[Az-Geocaching] Officially speaking....

Sat, 28 Sep 2002 19:10:35 -0700

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MessageLarry gave an excellent summary of the nights meeting.

I meet with the representative from the Salt River Indian Community. Her =
concerns were the same as those quoted by Chelby Geiss with her meeting =
with Gila River. The Salt River tribe will not allow any geocaches on =
their communtiy..with one exception..they have their commercial district =
near the Scottsdale Pavilions, just west of the Freeway. They don't =
really mind a cache placement so long as it along the narrow commercial =
strip that follows the freeway. Please do not place any caches on ANY of =
their rural lands.

I then meet an Archeologist from the Tonto National forest. He was VERY =
supportive of Geocaching and actually encouraged VIRTUAL caches at some =
archeological sites. He though my sign from the past IV was a great idea =
and asked me to call him later because he had some other sites he would =
like posted as virtual caches. HOORAY for the Tonto National Forrest!!!

After talking to the Tonto National Forrest representative I had an =
interesting talk with Shelly Rasmussen and Mary Estes from the land =
steward program. I agreed to remove two of my caches that specifically =
direct cachers to petroglyph sites.  I understand their concern about =
archeological sites possibly being vandalized and unintentional damage =
in caused by people looking for an actual geocaches at the site.

=20

During this meeting with Shelly and Mary it was brought to my attention =
that another one of my geocaches was located near an archeological site. =
 When placing this geocache I was unaware that there were any sites of =
archeological significance nearby.  This site is a very popular spot for =
people to visit and the state has spent the over $100,000 to rebuild a =
structure that has some minor significance in Arizona history.  My =
geocache is about 20 feet from the rebuilt structure and Shelly was =
adamant in that the geocache be removed.  I pointed out to Shelly that =
the state had spent a very large sum of money to specifically encourage =
visitors to this site and that my geocache was serving the same exact =
purpose.  Shelly was unwavering and her opinion and fanatical about the =
removal of the cache.  Shelly's stance made absolute no sense to me on =
how the state could spend over $100,000 to encourage people to visit the =
this site and my geocache, serving the same purpose, was somehow =
adversely impacting the site.  After this meeting my head was spinning. =
One organization was commanding me on encouraging people to visit their =
archeological sites and another one was criticizing me for the same =
thing.

=20

As a side note, the infamous "A Sign From The Past III", was returned to =
me.  It was passed around at the meeting to give the various land =
representatives an opportunity to examine an actual geocache.  As for =
the geocaches at the meeting they wanted to log it as a find when it =
became their opportunity to examine the cache  ;-)  I'm not sure what to =
do with this cache that is now part of Arizona history and am debating =
whether to put it back into circulation.

=20

My overall impression of the meeting was that the majority of people =
supported responsible geocaching.  This was a great meeting that opened =
up numerous lines of communications and I would like to thank Steve =
Gross for all of his efforts in making this happen.

=20

Ken
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<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Larry gave an excellent =
summary of=20
the nights meeting.<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"><?xml:namespace prefix =3D o =
ns =3D=20
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
&nbsp;
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I meet with the =
representative from=20
the Salt River Indian Community. Her concerns were the same as those =
quoted by=20
Chelby Geiss with&nbsp;her meeting with Gila River. The Salt River tribe =
will=20
not allow any geocaches on their communtiy..with one exception..they =
have their=20
commercial district near the Scottsdale Pavilions, just west of the =
Freeway.=20
They don=92t really mind a cache placement so long as it along the =
narrow=20
commercial strip that follows the freeway. Please do not place any =
caches on ANY=20
of their rural lands.
&nbsp;
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I then meet an =
Archeologist from the=20
Tonto National forest. He was VERY supportive of Geocaching and actually =

encouraged VIRTUAL&nbsp;caches at some archeological sites. He though my =
sign=20
from the past IV was a great idea and asked me to call him later because =
he had=20
some other sites he would like posted as virtual caches. HOORAY for the =
Tonto=20
National Forrest!!!
&nbsp;
After talking to the =
Tonto=20
National Forrest representative I had an interesting talk with Shelly =
Rasmussen=20
and Mary Estes from the land steward program. I agreed to remove two of =
my=20
caches that specifically direct cachers to petroglyph sites.<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; I understand their concern =
about=20
archeological sites possibly being vandalized and unintentional damage =
in caused=20
by people looking for an actual geocaches at the site.
&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
During this meeting =
with Shelly=20
and Mary it was brought to my attention that another one of my geocaches =
was=20
located near an archeological site.&nbsp;=20
When placing this geocache I was unaware that there were any =
sites of=20
archeological significance nearby.&nbsp;=20
This site is a very popular spot for people to visit and the =
state has=20
spent the over $100,000 to rebuild a structure that has some minor =
significance=20
in Arizona history.&nbsp; My =
geocache is=20
about 20 feet from the rebuilt structure and Shelly was adamant in that =
the=20
geocache be removed.&nbsp; I =
pointed out=20
to Shelly that the state had spent a very large sum of money to =
specifically=20
encourage visitors to this site and that my geocache was serving the =
same exact=20
purpose.&nbsp; Shelly was =
unwavering and=20
her opinion and fanatical about the removal of the cache.<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; Shelly's stance made absolute =
no sense=20
to me on how the state could spend over $100,000 to encourage people to =
visit=20
the this site and my geocache, serving the same purpose, was somehow =
adversely=20
impacting the site.&nbsp; After =
this=20
meeting my head was spinning. One organization was commanding me on =
encouraging=20
people to visit their archeological sites and another one was =
criticizing me for=20
the same thing.
&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
As a side note, the =
infamous =93A=20
Sign From The Past III=94, was returned to me.<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; It was passed around at the =
meeting to=20
give the various land representatives an opportunity to examine an =
actual=20
geocache.&nbsp; As for the =
geocaches at=20
the meeting they wanted to log it as a find when it became their =
opportunity to=20
examine the cache&nbsp; ;-) =
<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;I'm not sure what to do with =
this cache=20
that is now part of Arizona history and am debating whether to put it =
back into=20
circulation.
&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
My overall impression =
of the=20
meeting was that the majority of people supported responsible =
geocaching.<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; This was a great meeting that =
opened up=20
numerous lines of communications and I would like to thank Steve Gross =
for all=20
of his efforts in making this happen.
&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; =
mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; =
mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: =
AR-SA">Ken</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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