[Az-Geocaching] Report from Pueblo Grande (Long)

[Team Tierra Buena]

As you may be aware, last Saturday the Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix
hosted an event that was designed for two audiences. One was to
introduce the general public to Geocaching. The other was to raise
awareness in both the general public and within the Geocaching community
of the etiquette which needs to be practiced around areas of
archaeological significance. Thanks to the efforts of Kristy Miller, who
is Visitor Services Supervisor at the Museum, the Museum staff, and
Chelby Geiss of Team desertSol, the program was carried out to positive
reaction from all who attended.

Also in attendance on Saturday was Mary Estes, who is the Resource
Protection Specialist for the State Historic Preservation Office of
Arizona State Parks. That mouthful means that Mary, among other
responsibilities, is in charge of the Site Steward Program for the
State. In fact, her primary purpose in attending Saturday was to staff a
table for recruiting more Site Stewards.

Mary and I began chatting during a lull. I wasn't keeping track of the
time, but I would estimate we talked for close to 90 minutes. During
that time, several other cachers came in and out of the conversations,
but I couldn't possibly remember who else was involved or when or for
how long. I also couldn't possibly recall all of the details of our talk
either, and I wasn't taking notes. But I did come away from this
discussion with these impressions:

1.	Mary believes that the original Republic article did as great a
disservice to the Site Stewards as we think it did to Geocaching.

2.	The Site Stewards and Geocachers are probably not as far apart
on the issues as that article may have led everyone to think.

3.	This is not an impression, this is fact: They want to sit down
and talk with us. And I think it's safe to say that we would love the
opportunity to talk with them.

Also in attendance that day was a gentlemen named David Roan, who did
not give me his email address. David is a grad student at ASU, and he
told us he is completing his graduate practicum with the Bureau of Land
Management. David believes that he can get representation from the BLM
at this meeting as well. Mary added that she could invite attendees from
other agencies such as the State Land Trust, and even invite Tribal
representatives. We decided to agree on a date, September 27, and let
the chips fall where they may regarding peoples' availability. We'll
never find a date to accommodate everyone.

It should also be apparent that we cannot make this an open meeting. I
have extended invitations to the following geocachers to represent our
community:

Bob Renner
Brian 		Team Snaptek 		
Chelby 		desertSol			
Ed 			Trail Gypsy 		
Jim 			Team Scotti		
Jerry 		Cache-Quest		
Ken			WhereRWee			
Ken 			Lincoln	
Larry 		Team "Wyle E"		
Libby		Wolfb8			
Regan 		Team Evil Fish

I will do everything I can to report all the details of our progress
through postings to this list server.

Last Saturday may prove in time to mark the beginning of a new era for
Geocaching in the state; an era where we no longer have to try to "fly
under the radar" and where land managers know that we are doing
everything in our power to enjoy our recreation without threatening our
lands or the treasures they contain.

Steve
Team Tierra Buena