News Release 466

PRATTE NAMED PRESIDENT-ELECT
AT MISSOURI SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL SURVEYORS'
50TH ANNIVERSARY MEETING

Volume 35-466

Contact: Hylan Beydler

(For immediate release)

573-368-2118

ROLLA, MO, OCT. 15, 2007—At their 50th Anniversary meeting held Oct. 4-6, the Missouri Society of Professional Surveyors elevated Darrell Pratte as the 2008 President-Elect. Pratte is a Professional Land Surveyor with the Department of Natural Resources' Division of Geology and Land Survey in Rolla. He has served as chair of the organization's Scholarship Committee and on the Board of Directors. MSPS, with headquarters in Jefferson City, helps foster the land surveying profession.

In June 2004, Pratte accepted the position of Geodetic Survey Section Chief for the Department of Natural Resources and is responsible for the Geodetic Survey Network for the state. A geodetic survey determines the precise position of permanent points on the earth's surface, taking into account the shape, size, and curvature of the earth. It is used when areas or distances involved are so great that results of desired accuracy and precision cannot be obtained by ordinary or plane surveying. Geodetic surveying is now being done with the use of orbiting satellites that are positioned 12,500 miles above the surface of the earth.

Many of the surviving founding members of MSPS and past presidents were in attendance and were recognized during the meeting's awards ceremony held in Osage Beach. State Land Surveyor, J. Michael Flowers said, "Department and former staff members played major roles at the meeting. Robert E. Meyers, who retired in 1997, having served as the department's first Missouri State Land Surveyor, provided Certified Survey Technician training and testing for prospective surveyors of tomorrow. This provided an opportunity for them to take the exam to see where they stood on the path of knowledge to becoming a professional land surveyor."

Many of the programs held at the meeting revolved around surveying history, with Pratte cohosting a presentation on dependent resurveys of the original General Land Office township in Missouri. Norman Brown, a Professional Land Surveyor and former department employee portrayed a General Land Office Deputy Surveyor circa 1820, in full period era dress. Brown, in a skit with Milt Denny, a professional land surveyor and a national speaker, portrayed the life of a survey crew during the early 1800s. They exchanged comments about food and shelter experienced by the survey crew for months at a time, carrying out a contract to subdivide a Missouri 36 square mile township.

The Robert E. Meyers Service Award was given to John Teale, professional land surveyor, Midland Surveying and GIS in Maryville. Teale was previously a member of the state Land Survey Advisory Committee and a Nodaway County surveyor. Dick Elgin, Phelps County surveyor and Rolla businessman, displayed part of his large and impressive collection of antique surveying instruments. He also conducted what is best described as a surveying instrument road show, where attendees were encouraged to bring their own old equipment along as he conducted and evaluated old and unusual surveying equipment.

The keynote speaker at the awards banquet was Bob Priddy. Priddy is news director of The Missouri Net and host of daily radio program Across Our Wide Missouri. He is also an amateur archeologist, local historian and accomplished author. His entertaining presentation about the history of the surveys, Supreme Court decisions and location of Missouri's state boundaries from statehood to present time combined wit and humor as he conveyed little known facts.

The mission of the department's Land Survey Program is to develop and provide information required for the accurate and economical location of property boundaries in Missouri. The department's new Web based Land Survey Index was demonstrated at the meeting. Visitors to the site (www.dnr.mo.gov/molandsurveyindex/) are able to perform a number of searches from their home computers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on the vast holdings in the state's repository. Searches on the LSI include legal descriptions (township, range and section), subdivision plats, U.S. survey number, General Land Office plats and field notes by township, surveyor name or number and City of St. Louis city blocks and roads. For news releases, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel.
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Editor: Photo is available at /newsrel/darrellpratte.jpg.
Caption: Darrell Pratte, professional land surveyor with the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Land Survey in Rolla.