While Gluesenkamp won't remember it, Devil's Sinkhole did just fine
without "management," which always seems to mean managing cavers. And
access was open even to scientists, although that cuts no mustard with
me. Scientists are not a privileged class of people, and their claim
to a resource is no more important than anybody else's. This includes
archaeologists, paleontologists, geologists, and biologists. (And the
physicists I used to work with, too, of course. But at least
physicists don't generally claim special or exclusive access to
caves.) A new private owner _might_ have closed the cave, but at least
private owners eventually sell or die. A government owner was certain
to severely restrict it, and governments, at least outside the Middle
East, tend to live longer than people. Governments are suckers for
special interests more than most private owners are--witness the
difference in access between government-owned and privately owned
caves in the southeastern US these days. They also, for some reason,
tend to worry more about allowing people to hurt themselves. Cavers
can and have foolishly promoted government acquisition or management
of a cave as a protection measure only to find themselves locked out.
I don't know that cavers had anything to do with the state's buying
Devil's Sinkhole. I'd like to think not.
-- Mixon
----------------------------------------
Do you really think it is weakness to yield to temptation? There are
terrible temptations that require strength and courage to yield to.
----------------------------------------
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