I presume Jacqueline Buchanan is the District Ranger of the Guadalupe District. I rather doubt that she has the financial authority to hire a cave specialist. The decision to replace or create a position is almost certainly made at a higher level, particularly in light of the current federal budget deficit. The District Ranger likely submits requests for positions to be filled, but I'd be astonished if the sole responsibility for hiring and release of federal funds, discretionary or otherwise, were made at the local level.
Comments would be better delivered to the District 3 Forest Supervisor, 333 Broadway SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102 (505) 842-3292 in Albuquerque, or the USFS Chief Thomas Tidwell, 1400 Independence Ave., SW Washington, D.C. 20250-0003 (800) 832-1355, or ultimately the Dept. of Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20250 Information Hotline: (202) 720-2791 . If anyone has the missing name or email addresses of the above please post. Right or wrong, cavers have been the true managers of Guad caves for over 50 years. The USFS needs to be made aware (again!) that they have an ethical and moral responsibility (and I believe an M.O.U. with NSS) to provide management of and permitted access to Guadalupe Caves. Failure to do so will lead to clandestine trips, gate damage or removal, and cave vandalism, as the past has repeatedly proven. Jim Evatt ----- Original Message ----- From: Gill Edigar To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 12:18 PM Subject: [Texascavers] Fwd: [NMCAVER] LNF closing for recreational caving ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: jen. <[email protected]> Date: Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 12:41 PM Subject: [NMCAVER] LNF closing for recreational caving To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] It is my understanding that the Guadalupe District of the Lincoln National Forest in NM is no longer issuing recreational caving permits due to their lack of funding for a cave specialist. I have heard rumors they might be considering allowing commercial guides. In 1998 the NSS agreed to provide volunteer services to Forest Service cave programs in lieu of Fee Demonstration Projects being applied to caves. Over 1/2 million dollars of Volunteer Value has been provided on this district of the forest by cavers since then. The Forest Service needs to provide funding for a cave specialist for this district, continue to manage their caves, and issue recreational cave permits to the public per their cave management plan. Contact Forest Supervisor: Jacqueline (Jacque) A. Buchanan [email protected] _______________________________________________ NMCAVER mailing list [email protected] http://caver.net/mailman/listinfo/nmcaver_caver.net
