Jen,
I'm responding to your message regarding the FOIA request, but I've
changed the Subject to SWR Regionals, because the issue of the FOIA request and
how it was done has brought up another significant issue -- attendance of SWR
regional events.
Times have changed. The SWR regionals used to be the highlights of the
year, caving wise. (Those who've been around a while will agree with me, I'm
sure.) While the grottos had their own social groups, the real scene for
interaction with other cavers was during the regionals. Cavers planned their
activities around the regionals, not in conflict with them.
I remember my very first regional -- a Winter Tech in Carlsbad in
December of 1974. Linda Starr was the regional chair. I remember talking with
other cavers around the state for the first time, planning a trip to look for
Madonna. Not many folks (that I knew, at any rate) had been to the cave at
that point, but it was already a legend and lots of folks wanted to go to it.
This was before GPS locations. It was, "take the low ridge past . . ., head
down the right side . . . look for a tree . . ." The thrill of being involved
with other cavers in a search like this, while still a relative novice compared
to others, was fantastic! The people that I had read about in reports in the
Southwestern Cavers were there "in the flesh" -- they were real people and they
even talked to me!
The region went through flush times, but also grim times in terms of
participation. I recall one regional where only a half a dozen people showed
up. But there was never any question where the real power in the organized
caving scene in New Mexico was. When there was a cave related need or issue,
it was the SWR that responded. Cave restoration projects (McKittrick Hill,
Fort Stanton Cave, Carlsbad Caverns), cave gates (Fort Stanton Cave, Coffee
Cave, Yellowjacket, Virgin), cave impact issues (motorcycle races in the Guads,
Fee Demo). There is power in numbers and the region is where the numbers
are, in terms of the organized caving community.
Yes, times have changed. The organized caving community is older, many
graybeards, families are grown, access is more difficult, caving is no longer
an every weekend activity. Traveling to a regional costs more. Because of the
closure issue, worthwhile sites for regionals are more limited. But the need
is still there.
The federal agencies cannot, and should not, manage their resources
properly in a vacuum. They must have a dialog with their various interest
groups to effectively do their job. In the current situation, that dialog
seems to have broken down, for whatever reason.
It is time for us to step up, once again, to restore that dialog with
the BLM. But don't depend on a few aging graybeards to carry the load. Show
your support for the region. Come to the meeting and make your voice heard!
June 14 in the Black Range -- several well decorated caves to visit --
the region needs you!
On Jun 4, 2014, at 12:20 AM, jen . wrote:
>
> Hope this isn't too disjointed, but trying to type an inline response, to a
> response, to a response, was getting confusing for me.
>
> Though some people actively participate in SWR, most only do once every few
> years, and some just try to keep up with events by reading emails and
> newsletters. The lack of a quorum for most SWR issues is necessary to get
> anything done.
>
> As far as caving vs SWR meetings goes, I caved at the last SWR because I am
> horribly stubborn that we should have caving. It was pooptastic! A trip
> report is in the latest Southwestern Cavers for your armchair enjoyment. I
> will be missing this SWR for a previously scheduled cave trip, and expect the
> same for the next, as of now still unscheduled meeting.
>
> The internet is still in it's infancy here. I am laughing heartily and will
> say that since we can't even put specific meeting locations on the web, there
> is no way we will get past loud paranoia to put any kind of voting on the
> web. The was some recent surprise that there were already a bunch of
> existing unused liaison contacts on the webpage (I'm one!) and there is no
> decision on what to do about that yet.
>
> A liaison is a person who helps organizations or groups to work together and
> provide information to each other (Mirriam Webster). I guess a FOIA sorta
> does that. Yes, BLM could communicate better with us..... but NM BLM is the
> only management agency response I have seen to the OK bat across the country.
> Seriously, our non-responsive agency is the only one to have responded and
> it was to SWR members directly. There has been a (limited) dialog in the
> closure issue, we had two meetings more than anywhere else in the country.
> And with the 20 year ago fee demo debacle added in, yes, SWR has done a good
> job of being a nest of fire ants to get work done in the end. Whether or
> not is was a mistake, it is done. And heck, Wikipedia says "Ant bites are
> often said to have curative properties."
>
>
> Jen
>
>
>
>
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Steve Peerman
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from
the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
attributed to Mark Twain, but no record exists of his having written this.
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