ÿ ?ÿ
Somehow I got roped into giving the keynote address at...
Probably due to your pretty face.
In the military that was termed 'the backwards planning process'. It's been used with great success for millennia. .
