on 5/9/02 7:20 AM, trey klein at ehkiii@yahoo.com wrote:

> the national park service's apparently official stance
> on the subject of letterboxing (which they discovered
> while investigating those hole-digging geocachers, it
> seems) is a little discouraging to me! is this likely
> to be the position of other caretakers of our public
> land (where most lb's are hidden)? is it just a
> matter of time before more officials "discover"
> letterboxing, hunt down the boxes and destroy them
> (and use the self-addressed stamped postcards to send
> the "hefty fines" to the owners)? do any public
> entities officially (or unofficially) condone
> letterboxing? if so, how was this approval achieved?
>


I was amazed at the reactionary response to letterboxing as well. The
report makes it sound as if we are dealing drugs or poaching endangered
animals within the boundaries of these parks. In one of the reports they
mention discussing the dangers (or whatever the wording was) of geocaching
with whomever had hidden one in that particular park. I would like to have
been privvy to that conversation. Heaven forbid people should get out of
their cars and actually use the trail systems.

The NPS memo is so wrong-headed on so many levels, you'd need a chart
to illustrate it. But among other things, it suggests that they lump
letterboxers & geocachers together in the same heap. That's bad news
for us. I'm sure most geocachers behave responsibly, but a
percentage of them don't.
For example, I learned of a geocache placed near one of my
letterboxes. Among the "prizes" placed in the cache was a bottle of
liquor. According to a post on the geocache website, a subsequent
visitor dumped the box & it's contents all over the ground. If we
letterboxers start getting linked to that sort of sub-idiotic
behavior, our days are numbered.
Also, some state parks & other jurisdictions will likely take their
cue from whatever the NPS does, so it's a potential headache for all
of us.
Geocachers need to begin a serious effort to police themselves, & we
all need to keep a close eye on developments with the NPS.

Ron

One of the last letterboxing trips I took was a series of 3 boxes. The first
box, which was missing, is an example of why it is more than "people getting
out of their cars and actually using the trail systems." The clue mentioned
the box was hidden in a hole by some roots of a cedar tree just off the
trail. What I found was many hole dug in the roots of a number of cedar
trees. Looks a bit like a badger party gone bad, the ground was torn up all
over. Not good at all.

If we do not want letterboxing to go the way of the geotrashers it might be
time to take a close look at our practices. If we are leaving the trail to
hide a box, we have lost the battle before it starts. Many areas frown on
people leaving the trail because it makes new trails. I have found a number
of letterboxes with the help of the new trail leading to it.

Not only do we need to be stealthy when hiding a box but also we need to be
stealthy when looking for them. The best case would be making it part of
letterboxing etiquette to not leave the trail to hide a box but to find a
place within reach from the trail.


Glenn





----- Original Message -----
From: "Thom Cheney"
To:
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: [LbNA] national park service position


> on 5/9/02 7:20 AM, trey klein at ehkiii@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> > the national park service's apparently official stance
> > on the subject of letterboxing (which they discovered
> > while investigating those hole-digging geocachers, it
> > seems) is a little discouraging to me! is this likely
> > to be the position of other caretakers of our public
> > land (where most lb's are hidden)? is it just a
> > matter of time before more officials "discover"
> > letterboxing, hunt down the boxes and destroy them
> > (and use the self-addressed stamped postcards to send
> > the "hefty fines" to the owners)? do any public
> > entities officially (or unofficially) condone
> > letterboxing? if so, how was this approval achieved?
> >
>
>
> I was amazed at the reactionary response to letterboxing as well. The
> report makes it sound as if we are dealing drugs or poaching endangered
> animals within the boundaries of these parks. In one of the reports they
> mention discussing the dangers (or whatever the wording was) of geocaching
> with whomever had hidden one in that particular park. I would like to
have
> been privvy to that conversation. Heaven forbid people should get out of
> their cars and actually use the trail systems.
>
>

Well, I have found that letterboxes are not trash
according to Websters dictionary. Trash is more
closely defined as something discarded, left behind
and forgotten about forever. This doesn't fit the
description of letterboxes. In fact, when we place, we
strive to maintain the placement site and any
environmental impact the box placement might have.
My two cents worth.

~The Ram~
--- trey klein wrote:
> the national park service's apparently official
> stance
> on the subject of letterboxing (which they
> discovered
> while investigating those hole-digging geocachers,
> it
> seems) is a little discouraging to me! is this
> likely
> to be the position of other caretakers of our public
> land (where most lb's are hidden)? is it just a
> matter of time before more officials "discover"
> letterboxing, hunt down the boxes and destroy them
> (and use the self-addressed stamped postcards to
> send
> the "hefty fines" to the owners)? do any public
> entities officially (or unofficially) condone
> letterboxing? if so, how was this approval
> achieved?
>
>
> NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
> MORNING REPORT
>
> To: All National Park Service Areas and
> Offices
> From: Division of Ranger Activities,
> Washington
> Day/Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2001
>
> OPERATIONAL NOTES
>
> Geocaching - There is a new web-based activity
> called
> geocaching that has affected several National Park
> Service areas. The Ranger...
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Shopping - Mother's Day is May 12th!
> http://shopping.yahoo.com
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
http://launch.yahoo.com