7 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Layne Caswell and steadily reinforced by Al Hertel, the company has remained strong to this day. Al puts a lot of store in his 43 years with the same surveying rm. Al joined PLSO in Jan 1988. He has been a steady volunteer at numerous Career Fairs and has been the Pioneer Chapter’s Secretary-Treasurer for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015. During that period it was his steady hand that kept the leadership of the Pioneer Chapter in line and on course. roughout the year, his communications connect the current happenings in PLSO with the 220 PLSO members and 150 interested Associates of the Pioneer Chapter. Interview with Albert Hertel Your professional community recently voted you “Surveyor of the Year”. What is your proudest moment as a surveyor? My proudest moment as a surveyor is broken up into two stories, the rst being a two part story. When I got out of the service (US Navy CBs) in 1972, my rst (and, only) job was for Layne Caswell. I was on the job for only one week, and Layne took me out to a jobsite just North of Wilsonville. We hiked back into a wooded area, traversed a couple setups and then Layne got out some old GLO notes and Bearing Tree entries. We, mostly he, started looking for two trees/stumps that matched the early 1900s BTs. We found the likely candidates. e cedar stump had splintered and no scribes were le. On the r stump, we found a pitch seam. Using a chainsaw, we made a couple vertical cuts and pealed the outer slab o, revealing the old scribes. To Layne’s surprise, my attitude was…”Okay, I’ve been at work for a week and we found this old corner. Probably something we do every month or so, right?” Oh was I wrong. e second part of this story came in 1982, ten years later. I went out to a jobsite North of Forest Grove, to the SW corner of the Brown DLC 40. I invited Lavern Meacham to guide me on this venture. Vern was the Washington County Bearing Tree expert at the time. We pealed back two bearing trees and found the original scribes. is time around I could hardly contain myself. Amazing, how your appreciation grows over time. e second of my proud moments is my part in the formation and pioneering of Eagle GPS Survey Corp in 1987. We were the rst private company in the Northwest to use GPS equipment as a surveying tool. is new and exciting venture took us to many of the states west of the Mississippi, including Minnesota (albeit in the dead of winter) and Texas (albeit in the heat of summer). We also spent countless hours perfecting the use of GPS in the airplane, for Aerial Photography. At one epoch every half second, we encountered so much data that the computers had to be carefully selected to handle this new volume. Any advice for new surveyors just getting started? To the new surveyor out there, I say, “Get involved in PLSO early.” Not in a big way. Take it easy. Volunteer for one or two things the rst year. Watch out. It will grow on you. Contact a local Scout leader and ask them if they would like some help with the surveyor’s merit badge. Contact a local high school math teacher, and see if they want to excite their kids with some Trig Star money. Volunteer at a job fair….telling students about Surveying…trust me, they haven’t got a clue. If you are a little reserved, don’t use that as an excuse. ere are plenty of excuses out there…. “some served on a silver platter” (one of my favorite sayings). Instead, join a seasoned surveyor for your rst time out. ey’ll be glad to guide you. e next year build on your volunteer eorts. Add one more job…it’s so rewarding and you meet the best of people. How has being a member of PLSO impacted your life and/or career? When I was a small boy growing up in a family of 12, I always had an older brother (and ve older sisters) to guide me and lead the way. at was very comfortable, but I was a tag-a-long, and not a leader. When I went o to college, at OTI (now OIT) in Klamath Falls, I started to learn that I could stand on my own two feet. I joined the school’s chapter of the Engineering Club, and in my sophomore year, I was the chapter secretary. My “toe was in the water” and no alligator bit back. In joining PLSO, I have grown in leadership. I have been on the Curriculum Advisory Committee at PCC, been to a Boy Scout jamboree in Scappoose, given a Trig Star talk at four dierent high schools—multiple years, been to several high school job fairs, helped proctor the Oregon LSIT/LS test in several cities throughout Oregon, and served as the Sec/Tres of the Pioneer Chapter for several years. roughout all this I have gained the friendship of many colleagues, government planners and surveyors, and teachers, both high school and college. ank you for this great opportunity. I have been blessed by each contact that I have made. SURVEYOR OF THE YEAR
PLSO Issue 1 2016 January February
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