[Geysers] vandalism

[Ron Keam]

An "official" letter to NPS from GOSA deploring the vandalism, 
pointing out the desirability of not changing the path location etc, 
and reinforcing the desire anjd determination of GOSA members to 
co-operate with and abide by NPS regulations etc (though occasionally 
disagreeing with them) would I think go a long way to letting this 
matter settle quickly and without adverse effects.

Regards
Ron Keam

>A message From David
>Monteith                                                        10/26
>
>A couple of comments. The first is a thanks to Steve for his Great Fountain
>report. The second is more disturbing but of importance.
>
>Steve, your description of Great Fountain sounds very similar to what I've
>seen in the past as Great Fountain recovered from a wild phase. It took
>about a week for Great Fountain to "recover" from the last wild phase that
>I saw. In the first few days following the wild phase, Great Fountain was
>low and quiet. A day or two preceding the first eruptive phase after the
>wild phase, Great Fountain's pool cycled repeatedly just as you indicated.
>And, like you, the first eruptions I've seen coming out of the wild phase
>tended to be fairly short in duration, though I've seen some nice height.
>Unlike you, though, I did not post my observations, something I regret.
>Thanks for sharing.
>
>The vandalism of the Aurum fence was despicable. The fence is needed to
>protect winter visitors. While the fence was a nuisance to summer gazers,
>solutions were being worked on. My favorite was an offer by geyser gazers
>to remove the fence each summer season and reinstall it each fall (the
>fence was only attached by 12 bolts and could easily have been removed with
>enough manpower.) Unfortunately, the vandals made this option nearly
>impossible. The vandalism was carefully thought out. It not only destroyed
>the fence so it was not reusable, it was also done in such a way so that
>there was no damage to the thermal features. All small pieces and sawdust
>were removed; the area was left very clean. The two large pieces of the
>fence were moved away from Aurum and placed where they would not damage
>thermal features and could not be used by visitors to damage thermal
>features. It took three park service employees to pickup and move each of
>the fence sections. Thus, it was probably a group that vandalized the
>fence. The destruction was complete and appears to have been meant to send
>a message. The vandalism occurred the night of the annual Labor Day social.
>
>So, what is the fallout of this? Well, the most telling is that the park
>service's initial report was that the vandals are probably "rogue geyser
>gazers." (The circumstances, the night involved and the evidence I saw
>leads me to the same conclusion. A conclusion which disgusts me.) It is
>encouraging that our relationship with the park service has improved to the
>point that they didn't blame all of us. But, the action of these vandals
>reflects on us all. It damages our relationship with the park. It shows a
>disregard for the rules and more importantly a disregard for protection of
>the park resources. I strongly condemn the action of these vandals. I hope
>they are caught and expelled from the park. If I find out who did this I
>will do everything I can to make that happen.
>
>Dave Monteith
>
>At 11:16 AM 10/25/06 -0600, you wrote:
>Greetings and Salutations,
>
>I made a quick four day visit to the park Friday to Monday and finally
>caught Giant from the start. More on that later, but Great Fountain was
>not acting normally so I thought I'd start by relating what it was
>doing.
>
>.
>.
>.
>
>
>Stephen Eide
>
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>Geysers at wwc.edu
>https://mailman.wwc.edu/mailman/listinfo/geysers
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Geysers mailing list
>Geysers at wwc.edu
>https://mailman.wwc.edu/mailman/listinfo/geysers

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Ron Keam
The Physics Department
The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92-019
Auckland
New Zealand
Phone +64 9 373-7599 extension 87931
FAX +64 9 373-7445
EMail r.keam at auckland.ac.nz
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