PRESS RELEASE for immediate distribution

National Surveyors Week- March 17-23, 2013

National Surveyors Week will be celebrated nationwide March 17-23, according to the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS).

Hundreds of surveyors nationwide are planning activities, such as talks to school groups, contacts with their local news media about the importance of the nation’s surveying profession, booths at popular community locations to describe the importance of the work and role of surveyors and their contributions to society.  These activities will enable citizens to look back at the historic contributions of surveying and look ahead to the exciting new technologies that are constantly modernizing this honored and learned profession.

The always popular GPS Day is being held in conjunction with National Surveyors Week, and will be held on March 16 as a lead-in to our week.

The message to be spread, according to NSPS, which serves as the voice of surveyors nationwide, is that the role of the surveyor has been, and remains, of vital importance in the development of the United States.

“As long as property ownership remains one of the pillars of life in America, the role of surveyors will remain vita,” said Curt Sumner, executive director of NSPS. “To this day, owning land, America’s greatest asset, remains the American dream. Without the knowledge, abilities and guidance of a professional surveyor to determine boundaries this dream largely disappears.”

NSPS has petitioned The White House to proclaim this week National Surveyors Week. In addition, a number of state surveying societies have petitioned their state legislatures to do the same at the state level.

In his request to The White House to declare this week National Surveyors Week, Sumner outlined how “since the colonial days of this nation, surveyors have been leaders in the community, statesmen, influential citizens, and shapers of cultural standards. Former surveyors include Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.”

“Today,” Sumner noted, “there are over 45, 000 professional surveyors in the United States. The value of their work remains vital to the future economic growth of our nation.” For example:

• Hydrographic surveys are important to the use of all our bodies of water;
• Engineering surveys are utilized in the study and selection of engineering construction;
• Geodetic surveys determine precise global positioning for such activies as aircraft and missile navigation;
• Cartographic surveys are used for mapping and charting, as well as photogrammetry, the science of using aerial photographs for measurement and map productions.

The establishment of the week of march following the third Sunday as National Surveyors Week is designed to be a tribute to all surveyors.

For more information about National Surveyors Week log onto www.nsps.us.com

For more information about GPS Day log into www.gpsday.com