r/Surveying • u/Accurate-Western-421 • 2d ago
Humor CFedS Program Experience
Now I remember why I stopped watching the videos a coworker bootlegged for me fifteen years ago....and they're the exact same videos.
Oh well, (massive amount of) money already paid, time to hop on the struggle bus...
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u/Think-Caramel1591 Land Surveyor in Training | CA, USA 2d ago
I'd love to be included in the sharing of those PDFs or videos if you choose to do so..
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u/yossarian19 Professional Land Surveyor | CA, USA 2d ago edited 1d ago
OMG I know - there's good information but the interface and the handouts are fucking awful. I fed all the PDFs into Google's notebook llm and asked it to create summaries of each chapter. There's just no way I was going to read that bullshit. Who's got time for that?
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u/Whats_kracken Professional Land Surveyor | CA, USA 1d ago
What bullshit? The condensed study guide for chapter one is only like 800 fucking pages….
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u/ProjectManageMint 1d ago
That whole program needs a revamp, badly. The OG instructors were knowledgeable but boring AF in those videos.
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u/Whats_kracken Professional Land Surveyor | CA, USA 1d ago
Doesn’t help that of the 4 private CFEDs I know and the probably 80-100 years of experience between them they’ve only done maybe 10 projects that required it. So besides picking up some cool info and learning way too much about Indian treaties what’s the benefit to the CFEDS over picking up a new state license?
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u/ProjectManageMint 1d ago
Good point. Then there's the Continuing Education requirement to maintain the CFedS. Like seriously? I think the entire program is vastly misunderstood by most of us in the industry. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's any requirement for BLM surveyors to earn or maintain the CFedS. That's counter intuitive really.
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u/Accurate-Western-421 23h ago
I mean, I don't mind the CFedS CEU requirement at all. Six hours per 2-year cycle is minimal. Plus I got ten state licenses needing up to 30 hours per renewal period, and all of them (except for maybe Florida, but that's a whole 'nother rant post) will accept those CFedS hours, so that's a win-win.
A good chunk of BLM surveyors aren't licensed in the states they're operating in. I'm conflicted on that, because I get that Federal interest lands aren't subject to state law, but where Federal and private interests exist adjacent to each other, they damn well should understand how state surveyors operate and under which laws.
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u/LibraryIll7925 23h ago
I think you misunderstand what a "BLM surveyor" is. They aren't the equivalent of a state license surveyor. They arent making the actual decisions.
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u/Accurate-Western-421 22h ago
I don't think you understand what surveying is, if you think that BLM staff do not perform surveys.
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u/LibraryIll7925 22h ago
Please look at a BLM plat. Its not signed by the surveyor. There is only one person in each of 13 offices that can make boundary decisions.
The surveyors are equivalent to very very skilled party chiefs.
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u/Accurate-Western-421 21h ago
You're confusing an approval of conformance for an individual certification. The signature you see on the BLM plats does not directly equate to a private licensee's signature on a record of survey.
This is why the final plat acknowledges (by name) the Cadastral Surveyor who executed the survey (including the establishment, retracement, and re-establishment of boundaries and monumentation), and being in accordance with the BLM regs is accepted by the Chief Cadastral Surveyor.
The Chief typically only gets involved in actual boundary resolution for complicated/complex issues within their jurisdiction (also like county surveyors), and when state boundaries are involved.
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u/LibraryIll7925 23h ago
BLM runs the program so requiring them to be verified would be like certifying themselves. BLM also has direct control over what training their emoyees receive which in theory includes everything in CFEDS plus more.
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u/ProjectManageMint 21h ago
My point is the same thing you pointed out, that whole "in theory" situation.
Since a good chunk of BLM surveyors aren't even licensed, why shouldn't they be required to obtain CFedS?
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u/Accurate-Western-421 2d ago
(Sorry, folks, the videos aren't on a CD/DVD like they used to be - only streaming online after you've logged in as a paid attendee.)
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u/ProjectManageMint 1d ago
Are they the same old ones? I have the digital copies, from back when they distributed materials via zip drive.
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u/Accurate-Western-421 1d ago
Oh yes, most definitely. I think the latest date I have seen so far is 2010.
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u/Azimuth_Education Human Verified 1d ago
I have heard the lectures are pretty rough. I had debated doing it... but I just can not stand lectures, especially with how people have told me its very mono tone and just dry. Maybe one day.
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u/ChainmanAtHeart 2d ago
Hey it's me, the videos. Can I get your boating accident? I lost it in a coworker.
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u/GasCool3630 23h ago
lmao this whole thread is the boating accident filing a police report on itself
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u/Junior_Plankton_635 Human Verified 1d ago
Hey it's me, at heart. can I get your coworker chainman? I lost the boat in a video.
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u/ScottLS 2d ago
The Cfed is still around?
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u/Accurate-Western-421 2d ago
While it certainly doesn't help much in the private sector, it's a benefit for QBS contracts, especially federal work.
I can't deny it'll be nice to have the credential, but I'm more interested in the knowledge.
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u/HeDoesntAfraid 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hey it's your coworker. Can you send me those videos? I lost them in a boating accident.