Page 44 - NALS Traverse 50_2

Lahontan U.S Survey Foot
As of December 31, 2021 NOAA (of which oversees the Na-
Chapter Update tional Geodetic Survey) and the National Institute of Standards
and Technology officially retired the U.S. Survey Foot and have
replaced it with the International Foot unit of measurement.
The International Foot will specifically be used in the update
By: Michael Detwiler, PLS to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). The NGS
originally expected the North American Terrestrial Reference
It has been quite the winter in the Sierra’s and northern Ne- Frame of 2022 (NATRF2022) to be ready and available by 2022,
vada. I think I speak for myself and others in the Reno/Sparks but that deadline has now passed with an unconfirmed future
area that the snow definitely slowed down field surveying for deployment date sometime in 2024-2025.
much of January, February, and even into March! Spring is upon
us however, temperatures are warming slowly here in April, and In the meantime, Nevada Revised Statutes section 327 defines
I’m sure were all gearing up for a busy summer of work. Good the unit of measurement as the U.S. Survey Foot. Until such
luck to anyone trying to survey around Lake Tahoe, that could time that the Nevada Board of Professional Engineers and
be a few more months! Land Surveyors proposes new legislation to change the unit
of measurement, or similar legislation to recognize the new
We welcomed former NALS President and longtime NALS NATRF2022 datum, state statute remains the same and we will
member Carl C.de Baca to our February chapter meeting at be using the U.S. Survey Foot for years to come.
La Posada Mexican Restaurant in Reno. Carl presented on an
updated topic that he has touched on several times before It is important to note that the U.S. Survey Foot will remain
in articles in the Nevada Traverse and the American Surveyor synonymous with the North American Datum of 1983. The
magazines. A topic that he is passionate about and something International Foot will be directly used with NATRF2022. Dana
we should be aware of and passionate about as well. Threats Caccamise, Ph.D & Michael Dennis, PLS, PE, Ph.D with the NGS
to our profession. Carl provided information on several situ- spoke at the CLSA/NALS Conference and mentioned that it is
ations involving unlicensed individuals, lawsuits, and actions prudent that the individual surveyor determine when is best
involving state boards of licensure. We appreciate Carl bringing to use NAD83 and the U.S. Survey Foot or NATRF2022 and the
these events out into the conversation for all of us surveyors International Foot, moving into the future.
to be aware of.
Nevada GPS Network
We took a break from chapter meetings in March for the CLSA/ The Utah Geospatial Resource Center performed a system wide
NALS Conference locally in Reno at the Silver Legacy. We had server upgrade in 2022 for their Reference Network (TURN).
great attendance, especially for Nevadans as we had over 30% The next phase in that process is to move the Nevada GPS Net-
attendance compared to our California colleagues. Proportion work onto the same cloud server. Due to legacy hardware and
wise, I think we represented well. software configurations, the NAD83(1994) datum will no longer
be supported, and the Nevada GPS base stations will begin to
A slightly unexpected, by extremely important event took broadcast NAD83(2011) coordinates soon. Depending on areas
place during the conference. The Nevada Board of Professional of comparison in the state plane projection, the difference in
Engineers and Land Surveyors held a public workshop at its datums can be in the range of 0.5-feet, horizontally. This is
board office in Reno, with regards to its actions mandated by expected to take place sometime in the spring or early summer
Governor Lombardo’s Executive Orders 2023-003 and 2023- of 2023. Please keep an eye out for more information as NALS
004. The board provided this meeting for public comment and and UGRC will provide more details as they become available.
approximately 30 land surveyors from across the state attend- NALS is currently working on updating hardware at five of the
ed in person and online. From those who attending and spoke, current locations, as well as adding two new locations.
there was a near unanimous opposition to one of the adminis-
trative code amendments that the board has proposed. NALS Help Wanted
firmly believes eliminating the state specific license would be a The Lahontan Chapter of NALS is actively working with the
disservice to the welfare and safety of the public. The grass- UGRC on establishing and adding new locations for base
roots effort many members of NALS put into this opposition stations. The focus will be on densifying the stations within
was inspiring to see. southern Washoe County, western Churchill County, Storey,
Carson City, Douglas, and Lyon counties. Additionally, estab-
Our April chapter meeting was unique in that we held a joint lishing stations easterly along the I-80 and US-50 corridor will
gathering with the ASCE Truckee Meadows Branch at the Elk’s allow the Nevada GPS to eventually be integrated into the Utah
Lodge in Reno. It was great to get together with a larger group TURN network. NALS welcomes all private firms and public
of our civil engineer cohorts and listen to guest speaker Patty agencies to assist with this endeavor. Potential locations for
Mamola, PE, Executive Director of NVBPELS. Patty updated us base stations need to be secured, as well as the need for peri-
on recent board activities, including their work over the past odic maintenance should a base station incur a technical glitch.
five years reviewing and updating NRS and NAC. Patty also Please reach out to any Lahontan Chapter representative if you
touched on the governor’s executive orders and the pathway can help lend a hand!
the board took with regard to those mandates.

42 The Nevada Traverse Vol.50, No.2, 2023