History of ACSM/NSPS/WestFed

I don’t believe WestFed is affiliated in any way with ACSM or NSPS. Someone from that organization can correct me if I’m wrong.

When I first started attending ACSM/NSPS meetings as NSPS Governor from Iowa, the governors from the states affiliated with the Great Lakes Regional Council (which includes Iowa) would meet in one room while the governors from the WestFed states met in another room. Then, a couple of years ago, someone pointed out that, since WestFed is an autonomous organization, it was inappropriate to refer to that second group as the WestFed Governors Council and they are now referred to as the Western States Governors Council.

I think there is a written history of ACSM, but I conducted an admittedly cursory search and didn’t find a reference to it. There is a committee whose task it is to prepare such a document and I was under the impression they had done so.

Short version:

ACSM, formed in 1941, basically came to be controlled by cartographers and geodetic surveyors, among others.

Things got got too esoteric for many land surveyors, and membership ratio of the typical LS got very small within the organization.

At some point, several different groups emerged, including currently AAGS for geodetic guys, GLIS and the CaGIS for the GIS folks and NSPS is for the boundary/cadestral guys. I think the photogrammetrists (ASPRS?) were involved for a while as well.

As you an see from current events, a faction within NSPS is not happy being part of ACSM, and is looking at possibly leaving the umbrella group.

West Fed is an aggregation of all the most western states, which have a perceived commonality with PLSS issues, etc. They have sometimes (I believe) held joint conferences with ACSM and state orgs, as it is more convenient.

Its a long and boring story, full of internal conflicts, egos and fighting. Things are relatively peaceful these days. I don't have all of the details to tell it.

Corner the Chuckster or Curt Sumner sometime.

As Northern said.

You may shoot an email to Curt, and if he's got time Im sure he'd be more than happy to give you a rundown..... if anything you can invite him to the forum.

I hate to disagree with sicilian cowboy but the geodeist and cartographers did not control ACSM. I have been associated with my ACSM since my earliest years at NGS starting in 1972. Back then when the normal presentation was a 30-60 "paper" it was like pulling teeth to the surveying community (what is now NSPS) to contribute to the knowledge base of the community. If you look at the published proceeding from the annual conferences of years past there are numerous excellent and thought provoking papers form all members of the association. For several months before each conference myself and several others were often tasked by our supervisors at NGS to get on the phone with surveyors around the country to beg on bended knee for them to present at the conference. Certainly when it came to the financial side of the organization the geodetic and cartographic sides had far fewer member and less representation on the old board of direction.

:beer: :hi5: :beer:

Wrong Choice of Words?

Thanks for the clarification Dave.

Perhaps "control" was the wrong word to use. But there was definitely a lack of interest and a dearth of participation on the part of boundary and cadestral surveyors, especially in non-PLSS areas. I can remember getting my first few copies of ACSM periodicals and thinking "How does this help me figure out where the property lines are?"

From my perception, in the era before widespread use of state plane coordinates and GPS, most of the surveyors I knew and worked with (at least in the NY Metro area, which admittedly produced a narrow point of view) did not really care one way or the other about ACSM, as it often dealt with issues beyond their scope of practice.

`

Wendell

Local PLSO members Tim Kent and or Greg Crites would be good people to contact.

Joe

Wendell, I have been a WestFed delegate very near the beginning, I will try to briefly explain what is WestFed.. The Western Federation of Professional Land Surveyors was conceived at the Western States Regional Conference of Land Surveyors held March 28-31, 1979 at the Sahara Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, Nevada and formally established in January, 1980 with the First Interstate Conference of the WESTERN FEDERATION OF PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS – “BACKSITE ON INDIVIDUALITY – FORESIGHT ON UNITY” with James Potter, First Chairman in Reno, Nevada. The Western Federation is an organization comprised of the Land Surveying Societies or Associations of the following Western States: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The First Interstate Conference was the first of its kind in that it was endorsed or sponsored by the land surveying societies and associations of 12 Western States and was one of the largest gatherings (at that time) of land surveyors ever held in the West. Underlying the conference was a purpose other than just a regular convention proceedings, that being a desire to change and improve the status of the land surveyor. Essentially WestFed (WFPS) states were fed up with A.C.S.M. not truly making efforts to represent the land surveyor nationally, even though they (land surveyors) represent 70% of the A.C.S.M. membership. Over the years WestFed has been a watchdog organization of A.C.S.M. and N.S.P.S. and many times has been influential in making changes in A.C.S.M. Although being critical of A.C.S.M. over the years, WestFed did make contributions (recognizing the need for a national voice) by contributing funds to keep A.C.S.M. afloat during the critical financial years where A.C.S.M. was near bankrupty. Over the years besides being a watchdog effort of A.C.S.M./N.S.P.S., WestFed meets 3 times a year and shares issues that are relevant to the member states. The delegates from each state (2) voluntarily give their time and efforts in promoting the grass roots surveyor and issues within their respective states. Funds to keep the organization afloat are from the biennial conferences held by WestFed and member states. Today WFPS regularly shares in supporting each state organization with legislative, education, public awareness, scholarships and a voice of unity for the western states professional surveyor when deemed necessary. If I sound like a paid advertisement for WestFed please forgive me. I am probably one of the most anti-associative, individualistic and loner people you would want to meet. But I do have a passion about the profession and surveyors. That’s what makes up WestFed.
Pablo