Hi'ya Gork,
Quotes being quotes, and all, perhaps you might like to tell us about this hiring of which you speak. Seems to me that the BLM is a semi modern agency that mutated into it's current "stewardship" via bureaucratic fiat. There was no hiring by citizens.
The concept of "Multiple Use" also seems to have fallen by the wayside, in favor of an ever broadening miasma of rule & regulation.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled book promotion...
surf:
Your basic assessment is good. Your intelligent assessment of the exact position of the BLM is correct. My statement was actually a mild criticism of the rhetoric that we often use in calling our Federal Lands "BLM Land." I was implying that we should correctly call these lands "
Federal Lands administered for us by the BLM." The emphasis is on "
for us." There are two sides to it as there are in many discussions. You are correct that the concept of "multiple land use" has fallen by the wayside, and here again, I agree with you.
Actually, I am on your side in many ways. It seems that the word "treasure" is a dirty word to some segments of our society, when it is just a word. In particular "Treasure Hunting" has a particularly bad connotation. But the fallacy is that
there is nothing wrong with it when done
legally. We should really have a
civil discussion on changing our laws. It is my opinion that the 1979 archeology act is a dysfunctional act as you have implied and it should be
changed through legislation. In Great Britain treasure is not a dirty word. If we had an act such as the
Treasure Trove Act of Great Britain it would bring us all into the fold and preserve our history at the same time. This act would probably meet the "multiple use" that our public lands were meant for. Instead of our bickering here we should use our energies to change the existing legislation.
Also, I do promote my book (as all authors rightly do) for two reasons. The history that the general public knows about the Butterfield Trail in Arizona has reached mythical proportions and I am very interested in our "true" history. If there is any part of what I have stated about the history of the Butterfield Trail that anyone disagrees with, let me know. I would love to have a
civil discussion about any of the historical accounts that you might disagree with as I am always looking for new information to pass on. And I sure would like to at least cover the costs of the book.
All authors promote their books, and indeed a number of people on this site have ordered my book. This is just normal. I have just returned from a two month speaking tour to many organizations in Arizona. One particularly receptive one was a prospecting club in Yuma. I have now given two talks to them, one about the Butterfield Trail in Arizona and one about mining in the Klondike.
So, as you can see we actually agree. There is no antagonism on my part towards you.