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The memories I will soon forget. Our visits to these sites merely
scratched the surface of seeing everything, and I look forward
to going back. Another great experience was participating
President’s in a Capitol Hill tour with Senator Jack Rosen’s Office set up
by NALS Past President Trent Keenan, including past NALS
Message Presidents Trent, Robert Carrington, Jason Higgons, and my son
Cameron and Wife Jennifer. What a fantastic trip and memory. I
can’t explain in words how awesome it was. On Tuesday, our NALS
contingent grew, including Past President & current NSPS Nevada
Director Nancy Almanzan and her husband Ray (long-time sur-
veyor). Our group participated in the Day on Hill, in which we had
six meetings with our Nevada representatives to Congress and
By: Todd Enke, PLS , NALS President the Senate to discuss three topics identified as important by NSPS
Here we are, zooming through 2024; by the time you read this, and our lobbyists as issues they would like to see if we could find
we will already be well into June. For those who attended the support for. Being able to discuss the talking points with each of
Western Regional Survey Conference in March at the Horse- the representatives and DC staff was eye-opening and, again, an
shoe in Las Vegas, I don’t have to tell you what a fantastic con- experience. One takeaway from the Day on the Hill was that NALS,
ference it was. With over 800 attendees, including exhibitors if not the most represented state, was definitely one of the most
and surveyors from the participating organizations of Arizona, representative states at Day on the Hill. Thank you, Trent, Rob-
California, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada, and the Western ert, Jason, Nancy, and Ray, for this fantastic experience. The third
Federation of Professional Surveyors, along with a few other portion of this trip had us sitting in NSPS Committee meetings,
states, it was a fantastic conference that I will not soon forget. with each of us splitting up to ensure we covered as many of these
meetings as we could to bring back the most comprehensive re-
NALS has been very busy at the start of 2024 with a review of port we could to our state. Personally, I attended the ALTA, Scout,
the 2019 NALS Strategic Plan and preparing what we want to Education, and new start-up Floodplain Managers Committee
accomplish with our 2024 plan. Stay tuned here in the coming meetings. I learned a lot and have provided a report to Nancy, our
months as we will look to provide more details on what we are state’s NSPS director, for her review and inclusion in one report for
looking at as we move forward. One thing I am learning quickly our state.
as this year’s state president is the importance of volunteers
to the success of our organization and the need to continue to Participating in NALS requires a donation of time by an individ-
encourage others to bring their ideas, views, and visions to help ual, but I hope you can take from what I described above that
us as an organization grow, evolve, and be prepared to support my donation of time to our organization was fun and rewarding.
and at times protect our profession when needed. I ask all of I am looking forward to doing this for many more years. Come
you to get involved in any way you can. It is generally not a big- join Trent, Robert, Jason, Nancy, Ray, and myself next year, the
time commitment on a monthly basis, but with more members more the merrier. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of
involved, it strengthens and improves our organization. Over us or our great NALS staff if you have any questions or need
the last few years in NALS, I have been fortunate enough to any information.
develop many great friendships throughout our great state and
meet surveyors from all around the nation. None of this would
have been possible if I hadn’t gone to a Lahontan Chapter
meeting at the suggestion of Past NALS President Greg Phillips.
At that time working for a firm located in Minden in the beauti- ADVERTISER INDEX
ful Carson Valley; my work didn’t bring me into contact with
the larger majority of surveyors up in Reno, Sparks, or even for this Issue
Carson City, and with the suggestion by Greg, l began attending
monthly meetings and instantly began feeling more connected
to my profession and other surveyors a mere thirty-minutes Advertiser Page No.
or less north.
As I have become more involved in our state organization, I Allterra ............................................Inside Rear Cover
have had the opportunity to attend a few Western Federation
of Professional Surveyors (WFPS) and National Society of Pro- Carlson Software ................................................ 27
fession Surveyors (NSPS) meetings, with my most recent trip
being to Washington DC, a few, weeks back for the NSPS Spring
Meeting and Day on the Hill Lobby Day to meet with our State Lumos & Associates ...........................................13
Representatives. I can’t explain to you how fantastic that was
and what a memorable experience it was in many ways, the Mentoring Mondays............................................13
first being my son Cameron’s Spring Break from High School
coincided with the NSPS meetings and Day on the Hill, which Monsen Engineering Supply ....Inside Front Cover
allowed me, Cameron, and my wife Jennifer to experience a
few days in DC together. It has been a long time since I walked
that much, and seeing sites like the Capitol, White House, the Synergy .................................................................. 23
Smithsonian, and many other museums, the memorials, the
Washington Monument, and the International Spy Museum are Vertical Mapping Resources ............................ 23

4 The Nevada Traverse Vol.51, No.2, 2024