At a regularly scheduled meeting of the
McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission held earlier this evening, the Commissioners,
by a voice vote, denied a request to reconsider their policy prohibiting the
placement of Geocaches within the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. They agreed to
post a statement of their policy on the Preserve Commission web page (http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/boards/MSPreserve/default.asp).
The Commissioners made it very clear that
the first mandate of the Preserve is preservation. The Commission is not going
to allow any activity which involves going off-trail. They are also quite open about the fact
that they are going to avoid setting any precedent that risks opening a wider
door in the future. By that reasoning, they hold that even a cache that is
right next to the trail is still off-trail. They are also opposed to having any
contemporary non-natural objects within the preserve, except for those placed
for such reasons as safety, directions, etc. Those are their major reasons
behind their denial of reconsideration, as best as I am able to summarize them.
I would urge any of you who have placed caches
within the Preserve to remove them soon. My best guess is that there will be a not
very long grace period before confiscation efforts begin.
Steve
Team Tierra Buena