I too sent an email to the author of the article, at the bottom was my original letter, then in the middle her entire response, and then my rebuttal to her comments of intent to inform. Denny Tres Hombres -----Original Message----- From: Ford, Denny Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 11:01 AM To: 'christina.leonard@arizonarepublic.com' Subject: RE: High Tech Scavenger Hunt I understand that it was written to inform, but you really did not portray the geocacher as who we are. You took the word of a park ranger, and without facts on who actually did do this vandalism, and pointed the blame at the entire Geocaching group. It would be the same if you blamed the hunters for leaving trash in the desert, just because some of them have been used for target practice when the trash was thrown out by someone else. If something is not factually based, please do not slant it that way. That is how the article came across as fact not an opinion. The desert and wilderness are wonderful places, I have been an avid outdoorsman, and I teach my sons to respect nature, but at the same time enjoy it. I have had the pleasure of meeting a large number of the truly dedicated geocachers, and all are very responsible, and when we see something that is harmful we police ourselves. All we ask is to portray us as who we are, not a bunch of uncaring vandals. sincerely Denny Ford -----Original Message----- From: christina.leonard@arizonarepublic.com [mailto:christina.leonard@arizonarepublic.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 10:08 AM To: Ford, Denny Subject: Re: High Tech Scavenger Hunt I certainly wasn't attacking geocachers. The article was written to inform, that's it. I hope you understand that. "Ford, Denny" cc: Composed Subject: High Tech Scavenger Hunt Date:08/07/2002 07:33 AM Ms. Leonard I read your article and my concern is your lack of evidence. In the past year that I have been Geocaching, as a group we are very aware of laws that impact our sport. The allegation that geocacher's use ATV's to get to the cache site is somewhat absurd. If you would have investigated it more completely, and gone to the websites and read some of the logs, you would realize most is done with hiking or on four wheel drive trails. GeoCachers are not the only people that use the wilderness. The comment of leaving trash is also absurd, one of the statements commonly used is "cache in and trash out". If you studied the demographics of this sport you would find that a majority of it is middle aged men, with there families that work in technical jobs. We are not a bunch of teenagers out just romping in the desert. I will grant you that there might have been some caches placed near archeological sites, but can you tell me a place that clearly defines where they are located. Most of the caches that I have visited will point out where some interesting locations might be in the area, so they can be visited. I have never seen one hidden directly in the area of any archeological sites, and I have personally found nearly 300 caches. I think before you put accusations in print, you should have all the facts. In closing the sites that are used to place a cache are known from previous visits, either by camping, hunting or hiking in the area. This sport introduces people to new parts of the state, and the goal is always to maintain the environment. You noticed I said maintain and not preserve, if you have lived in Arizona all of your life you will understand that the desert in constantly changing and fluctuating with the climate. Yes I agree that people do visit, but as a group we always try to minimize our presence in an area. From a concerned Geocacher and Arizona Native. Denny Ford