There are by some estimates more than 250,000 survey corner markers recorded in the State of Washington. And that might be a low estimate. Those corners (and other survey information) are important to make sure your new party deck, or your new shopping center or highway for that matter, are on land you own before construction begins. Who keeps track of land boundary information? The Public Land Survey Office (PLSO), housed within DNR’s engineering division, that’s who.
The PLSO offers a handy web tool called WebXtender to help surveyors, title companies, governments and others find that one important document they need in a repository that numbers more than 464,000 documents indexing land boundary survey information. The imaging database is available on a subscription basis.
A new series of videos on DNR’s YouTube site that helps users learn the WebXtender system. The videos, which were edited and voiced by Ted Smith of the PLSO, go over the commonly asked questions, setup guidelines and how-to procedures.
The instructional video came to life after the PLSO realized customers were asking the same questions and PLSO employees were troubleshooting the same problems repeatedly by phone. A number of customers expressed interest in a visual presentation of WebXtender and it occurred to PLSO that a video was the best solution.
“Our customers want and need detailed procedural instructions,”says Ted Smith, Land Surveyor for PLSO. “I found a video utility, at no cost, which met the need.”
Using free software from the PLSO division, the video was produced without any supplementary monies from the program. The outcome is a step-by-step instructional video that new and remaining customers can easily utilize.
The subscription cost helps pay for making the WebXtender system possible. But for historical survey buffs, here’s a free look at the PLSO’s historical database.
Tags: DNR, Washington
