Pub. 13 2018 Issue 1

www.ucls.org 26 Issue 1 2018 / UCLS Foresights A quick update on Alaska’s saga with BLM and Direct Point Position Surveys (DPPS). BLM is now backing off of DPPS and with the current administration, will likely not be pushing DPPS for the next 4 years. However, BLM did complete 11 project groups, totaling 7.2+ million previously unsurveyed acres, by the DPPS method. Without any previous communication with the State of Alaska, BLM decisively moved away from the survey method that has been in operation since the 1963 Agreement. The 1963 Agreement between the Dept. of Interior and the State of Alaska was a result of special conference committee issuing a report, HR 5279, directing the Dept. The State has not accepted any of these 11 projects groups to date. If the 11 projects groups were surveyed in accordance with the 1963 agreement, BLM should have set 2,000+ monuments. Under the original DPPS proposal, BLM only wanted to set the exterior angle point corners of each project, equaling roughly 300 new corners for the entire 7.2+ million acres. Since the State has balked at accepting any of the surveys completed using the original DPPS, BLM decided to return to 9 of the project areas to set the additional monuments at the interior township corners only (bringing the total number of monuments set to 671), again without any communication with the State. BLM is now calling the 9 project areas as having DPPS+. BLM, under the new administration, has decided to communi - cate with the State agreeing to complete future Alaskan land selections in accordance with the 1963 agreement. However BLM does not want to revisit the 11 project areas completed us - ing DPPS+ and wants the State to accept the completed surveys. Currently the State and BLM are meeting on how to move for - ward with a potential compromise between DPPS+, as it is now surveyed, or the addition 1330+ monuments to meet the 1963 agreement. I, on behalf of the State of Alaska, want to thank NSPS for their strong support of our position in protesting and not accepting DPPS. There is no way to measure the weight of National Society of Professional Surveyors support and truly believe NSPS had influence over the current adminis - tration’s position. q BY CLIFF BAKER, PS, CFEDS PROJECT DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEAD ALASKA REPORT