[Az-Geocaching] Damage to Archaeological sites

Thu, 8 Aug 2002 01:01:37 EDT

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I wanted to share the e-mail I sent to Christina Leonard with the entire 
Arizona geocaching community.  Forgive me but I got a little wordy.  (I think 
I have been reading too many RopingtheWind logs lol)

Before reading my venting I would like to congratulate all of the teams who 
have recently reached the 500, 300, 200 and 100 find milestones.

Ms. Leonard:

I am writing to you in response to your "A high-tech scavenger hunt" article 
in today's Arizona Republic.  I understand that you have received responses 
from several of my fellow "Geocachers" so forgive me if this is repetitive.

First off let me say that I am strongly against those that disrespect our 
land.  The opportunity to be involved in outdoor activities and enjoy the 
beautiful Arizona landscape are part of the reason I moved to this state from 
Chicago.  I would feel outraged if the accusations that have been made 
regarding the destruction and theft at area archaeological sites is found to 
be true.  That being said, I do not feel these public lands or historical 
sites should be closed because of the irresponsible actions of a few.  On my 
way home from work tonight I witnessed somebody throw a wrapper out of their 
car window.  While I was appalIed by this, I certainly do not feel we should 
shut down our highways because of this action.      

I was very disappointed to see that you have linked geocaching to this 
alleged destruction.  As a geocacher who has posted over 300 finds, I make it 
a point to leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but pictures when I 
am out enjoying the oudoors.  I cannot speak for all geocachers but the few 
teams that I have met in my travels have been kind, courteous, intelligent, 
responsible human beings who would not seem capable of committing the acts 
described in your article .  I am proud to be associated with these people.  
The trait we all share together is the love and respect of nature.

In reading your article I had a hard time finding any hard evidence that 
linked this to geocaching.  From what I can see, your entire article was 
based on the opinions of a few potentially slanted individuals who would like 
to make these public sites off limits to all but a select few.  These types 
of opinions/accusations would seem to be more appropriate for an editorial 
column rather than posted on the front page of the newspaper.

I found the statements made by Truman Peters to be a personal attack against 
myself and two fellow geocachers.  Mr. Peters has accused geocachers of 
damaging the trail and stealing artifacts such as grinding tools and broken 
pottery.  These statements appear to be based on his visit to a site near 
Lake Pleasant on March 7, 2002.  On March 3, 2002, two other unnamed 
individuals and I got together to search for this particular geocache.  We 
were the only teams to find this cache prior to its removal on March 7.  
Using the logic that geocachers damaged the area and the fact that we were 
the only geocachers to find this site, Mr. Peters and yourself are accusing 
us/me of damaging this site.  I take great offense to this allegation.  Let 
me give you the facts of our March 3rd trip - assuming you are interested in 
facts.  Following clearly marked 4x4 roads on a topographic map, I drove my 
Toyota Tacoma to within .31 miles of the cache.  We parked our vehicles at 
the end of the road and hiked to the cache site.  At no time while driving on 
these roads did we see any signs stating the area was off limits.  There were 
no gates or fences or any other obstacles along the way that would indicate 
it was "illegal" as Mr. Peters put it to be in this area.  Along our hike to 
the cache site, we did not see any evidence of any vehicle being driven off 
of the main trail.  We found the geocache and signed the log book.  We then 
took a few moments to enjoy the petroglyphs that were found on the large 
boulders in the area.  At no time did we see, let alone take/destroy, any 
artifacts.  We then headed back to our vehicles and followed the road out to 
Lake Pleasant.  On our way out, we must have passed at least 4 quads within 1 
mile of the area.  I guess it would have been impossible for them to have 
damaged this site.  Let me ask you something, if we went out there and 
destroyed this area, why would we sign our names in the logbook and come back 
and file a full report on the Internet for everybody to see?  

It is very unfortunate that there are a few individuals out there that do not 
respect our lands.  It seems that this type of damage is becoming more and 
more common in society today.  There are many variables that may have led to 
these instances.  The population of Arizona and the West Valley in particular 
have increased dramatically in recent years.  Many of the areas that were 
previously used for activities such as hiking and 4-wheel driving have been 
closed or purchased by developers.  If you drive around the Lake Pleasant 
area on any given weekend you will see numerous individuals driving their 
ATV's or 4x4 vehicles, riding on horseback, hiking, and yes even geocaching.  
The math is pretty simple, more people and less land available is bound to 
cause some problems.  To make the allegation without any hard evidence that 
geocaching is the reason for this damage seems to be a leap of faith and in 
my opinion irresponsible.  I would be very interested in hearing about any 
real evidence that substantiates your article.  Presenting this evidence 
through a forum such as the Listserve found at Azgeocaching.com would seem to 
be a reasonable request. 

Thank you for your time.

Jim Ward (AZSaluki)

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<HTML>I wanted to share the e-mail I sent to Christina Leonard with the entire Arizona geocaching community.&nbsp; Forgive me but I got a little wordy.&nbsp; (I think I have been reading too many RopingtheWind logs lol) 
 
Before reading my venting I would like to congratulate all of the teams who have recently reached the 500, 300, 200 and 100 find milestones. 
 
 
Ms. Leonard: 
 
I am writing to you in response to your "A high-tech scavenger hunt" article in today's Arizona Republic.&nbsp; I understand that you have received responses from several of my fellow "Geocachers" so forgive me if this is repetitive. 
 
First off let me say that I am strongly against those that disrespect our land.&nbsp; The opportunity to be involved in outdoor activities and enjoy the beautiful Arizona landscape are part of the reason I moved to this state from Chicago.&nbsp; I would feel outraged if the accusations that have been made regarding the destruction and theft at area archaeological sites is found to be true.&nbsp; That being said, I do not feel these public lands or historical sites should be closed because of the irresponsible actions of a few.&nbsp; On my way home from work tonight I witnessed somebody throw a wrapper out of their car window.&nbsp; While I was appalIed by this, I certainly do not feel we should shut down our highways because of this action.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
I was very disappointed to see that you have linked geocaching to this alleged destruction.&nbsp; As a geocacher who has posted over 300 finds, I make it a point to leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but pictures when I am out enjoying the oudoors.&nbsp; I cannot speak for all geocachers but the few teams that I have met in my travels have been kind, courteous, intelligent, responsible human beings who would not seem capable of committing the acts described in your article .&nbsp; I am proud to be associated with these people.&nbsp; The trait we all share together is the love and respect of nature. 
 
In reading your article I had a hard time finding any hard evidence that linked this to geocaching.&nbsp; From what I can see, your entire article was based on the opinions of a few potentially slanted individuals who would like to make these public sites off limits to all but a select few.&nbsp; These types of opinions/accusations would seem to be more appropriate for an editorial column rather than posted on the front page of the newspaper. 
 
I found the statements made by Truman Peters to be a personal attack against myself and two fellow geocachers.&nbsp; Mr. Peters has accused geocachers of damaging the trail and stealing artifacts such as grinding tools and broken pottery.&nbsp; These statements appear to be based on his visit to a site near Lake Pleasant on March 7, 2002.&nbsp; On March 3, 2002, two other unnamed individuals and I got together to search for this particular geocache.&nbsp; We were the only teams to find this cache prior to its removal on March 7.&nbsp; Using the logic that geocachers damaged the area and the fact that we were the only geocachers to find this site, Mr. Peters and yourself are accusing us/me of damaging this site.&nbsp; I take great offense to this allegation.&nbsp; Let me give you the facts of our March 3rd trip - assuming you are interested in facts.&nbsp; Following clearly marked 4x4 roads on a topographic map, I drove my Toyota Tacoma to within .31 miles of the cache.&nbsp; We parked our vehicles at the end of the road and hiked to the cache site.&nbsp; At no time while driving on these roads did we see any signs stating the area was off limits.&nbsp; There were no gates or fences or any other obstacles along the way that would indicate it was "illegal" as Mr. Peters put it to be in this area.&nbsp; Along our hike to the cache site, we did not see any evidence of any vehicle being driven off of the main trail.&nbsp; We found the geocache and signed the log book.&nbsp; We then took a few moments to enjoy the petroglyphs that were found on the large boulders in the area.&nbsp; At no time did we see, let alone take/destroy, any artifacts.&nbsp; We then headed back to our vehicles and followed the road out to Lake Pleasant.&nbsp; On our way out, we must have passed at least 4 quads within 1 mile of the area.&nbsp; I guess it would have been impossible for them to have damaged this site.&nbsp; Let me ask you something, if we went out there and destroyed this area, why would we sign our names in the logbook and come back and file a full report on the Internet for everybody to see?&nbsp; 
 
It is very unfortunate that there are a few individuals out there that do not respect our lands.&nbsp; It seems that this type of damage is becoming more and more common in society today.&nbsp; There are many variables that may have led to these instances.&nbsp; The population of Arizona and the West Valley in particular have increased dramatically in recent years.&nbsp; Many of the areas that were previously used for activities such as hiking and 4-wheel driving have been closed or purchased by developers.&nbsp; If you drive around the Lake Pleasant area on any given weekend you will see numerous individuals driving their ATV's or 4x4 vehicles, riding on horseback, hiking, and yes even geocaching.&nbsp; The math is pretty simple, more people and less land available is bound to cause some problems.&nbsp; To make the allegation without any hard evidence that geocaching is the reason for this damage seems to be a leap of faith and in my opinion irresponsible.&nbsp; I would be very interested in hearing about any real evidence that substantiates your article.&nbsp; Presenting this evidence through a forum such as the Listserve found at Azgeocaching.com would seem to be a reasonable request. 
 
Thank you for your time. 
 
Jim Ward (AZSaluki) 
 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </HTML>

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