PLSO The Oregon Surveyor March April 2021

2 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 2 From the PLSO Chair Tim Fassbender, PLS PLSO Board Chair MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR We just need to hear from you about your suggestions. We can try just about anything to find an answer. But we cannot try without having something to try. Don’t be afraid to make a suggestion to our board of directors. Normal Times? H appy spring and welcome to, hope- fully, the beginning of the end of the COVID safety protocols. This past year, “safety” has been the word all of us have been living with. Normally, we would only worry about safe driving habits, safe work policies, safe brush cut- ting, and all the other safe practices we employ. Now on top of those practices of safety, we have the social distancing, mask protocols, sanitizing all areas of contact, and all the other safe medical practices we have learned about this past year. We are near the point of this pandemic where things might be going back to normal. We might once again be able to go out to eat or take in a movie. And maybe, at least, not be required to wear a mask when we go out the door. Normal times? We will see what is normal and how we live a normal life from here on out. As I mentioned in my last chair column, we are falling behind in recruiting new people into our profession. This past year we were not able to reach the students in schools like we normally would. We did not have the normal job fairs to ex- hibit our profession. Most importantly, we lost a years’ worth of time of meeting with the students andmaking themaware of our profession that we are so proud of. I was thinking just the other day that when I started in surveying, there were nearly 2,000 licensed surveyors, and now we are near only 900 licensed surveyors. We have even fewer field and office staff now than ever before due to technology. There is a committee working on this problem, but we cannot depend on a few hard-working individuals to solve a profession-wide problem. Every day, we need to be not only land surveyors but also recruiting ambassadors. Seize any opportunity that may come your way and enlighten that person you meet to our profession. Some people may be looking for a change in their careers or haven’t made up their minds on which way they are going. Let them follow you around and see what happens in the field and/ or in the office. We lost one of our great - est recruitment hooks by not needing the large field crews. For a while, just about everyone worked on a survey field crew during the summer; now we almost only need one field crew member. What is the answer to this problem? I think the answer is within PLSO and its members. Our members are devoted to the profession, and someone or a group of someones in PLSO have the answer. We just need to hear from you about your suggestions. We can try just about anything to find an answer. But we can - not try without having something to try. Don’t be afraid to make a suggestion to our board of directors. It would be great