PLSO The Oregon Surveyor March April 2020

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon |  www.plso.org 3 Lobbyist Update working for Crown Zellerbach. I have this mental picture of John, sauntering into the office wearing his signature be - ret tilted to the side of his head. What I remember most about him was his atti- tude. As I observed him functioning as a mentor, I recognized in him an espe - cially laudable skill, he was always willing and able to offer advice in a professional way, without casting aspersions at those practicing our profession in the area, both past and present. Let us all be mindful of his wonderfully altruistic and benefi - cent spirit when engaging in mentorship. Next came Colin Handforth, principle and co-founder of Handforth and Larsen Land Surveying out of Manzanita, Ore - gon. Many of you will remember him as a member of the OSBEELS board. I con- sidered Colin to be a true statesman in our profession and the State of Oregon was fortunate to have him. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Karl Foeste, founder of Coast Surveying out of Warrenton, Oregon. Karl was one of my principle contractors during the first 10 years of my career. He always held his practice to the highest standard and even when I started my own company, which was in direct competition with him, I nev- er experienced one shred of animosity in our professional relationships. He also proved to be my most reliable resource whenever I was confronted with what I considered to be a “thorny” surveying problem. Karl was extremely competent when it came to cadastral work, and I owe much of my own expertise in recovering original GLO accessory evidence to his wise guidance and tutelage. Some of my most memorable corner “finds” were a direct result of Karl’s influence. My only regret was that I couldn’t get him to be more involved with PLSO, we would have benefitted from his involvement. Finally, I need to mention Bill Wells over in Pendleton, Oregon. Even though I only worked for him for less than a year, I quickly came to realize what an incredi - ble resource he proved to be over on the east side of the Cascades. With his vast experience working on cadastral sur- veys under contract for the U.S. Forest Service, he helped me get my feet wet with boundary work on both sectional- ized lands and mining claims. Sharing his wealth of knowledge with me in search- ing for lost and obliterated corners had a lasting impact over the next 20 years of my career. In fact, my first published article in this magazine, “The Religion of Surveying,” was inspired by a field sur - vey I performed while working for him. I’m sure there are others, to a greater or lesser degree that I should have men- tioned, but time and space don’t allow me to rattle on that long. If anyone feels slighted because I forgot to give them special mention in this “swansong,” just remember that you were there, in my thoughts, if in no other place. I have had a great career, though there were times in the middle of some tor- rential winter downpour on the southern Oregon coast when I questioned my own sanity, but I survived those experiences and lived to carry them in my toolkit. If I have one thing to say to the “youth” enter- ing our profession, it’s pay attention and always do your best to reap the bountiful benefits of mentorship. Circumstance has a major role to play in your career and you just never know, while you’re in the middle of some distasteful experience, how it may play a pivotal role at some lat- er date in your career. My only regret is that I didn’t take more notes while I was in the middle of some eventful episode, because memories fade over time, and this profession throws a lot of them at you, both good and bad. You can never say that the opportunity to learn is gone, which is what is so great about the land surveying profession. As Spock would say, “Live long and prosper!”  x The Next Membership Year Awaits! Renew today at PLSO.org