For your information:
The following was posted to both the New Mexico and Texascavers remailers.
It clarifies a lot of the information going around recently about the
Lincoln National Forest caves and personnel. Jacqui
Subject: Lincoln Cave Program, Information round one
From: jabucha...@fs.fed.us
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 14:10:35 -0700
Hi folks,
I just wanted to let all of you know that much of what you are hearing
about the cave situation in Carlsbad is simply not true. Both my staff
and I have been working on a plan for not only keeping the program going
but to actually improve it from where it has been in the past. We are
currently dealing with a turnover in staff there on the District but not
to the degree that rumors seem to indicate. Deanna Younger, the Assistant
District Rec Staff/Cave Program Manager left about 7 months ago to take a
job at the BLM. We immediately flew that position and have back filled it
with a gentleman from Florida so there has been NO decision to remove a
position. The issue we do have is that we did not have any applicants
with Cave experience that applied for the job so we are now in a position
that we have to get this person trained up as quick as possible. We are
looking at multiple options for his training as well as how to keep the
program fully functional until he is trained. We are fortunate to have
the NPS in proximity so we are exploring how we might be able to use the
expertise they have to help us out. We still have the Rec Staff Officer
in place there (Larry Paul) and considering that he has been overseeing
the Rec program as well as supervising the Assistant Rec Staff/Cave
manager for 7+ years I would expect the District to be able to keep up
with a majority of the request coming in although we are going to have to
prioritize the permits for approval. We are concerned with the oversight
of the caves in regard to vandalism and we are trying hard to figure out
what options we have for that. My District Ranger position at Carlsbad is
also vacant at this time and we are working hard to have that position
filled as soon as possible. Until the DR position is filled we will be
handling some of the work from the Supervisors office here in Alamogordo.
In regards to the Cave Tech position that keeps coming up, that is a
position that I added to the org chart in 2009 in hopes of getting a
second position in place at Carlsbad. To be clear, there has not been a
Cave Tech in that office for over 7 years so not having it filled at this
time has nothing to do with our commitment to the program. In fact, it
shows my commitment to the program since I personally am the one who
approved putting it back on the Organizational Chart.
I fully recognize the importance of the Cave Program at Carlsbad and being
a cave enthusiast myself I understand the concern that all of you have.
I hope that from this point forward, each of you will help us make our
Cave Program the best in the National Forest System. As a part of the
opportunity we now have, I would very much like to offer all of you the
chance to have input in how we move this program forward. I am trying to
set up a meeting with the other agencies during the week of February 22
and I would like to meet with any of you that have an interest as well.
Right now I am planning on being in Carlsbad on the 22 and 23 of February
and I would like to set up a meeting at the District office for 600 pm on
the evening of the 22nd to get input from the cave community. Please let
me know if any of you are interested in meeting with me to discuss the
program and options for the future.
We will be sending out an information statement on Monday to all of you
that captures most of what I stated above as well additional information
on our current approach for processing permit applications. I encourage
all of you take advantage of the opportunity to be a part of our future
program in a productive manner. You have my personal commitment that the
Lincoln fully recognizes the importance of the cave system we manage as
well as the importance of serving the public that we work for.
Please feel free to email or call me if you have questions or concerns.
My cell phone number is 575-644-9768 and I am happy to visit with anyone
that has a question. Please feel free to share this email or the
information sheet we will send you Monday with anyone that is interested.
Jacque
Jacqueline Buchanan
Forest Supervisor
Lincoln National Forest
575/434-7306
jabucha...@fs.fed.us
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