Hi Matt the Rat ! and all LbNA folken

Thanks for the response..

I was pleased to see your thoughts and the many replies about this issue.

I thought I might reply to LbNA but then maybe as I am a Brit I thought
perhaps I should keep out of the discussion...

but well here is is...and I hope that's OK...

Before I add a few more pennies worth do let me assure all that I wasn't
trying to suggest that thee or anyone in particular was being sneaky....

I agree that the NPS do a great job but I do believe that like all govt
dept folks,these folk will need time to learn about, appreciate and adapt
to the changes in the world...like Letterboxing

Keeping the parks pristine is fine and worthy..Lucky for you to have
pristine parks...

Dartmoor is not pristine.

Nowhere in England is natural...everything has had the hand of man on it !

So we don't have the same perspectives....However, our moor has its own
heritage too.

It has stone age towns on it...as old as Stonehenge..It has middle stone
age stone circles and lines of stones....hundreds ! They are very mystic
and eerie. It has Celtic and Viking crosses and ancient Christian
remains ..It has early (very early) ancient trackways and pack horse
trails..it has stone "clapper bridges" from the same period..it has a moor
wide contour water system (like tiny canals) called leats that date from
the middle ages ..it has field patterns of early settlement, early
industrial remains, old water mills, foundries, smelting plants, even dark
underground mine workings a wonder to discover...Then on top again there
are rail and track systems for man hauling minerals, to horse ways and all
kinds of railroad remains up to and including the age of steam...It has a
Napoleonic period prison and man made reservoirs, lakes and
forests.....From the green perspective it has strange and rare plants,
bottomless quaking mires, clamberable hills dotted with freely wandering
ponies, and other wandering rare breed animals; butterflies and other
curious insects and so many birds that some days it is hard to miss their
wheeling and joyful chatter...and it has Tors..strange outcrops of rock
with ancient geological significance...Dartmoor is also the high plateau
that is the source and home of the River Dart which frequently changes
from a wide tranquil waterway in which to bath or picnic besides into a
murderous white water torrent ..and all in a matter of minutes..It has
legends of ghosts, devils, mad abbots, demons, witches, hairy hands, The
Baskerfield Hounds, and "old folk" (like benign elves). It even has a
mysterious "beast" which (supposedly) stalks the moors...which many have
seen..I even claim to have "heard its heavy footfalls and soft breathing"
! It has deep mist pockets, bright hilltops and green swaths of empty
moorland...Quite a magic kingdom in fact ....If Disney had designed
it...folk would say there are too may E-rides !

Despite all this ..it is open and free to wander and enjoy !

Certainly we are careful to preserve the landscape...and we move (and
re-site) our boxes to avoid tracks and wear to the landscape.

But all of this is in a tiny area compared with any park in the US....No
Letterboxing in the USA can have the effect that 10,000 boxes in 365
square miles can have on Dartmoor !

...and thousands of walkers enjoy Dartmoor every year and have no idea
that the boxes are there..and can't even see em !


So that is our experience...

Now maybe if I may be permitted...can I add another two cents about maybe
what might happen in your own back yard...

and yeah, "sure", its none of my business..

so again here I go where angels fear to tread...

This is just one old man's thoughts ...with respect...

May I suggest that maybe NOW is the time to be proactive in defence of the
hobby in the USA.

Lobby your representative and get the game recognised and understood...

Make First Contact..

Don't wait for a NO !

Go out and explain why yes is the only answer...

As to Geocachers ..well, either make love or war..but I think that the
decision must be made..are they an enemy or should you all be on the same
team...?

Luckily we don't have to chose here..we only have boxing.

I wouldn't keep looking out for and worrying about tales of fines and
strange notes and phantom memos.

If Letterboxing is worth the penny then its worth a letter or email to
your local and national elected politicians to advise them what you are
doing and to help them to do the right thing.

One day I've gotta get me some US F counts ... I am just waiting till you
get enough boxes sited to make it easier for me !

So do please protect the hobby..even if only for me !

That's the end of my 2c worth...!

I will now certainly keep my head down...

Hope what I have said doesn't offend...I didn't intend to do so !

Just Happy Boxing to us all !

Graham Howard
aka The Moorland Wizard

--- In letterbox-usa@y..., Graham Howard wrote:

>
>

>

>
> Lobby your representative and get the game recognised and
understood...
>
> Make First Contact..
>
> Don't wait for a NO !
>
If Letterboxing is worth the penny then its worth a letter or email to
> your local and national elected politicians to advise them what you
are
> doing and to help them to do the right thing.
> Graham Howard
> aka The Moorland Wizard

Words of the Wise from afar. Thanks , 2 cents can buy a lot even in
these times. We would be wise to begin a quiet campaign to make our
hobby an accepted form of park use. It can happen I am happy to say
that my Mansfield Hollow Park has been most welcoming. I did not
approach them but since the planting of the boxes it has become
recognised and accepted I became a member of the board of "Friends
of Mansfield Hollow" which has members of many park use groups. (
Bikers, canoe club , dog walkers, ball players , fishing and
LETTERBOXING) now I have a local voice and so many others understand
our purpose. I would like to think it can be done. It may be a slow
process to recieve acceptance in the national Parks but 'pursuit of
happiness 'is an American ideal lets exercise it through the right
channels.
Someone once called the Hollow my Dartmoor I was so pleased
with the comparison in term, but it is nothing in reality, your
history and geographic wonders and of course wild ponies can't be
matched anywhere. Someday I hope to see it. Someday I hope you see
ours. Thanks for always listening, and for the ocasional 2 cents.
Carol - Leader of the Pack

Hello letterboxers and geocachers

Hello friends...

I have had such a flurry of personal emails it is hard to respond to
them...

But now I have to say openly on this list "SORRY I WAS WRONG" !

Ooops..!

"""No "Them & Us" here please !"""

My many friends in the WOM* (word of mouth) letterboxing community have
been emailing me to let me know...and a wonderful young woman from San
Diego also put me straight ...Thanks again Jane...(The freedom of the
internet is magic isn't it !)

****So what did I get wrong ?

Well it transpires that..

"There are loads of geocahes here in the UK and on Dartmoor too !"

Ooops I am getting old and out of touch !

But perhaps the most important thing is that the UK parks authorities see
both hobbies as equally valid and decent. They simply ask that both
communities be as careful and caring on the the moor and respect THE SAME
rules !

So if ever the evidence for "No more Them and Us" was needed ..well there
it is !

Maybe we Brits can say that we brought Letterboxing to the US ..but
certainly you have sent us geocaching back and I am told it is alive and
well in Britain !

So now its definitely down to you good folk..like Carol - Leader of the
Pack in Mansfield Hollow Park to help the NPA appreciate the
hobbies...becoming a friend of the park is a great idea...If you love to
walk and enjoy the park then you surely are already its friend...

I do believe that "fear of the unknown" can cause the most serious errors
and decisions...even between hobbyist like geocachers and letterboxers.
So how much more likely a misunderstanding between someone who has a duty
of care (like a ranger) faced by a strange person who hides stuff in their
domain ?...and if they then read their contact-lists they will find
comparable claims that each other hobby is digging full blown quarries to
hide their stuff too !

But when we explain the quiet gentle way we go about it and the craft and
the care and decent way we respect the environment and the mystery and
puzzling and clues and the walking in wonderful places and then hunting
for "treasure" ..and even the voyages of discovery of the open country for
young children too...wow

..How can they ban that ???

(even if you get wet and cold and dirty and tired and frustrated by these
*** clues !...)

I advocate a peace treaty be signed soon .. or "lets make love not war"...

Then a pro-active mutual message will surely be most powerful !


Then PAX BRITANICUS to us all

(OK maybe "that" is going too far )


So Happy Boxing to us all (and geocaching too)

Long live the caring letterboxers
Long live the caring geocachers

Graham Howard
aka The Moorland Wizard


*WOM ..in England we even have secret clues only shared between our
closest friends..in order to prevent sabotage ! These are distributed via
letter and email and are known as WOM clues (word of mouth)..

Director
National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
Phone: (202) 208-6843

There may be another, better place to view our opinion, but I haven't found
it in my search today.