GLENVILLE, WV – Glenville State College’s Department of Land Resources has received a grant from the FirstEnergy Foundation. Funding from the grant will launch a new project – the Survey Monument Restoration Program. The project will be led by the College’s land surveying program, but is open and beneficial to all six majors within the Department of Land Resources.

In the early part of the last century, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) set highly accurate monuments throughout the United States. Some of these were set for horizontal control (known as Triangulation Stations) and some for vertical control (known as Benchmarks). These monuments are still used today by different agencies and professions, most notably by land surveyors who seek the monuments out and utilize them as a check on their work when possible. Many of the monuments have since been lost to time. Through this program, GSC natural resource management students will attempt to locate the monuments that are still in existence, clean the area around them, and preserve the monument. The plan includes making land owners aware of the significance of these monuments, and providing the findings to the National Geodetic Survey who will use the information to update their records. A list of each monument will also be maintained and made available to professions/agencies who utilize them in their everyday work.

“This project will not only be beneficial to the public, but also to the students at GSC involved with it by giving them a hands-on experience dealing with real-life tasks in their fields of study. It is our hope that FirstEnergy Foundation will be able to continue to aid the project in the future and, as it grows, more funding will become available from other sources,” said Earl Thompson, Project Lead and Instructor of Land Surveying at GSC.

The grant will also support GSC’s Natural Resource Management High School Program, which provides high school juniors and seniors the opportunity for an early start in their college careers by getting free tuition and textbook support for up to seven credit hours through GSC’s Dual Credit Program. High school students who are awarded the scholarship will also be mentored by Land Resources students and faculty.

The FirstEnergy Foundation aims to invest in transformative organizations that enhance the vitality, sustainability, and diversity of the communities that FirstEnergy serves.

For more information about the project and the programs within the Department of Land Resources at Glenville State College, contact the Department of Land Resources at Land.Resources@glenville.edu or (304) 462-6370.