Hi all,
I have been asked to post something on the meeting that was held between the
Forest Service and the caving community on Feb 22nd in Carlsbad. The following
is a combination of my recollections and notes taken by Dave Belski.
The meeting was led by Jacquline (Jacque) Buchanan of the Forest Service.
There were approximately eight or nine Forest Service personnel attending.
Since I sat in the front of the room I did not get a chance to do a head count
on the number of cavers present but I estimate somewhere between 30 and 40.
The caving community showed that we are very diverse and have very differing
desires. The issue of distrust of the Forest Service was clearly stated by
several of the cavers.
The following notes were taken by Dave Belski and I have made a few minor
changes to them. Where it refers to “she” the “she” is Jacque.
She did say that Jerry Trout was retiring in March and she would try
to get his position moved to the Lincoln National Forest. She said it could
happen in
March.
I got the impression that she had no idea she was walking into a buzz
saw. When she got back to the states in January she had an e-mail
clogged with comments, most curt.
Her opening statement was she wanted to hear the good, the bad and the
ugly. She heard it!
She said she was told she had three weeks to clear up this district as
to the caving problem. She had re-instated Ransom's position but
funding got cut in the 1 Million $ range.
She wants to live up to the "Caring for the land and servicing people"
motto.
Her plan is two fold
1. Short term solution- regarding recreational permits
A 3 March meeting with BLM and NPS to ask for help in formulating a
way to get the recreational position filled. Attempt to get temporay help from
the other two agencies
2. Work on the problem of personnel getting promoted and moving out or
getting better job offers and moving out. Insure that there is a system in
place to acquire replacements that are qualified individuals. She is now aware
of the requirement that any replacements have vertical caving capabilities.
She said she has a good track record getting $$$ She wants any $$$ she
gets to be tied directly to the cave position.
She is shooting for two positions. Dave asked her what level she would be
trying to get. She said she would like to have a 11 and a 7 but would
be satisfied with a 9 and a 7. She is going to try to get the funding
within 2 months. The positions will be flown both demo and merit. (in
house and out house so to speak) She said she wants individuals who get
the positions to be vertically qualified cavers and ready to step into
the program. It was recommended that the job positions be posted in the
NSS NEWS.
She said she was 85% sure of getting the two positions. She alluded to knowing
how to handle Washington pressure.
She wants to see all the things that as of now are bad with the
Lincoln/guads cave/rec program.
Scott House told her that
1 The resource must have the highest priority
2.Management needs to meet this priority
3.Must have a cave management plan
4.Must live up to the Cave Management Plan
She was not aware of a MOU between the NSS and USFS. Dave had a copy
and provided it to her.
She said that there had not been a needs assessment done in a very long
time. One will be done.
She was firm in saying that there would be NO outfitter guide system
established in the forest. A discussion on the current trip leader/guide
requirements
needed to get into some of the caves was handled. She agreed that the current
rules for acting as a guide/trip leader should be reviewed and revised.
Larry Paul from the forest service office in Carlsbad tried to explain the
current situation and why he decided to close the caves. It did not go over
well. He basically made the decision as they (the Forest Service) had no
qualified cavers on staff to oversee any type of rescue should one be required.
She said they knew of 117 forest caves. Well short of the total on the
books. The NSS SWR cave files have the Lincoln with 386 caves and the Forest
with a total of 487 caves.
She promised action.
She wants to:
find out what is not working
what can we do different
how can we fix the cave permit program
The Forest Service is developing a proposal to go up the chain in the Forest
Service to raise the level of attention that is given to the caves in the
guads. She realizes that they are world class caves and wants to give both the
caves and the caving community the attention that we believe is appropriate.
The proposal will be in final draft in one month and she will make it available
to the caving community for input and comment.
Now that "we" have her attention and she knows from where we are coming from,
an inter regional meeting is next. We really need to speak with one voice (if
that is possible).
Ken
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469230/direct/01/
_______________________________________________
NMCAVER mailing list
[email protected]
http://caver.net/mailman/listinfo/nmcaver_caver.net
