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As Brian has already noted, it is evident that Shelly Rasmussen wrote this before the meeting of September 27th. I believe the article needs to be read keeping that in mind. And, as Brian also mentioned, her statement that the State Land Department, which administers the State Land Trust, prohibits Geocaching is inaccurate. It is worth noting, though, that the Land Department does specifically prohibit "...visiting archaeological sites (historic and prehistoric)..." (see: http://www.land.state.az.us/programs/natural/rec_offroad_permit.htm).

I think those of us who attended the meeting, and particularly those of us who got involved in the informal discussion after the meeting was formally adjourned, would all be in agreement that Ms Rasmussen's position allows no compromise. Having met with her "boss", Mary Estes, since that meeting, I am also very confident that her position does not reflect the attitude of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which is responsible for the Site Steward program.

If I understand SHPO's position correctly, they create no policy themselves. Rather, their job is to execute the policies of the agency responsible for the land on which the site lies. In other words, if the US Forest Service (or the City of Tempe, for that matter) builds a trail on their land to an archaeological site and posts signs about the site or direct people to it, SHPO can't turn around and prevent people from visiting that site.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't follow our own rules. Whether the land is USFS, city, or some other agency, we should be securing permission from the appropriate agency to hide a cache on their land. If we're asking for consent, presumably the agency will tell us if the location we have in mind is sensitive, whether it's because of an archaeological site or some other reason they may be concerned about that area. But with permission in hand, we would have no reason to believe we are threatening sensitive sites of any kind.

Ms Rasmussen may well continue to sound the alarm, as is her right. I believe our most powerful rebuttal is to practice responsible Geocaching, when both hiding and hunting.