This week is National Surveyors Week! In celebration of National Surveyors Week, we would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to our survey team, who play an indispensable role in shaping our world. Land surveying dovetails art and science by establishing or reestablishing corners, lines, boundaries, and monuments of land based on recorded documents, historical evidence, and standards of practice. Here at Baseline, we are grateful for the hard work our surveyors do to help develop our communities.
Baseline conducted a different type of survey to hear the unique viewpoints and experiences of our surveyors. Here are some of their responses.
What made you interested in this field of work?
-I love exploring and being outside and surveying sounded like a great way to do both!
-At the time, circa 1997, I was looking for a job, and the local job service gave me my first boss’s phone number. I started the next day as his instrument operator at $6 an hour.
–The chance to work outside in interesting locations and have different challenges every day.
-There is a highly technical aspect to this job along with a refreshing aspect that no job is ever the same so there is also a new challenge.
-My interest in history and maps is explored when I get to do survey research in the office.
– There’s never the exact same day twice. I really enjoyed the thought of working outside and investigating the history of the area for each project.
– My dad!
What’s the coolest/weirdest thing you’ve come across while out in the field?
-Coming across an array of animals including: big horn sheep, elk, deer, coyote, and a fox.
-A teddy bear.
-I came across a cow that had given birth.
-A herd of wild horses in Wyoming.
– Finding what I believe to be Viking runes in a rock crop.
Where is the most interesting location you have surveyed?
-Downtown Denver.
-In southern Colorado, in Pueblo and Huerfano counties, we did a re-survey of a portion of the Vigil and St. Vrain being a portion of the original Spanish land grants.
-South side of old Chicago.
-A wild cat sanctuary for the St. Louis Zoo.
–New York City.
– In West Virginia, I came across an old survey done by George Washington, and another was surveying in Kentucky where the property of Abrahams Lincoln’s childhood home is.
-Nevada.
What is your favorite part of being on the survey team?
-Working with James and Jason.
-The outdoors, the scenery, and the unique group of good people. I like working with like-minded people who understand the objective and we work well together as a team.
-Working at different work locations every day is nice, the change in scenery helps to keep the job interesting.
-Getting to work in beautiful locations and the willingness of everyone to help you out.
-Watching a project from start to finish and the team all doing their part to put a solid product together.
– I really like finding the problems that have come up with different jobs and discussing them with project managers, and talking about the solutions. For me, only one year into my job with Baseline, that has always been a learning experience I value.
– Making history every day.
