Alaska,
We have Statute in AK for Right of Entry
AS 34.65.020. Entry Upon Land For Survey Purposes.
(a) A land surveyor or an employee of a land surveyor may enter public or private land or water in the state only to occupy, locate, relocate, install, or replace survey monuments, to locate boundaries, to determine geodetic positions, and to make surveys and maps.
(b) The land surveyor shall give reasonable notice to the owner or occupant of the land of an intent to enter private land for survey purposes. The notice must indicate the anticipated date of the entry for survey purposes.
(c) Notice under (b) of this section is not required for a survey along previously surveyed boundaries within a platted subdivision accepted or recorded by the federal government or approved under AS http://www.touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title29/Chapter40/Section110.htm&apos ;">29.40.110 or http://www.touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title40/Chapter15/Section010.htm&apos ;">40.15.010.
(d) A land surveyor or an employee of a land surveyor who complies with the notice requirements of (b) of this section is liable to the landowner only for actual damages.
(e) The attorney general may bring an action in the name of the state to restrain and prevent the obstruction of entry under (a) of this section.
I am running into problem getting access to a US Coast Guard Base.
WouldnÛªt be a problem but our only tidal station is located on base.
Our cors station and first order airport control is located on base.
Several controlling original U.S. survey monuments are located on base.
The US Coast Guard is now part of homeland security and they will not allow access without a Coast Guard Sponsor.
The head of the engineering department on base will not help explain the situation to the USCG or sponsor surveyors even though we have appealed to him and explained the situation to him.
All local surveyors are effectively blocked from entry to the base and therefore we cannot do certain work that is affected.
For some reason if you are from out of town then the coast guard seems to not have a problem giving access. ÛÒ This is typical here in Alaska.
WhatÛªs happening is that the coast guard recently started a new security system called rapid gate that is administered by a private company with no affiliation to any government entity and requires yearly subscription fees to keep current.
It is voluntary but we are being effectively forced to enroll or be denied access.
We do not want to enroll in rapid gate for many reasons - the biggest being you must submit finger prints, ss #, and home address, mailing address, birth date, driverÛªs license number and one other form of official ID, to a small machine (kiosk) yearly for every employee. I donÛªt feel comfortable doing it and I donÛªt feel like I should have to require my employees to do it ether.
The government is basically saying that they are federal and any state laws donÛªt apply.
Any ideas that might help?
Yeah, I'd find a Chief Petty Officer on base, and buy him or her drinks in consideration of sponsoring your visits. Not while on duty, of course.
Welcome to working with Federal Agencies!
Charging a subscription fee does sound inappropriate.
As far as fingerprints and ID info, that is standard procedure...
Many facilities even run each persons info through DOD and FBI databases.
Were you able to access the facility, prior to this new system being implemented?
If so, appeal to the base commander's office, asking for details of the process for gaining entry.
You may find that they have already provided this entry process info, and you are objecting to the new process.
It is usually true, that Federal jurisdiction does not have to abide by State laws (i.e. Right of Entry), but they usually provide a procedure (their method) to achieve the result. Unfortunately, it can be a lengthy bureaucratic process to navigate.
Email your senator or congressman.
No problem with personal info - we have no objection if it was DOD or FBI or some federal organization providing security clear.
Its a new private company that collects, maintains, and charges for this service.
This is new system. Have accessed base for 29 years with no issues.
The problem with the drinks method or any on the sly way is that it does not guarantee access.
Public access should not depend on how the Mil Pol feels at time, that is hard way to run a professional business.
You may try coordinating through your NGS Local Advisory. You may also try communicating with the Base Commander. In the end if you are not willing to follow their procedures, you will not gain access. Military bases cannot allow access to everyone. I don't like the security check to get on a plane, but it is necessary. We have to meet similar security measures to work at the airport. Expect more not less going forward.
We had a station in a large height modernization network that was in a secure Naval facility. The first few times we needed access, our NGS Advisor arranged it and there was some paperwork to complete, but pretty minor. Post 9/11, they made it essentially impossible for us to get inside to occupy it, so we abandoned the station and set an alternate in a publically accessible location nearby.
Try contacting Nic Kinsman the geodetic adviser for Alaska she may be willing to help.
State law dosent mean a thing in this situation.
Bear Bait, post: 399562, member: 4459 wrote:
Public access should not depend on how the Mil Pol feels at time, that is hard way to run a professional business.
I hate to say it, but it is a military base and it does depend on what the military police say. And as Aliquot pointed out, Alaska's right of entry is not worth the price of the paper it is printed on as far as the federal government is concerned. In this day and age of limited government, having a private contractor provide security clearance is nothing new. I'm required to have TWIC card for work on port facilities, I have a TSA pre-check card for an easier time at the airport, and I'm a TSA known shipper so I can put my gear on an airplane. All of these tasks have been outsourced to some contractor. Hell, my brother is a Col. in the army and his on base housing is no longer managed by the army. He gets his housing allowance and then gives it back as rent to a contractor. Must be nice to get rent income on property that was paid for by others.
One thing in your original post that kind of throws me. Why do you need to visit the CORS station? The beauty of active control is that you never need to occupy it unless you are the maintainer. As for the PAC, you might want to set a replacement that you can get to.
Dang. I just call Station Chatham and tell them who I am and that I want to occupy the point. Somebody escorts me because they want to know what the point is all about.
Warren Smith, post: 399552, member: 9900 wrote: Yeah, I'd find a Chief Petty Officer on base, and buy him or her drinks in consideration of sponsoring your visits. Not while on duty, of course.
It's amazing what you can accomplish by buying a few lunches, and/or drinks after work. It almost always works. (especially with politicians, I suspect Flemming would agree)
I would check with local BLM office. They could be considered a Coast Guard sponsor though ICCC agreements. Maybe they can help. Good luck.
The Right of Entry law is a state law and not authoritative to the Federal sovereign.
You can contact BLM, but I would concur with the suggestion of contacting Nic Kinsman, the NGS Geodetic Adviser for Alaska.
Good luck. sounds like a great time to establish some reference monuments. Can you all get together and ask NGS to work with the base to gain access to establish some reference monuments tied to the tidal benchmark, that are out in areas available to the public?
there are a bunch of monuments we no longer have the ability to access and measure.
we used to have a nice survey baseline on an airfield.... no longer can access. NGS established a new Baselie