I'm a former seasonal employee with the USDA Forest Service and would like
to make some points and suggestions:
1) The first thing to kept in mind is that the Forest Service and the Park
Service are two entirely different entities that reside in different
departments of the federal government; Agriculture and Interior,
respectively.
2) They have two widely differing management philosophies. There are times
when they're very much at odds with each other. The USDA Forest Service
believes in multiple use. The Park Service tends more towards preservation
and recreation. Someone made a comment about allowing logging. This only
happens on forest service land and only in designated areas.
3) I would suggest that the best way of approaching it is to bring the local
official in on it and to allow him/her to be in on the maintenance of the
box.
4) A good way of presenting it to them might be to explain it as a kind of
glorified trail register. These are very common along trails in national
parks and forests. People who pass sign in with their name, date, start and
destination. This helps the managers keep track of usage.
5) Get in contact with a hiking club that operates in that forest/park. The
Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) does trail upkeep and maintains many
permanent shelters and base lodges.
6) Instead of sticking a Tupperware box in a crevice that might end up as
litter on the side of the trail, consider offering to construct something
more substantial like a mortared rock cairn.
7) Assure the officials that the clues will include instructions to check
into the park office to report the hike.
8) Offer to place interpretive information in boxes near scenic and historic
areas.
9) Remember, there's lot of bureaucrats in them darn woods! If their first
introduction to letterboxing is negative, the memos will fly and it could
conceivably touch off a letterbox holocaust on all federal land that might
even spill over into state lands.
10) In conclusion, the best bet is accountability. The aforementioned
hiking clubs are organized and incorporated entities with official contact
people. They take long-term responsibility for their projects. If any
old "Joe Blow" showed up at a park office and said he wanted to build a
trail shelter, chances are he'd be sent packing post haste. So here's the
final challenge: Is this just a casual thing that you do when it's
convenient for you or are you ready to put your "John Hancock" where it
counts? You'd have a better chance of getting onto federal lands if there
were an organization that took responsibility for letterbox Maintenance and
Census as well as for setting standards for placing letterboxes on those
lands. Anyone who wanted to place a box on such lands would have to check
in with them.
Good Luck
John P. Rovetto
letterboxing in national parks
5 messages in this thread |
Started on 2001-03-25
Re: letterboxing in national parks
From: John P. Rovetto (jrov@nji.com) |
Date: 2001-03-25 16:45:07 UTC-05:00
Re: [LbNA] Re: letterboxing in national parks
From: Deborah Perry (mperry03@snet.net) |
Date: 2001-03-25 19:41:35 UTC-05:00
John P. Rovetto wrote:
> 1) The first thing to kept in mind is that the Forest Service and the Park
> Service are two entirely different entities
> 2) They have two widely differing management philosophies.
>
> 3) I would suggest that the best way of approaching it is to bring the local
> official in on it
>
> 4) A good way of presenting it to them might be to explain it as a kind of
> glorified trail register.
>
> 5) Get in contact with a hiking club that operates in that forest/park.
> 6) Instead of sticking a Tupperware box in a crevice that might end up as
> litter on the side of the trail, consider offering to construct something
> more substantial like a mortared rock cairn.
>
> 7) Assure the officials that the clues will include instructions to check
> into the park office to report the hike.
>
> 8) Offer to place interpretive information in boxes near scenic and historic
> areas.
>
> 9) Remember, there's lot of bureaucrats in them darn woods!
>
> 10) In conclusion, the best bet is accountability.
I agree with what you wright. In all my conflict resolution classes I
learned to talk it out. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but some
people will take it personally. Talking to our respective local
officials is a wonderful idea, and will probably let people know how we
feel. I suggest also talking to local senators and representatives as
well as officials of each individual park.
Debbie
> 1) The first thing to kept in mind is that the Forest Service and the Park
> Service are two entirely different entities
> 2) They have two widely differing management philosophies.
>
> 3) I would suggest that the best way of approaching it is to bring the local
> official in on it
>
> 4) A good way of presenting it to them might be to explain it as a kind of
> glorified trail register.
>
> 5) Get in contact with a hiking club that operates in that forest/park.
> 6) Instead of sticking a Tupperware box in a crevice that might end up as
> litter on the side of the trail, consider offering to construct something
> more substantial like a mortared rock cairn.
>
> 7) Assure the officials that the clues will include instructions to check
> into the park office to report the hike.
>
> 8) Offer to place interpretive information in boxes near scenic and historic
> areas.
>
> 9) Remember, there's lot of bureaucrats in them darn woods!
>
> 10) In conclusion, the best bet is accountability.
I agree with what you wright. In all my conflict resolution classes I
learned to talk it out. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but some
people will take it personally. Talking to our respective local
officials is a wonderful idea, and will probably let people know how we
feel. I suggest also talking to local senators and representatives as
well as officials of each individual park.
Debbie
Re: [LbNA] Re: letterboxing in national parks
From: (Bluetogether@aol.com) |
Date: 2001-03-26 08:45:16 UTC-05:00
Thanks - wonderful and useful suggestions.
blue
blue
Re: [LbNA] Re: letterboxing in national parks
From: J. Burns (davisj@u.washington.edu) |
Date: 2001-03-26 08:22:57 UTC-08:00
This is a wonderful communication that exhibits the best of thoughtfulness
about issues effecting public use of public environments. I suggest
the letterboxing community follow these considerate suggestions.
Jody Burns,
On Sun, 25 Mar 2001, John P. Rovetto wrote:
> I'm a former seasonal employee with the USDA Forest Service and would like
> to make some points and suggestions:
>
> 1) The first thing to kept in mind is that the Forest Service and the Park
> Service are two entirely different entities that reside in different
> departments of the federal government; Agriculture and Interior,
> respectively.
>
> 2) They have two widely differing management philosophies. There are times
> when they're very much at odds with each other. The USDA Forest Service
> believes in multiple use. The Park Service tends more towards preservation
> and recreation. Someone made a comment about allowing logging. This only
> happens on forest service land and only in designated areas.
>
> 3) I would suggest that the best way of approaching it is to bring the local
> official in on it and to allow him/her to be in on the maintenance of the
> box.
>
> 4) A good way of presenting it to them might be to explain it as a kind of
> glorified trail register. These are very common along trails in national
> parks and forests. People who pass sign in with their name, date, start and
> destination. This helps the managers keep track of usage.
>
> 5) Get in contact with a hiking club that operates in that forest/park. The
> Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) does trail upkeep and maintains many
> permanent shelters and base lodges.
>
> 6) Instead of sticking a Tupperware box in a crevice that might end up as
> litter on the side of the trail, consider offering to construct something
> more substantial like a mortared rock cairn.
>
> 7) Assure the officials that the clues will include instructions to check
> into the park office to report the hike.
>
> 8) Offer to place interpretive information in boxes near scenic and historic
> areas.
>
> 9) Remember, there's lot of bureaucrats in them darn woods! If their first
> introduction to letterboxing is negative, the memos will fly and it could
> conceivably touch off a letterbox holocaust on all federal land that might
> even spill over into state lands.
>
> 10) In conclusion, the best bet is accountability. The aforementioned
> hiking clubs are organized and incorporated entities with official contact
> people. They take long-term responsibility for their projects. If any
> old "Joe Blow" showed up at a park office and said he wanted to build a
> trail shelter, chances are he'd be sent packing post haste. So here's the
> final challenge: Is this just a casual thing that you do when it's
> convenient for you or are you ready to put your "John Hancock" where it
> counts? You'd have a better chance of getting onto federal lands if there
> were an organization that took responsibility for letterbox Maintenance and
> Census as well as for setting standards for placing letterboxes on those
> lands. Anyone who wanted to place a box on such lands would have to check
> in with them.
>
> Good Luck
>
> John P. Rovetto
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe: mailto:letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> List info, archives, etc: http://www.letterboxing.org/list.html
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
about issues effecting public use of public environments. I suggest
the letterboxing community follow these considerate suggestions.
Jody Burns,
On Sun, 25 Mar 2001, John P. Rovetto wrote:
> I'm a former seasonal employee with the USDA Forest Service and would like
> to make some points and suggestions:
>
> 1) The first thing to kept in mind is that the Forest Service and the Park
> Service are two entirely different entities that reside in different
> departments of the federal government; Agriculture and Interior,
> respectively.
>
> 2) They have two widely differing management philosophies. There are times
> when they're very much at odds with each other. The USDA Forest Service
> believes in multiple use. The Park Service tends more towards preservation
> and recreation. Someone made a comment about allowing logging. This only
> happens on forest service land and only in designated areas.
>
> 3) I would suggest that the best way of approaching it is to bring the local
> official in on it and to allow him/her to be in on the maintenance of the
> box.
>
> 4) A good way of presenting it to them might be to explain it as a kind of
> glorified trail register. These are very common along trails in national
> parks and forests. People who pass sign in with their name, date, start and
> destination. This helps the managers keep track of usage.
>
> 5) Get in contact with a hiking club that operates in that forest/park. The
> Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) does trail upkeep and maintains many
> permanent shelters and base lodges.
>
> 6) Instead of sticking a Tupperware box in a crevice that might end up as
> litter on the side of the trail, consider offering to construct something
> more substantial like a mortared rock cairn.
>
> 7) Assure the officials that the clues will include instructions to check
> into the park office to report the hike.
>
> 8) Offer to place interpretive information in boxes near scenic and historic
> areas.
>
> 9) Remember, there's lot of bureaucrats in them darn woods! If their first
> introduction to letterboxing is negative, the memos will fly and it could
> conceivably touch off a letterbox holocaust on all federal land that might
> even spill over into state lands.
>
> 10) In conclusion, the best bet is accountability. The aforementioned
> hiking clubs are organized and incorporated entities with official contact
> people. They take long-term responsibility for their projects. If any
> old "Joe Blow" showed up at a park office and said he wanted to build a
> trail shelter, chances are he'd be sent packing post haste. So here's the
> final challenge: Is this just a casual thing that you do when it's
> convenient for you or are you ready to put your "John Hancock" where it
> counts? You'd have a better chance of getting onto federal lands if there
> were an organization that took responsibility for letterbox Maintenance and
> Census as well as for setting standards for placing letterboxes on those
> lands. Anyone who wanted to place a box on such lands would have to check
> in with them.
>
> Good Luck
>
> John P. Rovetto
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe: mailto:letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> List info, archives, etc: http://www.letterboxing.org/list.html
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
Re: [LbNA] Re: letterboxing in national parks
From: Roseann Gottier (rgott@gateway.net) |
Date: 2001-03-26 11:46:40 UTC-05:00
Mr. Rovetto definitely shared words of wisdom. "Boxers" are by the nature of
their hobby interested in protecting the National Parks, State parks and all
open space. We appreciate how special it is, that's why we are out there.
Direct communication with these officials would help to foster a
relationship built on respect. These Federal employees have to deal with
masses of people, numerous problems, and do so with a very small budget. We
need to ask for their input on how to make this a win/win situation.
----- Original Message -----
From: "J. Burns"
To:
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2001 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: [LbNA] Re: letterboxing in national parks
> This is a wonderful communication that exhibits the best of thoughtfulness
> about issues effecting public use of public environments. I suggest
> the letterboxing community follow these considerate suggestions.
>
> Jody Burns,
>
> On Sun, 25 Mar 2001, John P. Rovetto wrote:
>
> > I'm a former seasonal employee with the USDA Forest Service and would
like
> > to make some points and suggestions:
> >
> > 1) The first thing to kept in mind is that the Forest Service and the
Park
> > Service are two entirely different entities that reside in different
> > departments of the federal government; Agriculture and Interior,
> > respectively.
> >
> > 2) They have two widely differing management philosophies. There are
times
> > when they're very much at odds with each other. The USDA Forest Service
> > believes in multiple use. The Park Service tends more towards
preservation
> > and recreation. Someone made a comment about allowing logging. This
only
> > happens on forest service land and only in designated areas.
> >
> > 3) I would suggest that the best way of approaching it is to bring the
local
> > official in on it and to allow him/her to be in on the maintenance of
the
> > box.
> >
> > 4) A good way of presenting it to them might be to explain it as a kind
of
> > glorified trail register. These are very common along trails in
national
> > parks and forests. People who pass sign in with their name, date, start
and
> > destination. This helps the managers keep track of usage.
> >
> > 5) Get in contact with a hiking club that operates in that forest/park.
The
> > Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) does trail upkeep and maintains many
> > permanent shelters and base lodges.
> >
> > 6) Instead of sticking a Tupperware box in a crevice that might end up
as
> > litter on the side of the trail, consider offering to construct
something
> > more substantial like a mortared rock cairn.
> >
> > 7) Assure the officials that the clues will include instructions to
check
> > into the park office to report the hike.
> >
> > 8) Offer to place interpretive information in boxes near scenic and
historic
> > areas.
> >
> > 9) Remember, there's lot of bureaucrats in them darn woods! If their
first
> > introduction to letterboxing is negative, the memos will fly and it
could
> > conceivably touch off a letterbox holocaust on all federal land that
might
> > even spill over into state lands.
> >
> > 10) In conclusion, the best bet is accountability. The aforementioned
> > hiking clubs are organized and incorporated entities with official
contact
> > people. They take long-term responsibility for their projects. If
any
> > old "Joe Blow" showed up at a park office and said he wanted to build a
> > trail shelter, chances are he'd be sent packing post haste. So here's
the
> > final challenge: Is this just a casual thing that you do when it's
> > convenient for you or are you ready to put your "John Hancock" where it
> > counts? You'd have a better chance of getting onto federal lands if
there
> > were an organization that took responsibility for letterbox Maintenance
and
> > Census as well as for setting standards for placing letterboxes on those
> > lands. Anyone who wanted to place a box on such lands would have to
check
> > in with them.
> >
> > Good Luck
> >
> > John P. Rovetto
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To unsubscribe: mailto:letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> > List info, archives, etc: http://www.letterboxing.org/list.html
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe: mailto:letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> List info, archives, etc: http://www.letterboxing.org/list.html
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>