What is the benefit of being part of?ÿCertified Federal Surveyors Program (CFedS) ?
From the looks of the course outline, this appears to be only for Public Lands System?ÿStates?
Since I am in a Metes and Bounds state, that's probably?ÿwhy I am not familiar with it.
- CFedS I?ÿRecords Investigation, History of the PLSS, Administrative Procedures, Indian Land Law and Cultural Awareness
- CFedS II?ÿFederal Boundary Law and Title Examination
- CFedS III?ÿSurvey Evidence Analysis
- CFedS IV?ÿRestoration of Lost Corners
- CFedS V?ÿIntroduction to Water Boundaries
- CFedS VI?ÿSubdivision of Sections
- CFedS VII?ÿFederal Boundary Standards and Business Practices
If you are doing it for knowledge and CPU's I think it would be useful, although from what I understand expensive. If you want work out of having it, that is more problematic. I would be interested to hear how much work Cfeds are getting from the program.
You are right, Lee. It's PLSS all the way.?ÿ
About 25 or 30 percent of the course is generic enough to be of solid value to a colonial Surveyor. Even the purely PLSS stuff would help when you run into unusual retracements.?ÿ
We have one very good contract that requires a CFedS on staff. It will pay off better in future administrations.
While a lot of the course is oriented towards the PLSS, the objective is to train Land Surveyors to meet the federal standards for surveys of tribal lands and evaluation of the adequacy of records and surveys of lands being acquired by tribes to be held in trust for the tribes by the federal government. In the past, many tribes have acquired land and had surveys performed with do not meet these standards.
Not all of the tribes are situated in the PLSS lands, particularly those along the east coast and many of the acquisitions are described by metes and bounds rather than the sectional system. I think the reason for emphasis on the PLSS is that so many surveyors have not followed proper procedures in the past.
I think it's an excellent course and well worth the money even for surveyors working outside the PLSS.
PLS OR-WA-ID, CFedS
I'd advise you to?ÿcontact Don Poole - He's a colonial surveyor who took the CFeDs course and could probably give you insight that would be the most relatable to your circumstances...
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Hey, that's ME!?ÿ?ÿ I took the course and exam back in 08' when things were really slow.?ÿ One of my goals was to use the CFedS certification in order to get work with the local Indians and I thought that it might be beneficial in?ÿworking with the National Park Service that manages about 70% of the Lower Cape under the guise of the Cape Cod National Seashore.?ÿ It did not benefit in either of those areas and I let it lapse after 3 years.
However, it was a great course, I learned a lot about something that I was vaguely familiar, and I have applied some of the philosophy to Colonial Surveying.?ÿ Such as, a monument set in error may eventually become good. (An original monument will control, even if in error.)?ÿ?ÿ I do like to think of corner bounds as 1) found in good condition, 2) missing and presumed lost, and unable to set from record information, or 3) missing but able to relocate based on primary information.?ÿ In other words, dig deep before you start to prorate the lines and corners!
Although I didn't increase, or even diversify, my business with the CFedS I am really glad to have taken the course and become certified.
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Don
I haven't experienced any direct benefit. An indirect benefit is that it gives you a boost in the postnominals race when writing proposals. Some of the information is interesting. But...
The course costs $1300 +/- depending on whether you have them print material for you (not to mention future CEU costs). Let's say you spend 150 hrs and you very modestly value your time at $25/hr. (150*25)+1300=$5,050. Compound at 8% over 20 years and you'd have $23,000 from typical passive investments. Your pick!
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The local firm working on Federal property, aka Red River Ammunition Plant, had to get CFED ceritfied to continue their contracts.
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...The course costs $1300 +/- depending on whether you have them print material for you (not to mention future CEU costs). Let's say you spend 150 hrs ...
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If you could claim 150 hours of PDHs in exchange for $1300 in tuition that would be a very great value indeed . $1300 to cover you for 10 years! What a bargain!
I believe that the limit you could claim would be 2 years worth, but even that is still fairly good value for the money just in terms of PDHs. Throw in that you might actually learn something useful and it's a go.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
Could someone tell me where you can get "Compound at 8%"??ÿ?ÿ ??ÿ
I did most of my CFedS after hours, and I did it to better myself. My employer covered the costs. It was a good deal for both of us.
I skip 2 years of conferences. This means not paying for those and (more importantly) not losing a week and a half of billable hours. Factor in our lock on the contract it got us and we are ahead far enough to make the numbers work very well.
As a bonus I picked up 4 semester hours for GME497 through OIT for my efforts. $75 a credit and no other fees. Moving forward I will skip every other year of conferences to pay for my CFedS CEUs. Again, a deal at twice the price...
Could someone tell me where you can get "Compound at 8%"??ÿ?ÿ ??ÿ
S&P 500 over almost any 20 year period in its history. ??ÿ
Besides the educational benefit I have not heard of any work being obtained due to their newfound knowledge.?ÿ I know of about 7 surveyors, 3 of which i know rather well and all 3 said they would not have gone through the effort if they had known better.?ÿ I will definitely not be jumping on that bandwagaon.
Besides the educational benefit I have not heard of any work being obtained due to their newfound knowledge.?ÿ I know of about 7 surveyors, 3 of which i know rather well and all 3 said they would not have gone through the effort if they had known better.?ÿ I will definitely not be jumping on that bandwagaon.
Before my 'retirement' I had the opportunity to work closely with at least two of the Native American Nations here in Central OK, with a good dose of a couple of other tribal interests along the way.?ÿ Most of the work dealt with lands held in trust and was subject to the approval of the regional BLM/ BIA bils office.?ÿ None of them have ever mentioned any "requirements" or even preference for work performed by a CFedS.?ÿ I questioned the tribe early on (about 15 years ago) and their sentiment was they had no need for a CFedS since the tribe itself paid for all the surveying and there was no federal concerns about the money.?ÿ
While there is federal lands within the state of Oklahoma (that aren't held by tribal interests) the state itself is considered "closed" by the BLM, with all the original surveys being complete.
I studied for the CFedS and eventually passed all but one of the exams.?ÿ I still keep my study material around.?ÿ The theory in surveying federal lands and the practice of retracing lands that have long passed to entrymen are very different sides of the same coin.?ÿ While I think it is a sound accomplishment to complete the CFedS training; I know of no contractual work where a cert has been an actual?ÿrequirement.
Ditto paden. Alaska BLM has relationships with survey consultants that go back decades. CFedS represents a sort of entry-level understanding of surveying in the PLSS. The consultants who were most qualified before the CFedS era are the consultants who are still most qualified. Some have gone ahead with the CFedS ticket, and some not. I'm not saying I don't appreciate it--I do, and I maintain my certification. But I don't expect it to make me competitive with individuals who have spent their entire careers doing BLM work.
Paden, I have also heard the same thing from the local tribes. Something about being tired of the government telling them what they need to do.....they'll do it their own way.
Could someone tell me where you can get "Compound at 8%"??ÿ?ÿ ??ÿ
I have some money in a fund called VTSAX at vanguard.com. It has done pretty well for me.
