President's Message

Members,

I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year and hope that everyone enjoyed a great holiday season. This is the time of year to reconnect with friends and family, and to be thankful for all that we have. A new year brings new year’s resolutions. I resolve (again) to lose some weight. We’ll see if I do any better this year than I did last.

The American Land Title association in conjunction with the National Society of Professional Surveyors has produced a new ALTA/ NSPS format - 2026 minimum standard detail requirements. These standards will go into effect February 23, 2026. Replacing the 2021 version. A webinar prepared by Gary Kent is available on our website. The dates will be January 22nd and February 2nd. Registration for the February 2nd seminar is available on the FSMS website; It will certainly be an informative course.

Our next Board meeting will be Friday, February 6th, in our Tallahassee office. The New legislative session is upon us, and it appears that it will be an active one for surveyors and mappers. We are faced with another challenge to our great profession. As expected, and as you may have heard, Florida House bill 879 and Senate bill 874 have been filed in our state legislature. This bill is intended to revise the requirements for applicants from outside the state who meet certain requirements.

Florida House bill 607 and Senate bill 1666 have also been filed in our state legislature. This bill is intended to eliminate continuing education for surveyors in the state as well as eliminating our regulatory board. Our Legislative Committee is gathering all the pertinent information on this and will be presenting an action plan for us very soon. I encourage everyone to please contribute to the FSMPAC fund as the defense of our profession is not free.

Your thoughts are important, and I would like to hear from you regarding any comments or suggestions you may have. Please email me at [email protected].

Respectfully submitted,

Robert N. "Bob" Johnson, PSM, CFM

 Previous 2026 Messages
January 2026