Collecting in Florida/ Uptight National Park Rangers

[Hank Brodkin]

Very recently I was reprimanded by a ranger to whom I (out of courtesy)
CC'd a report to this mail list of three butterflies, none of them rare
or unusual,  that I had spotted on National Park property.
To my great surprise I was asked not to report butterflies on the web
that I see on that particular National Park property. I received a
somewhat hysterical harangue about people netting butterflies - both for
collecting and for catch and release for ID purposes in National Parks.
It is, of course, illegal to net butterflies in National Parks, period,
and in Parks I use binoculars only - but what is triggering this
paranoical (sp?) reaction on the part of  National Park employees
remains a mystery to me.
Am I not correct in assuming that National Parks do belong to the people
and that Park employees in the US are employees of citizens in the US -
and that information on organisms in these Parks should be made
available to the public?
Since this was a ranger with whom I have and continue to have a working
relationship  (though maybe not if she sees this post),  I was, to put
it mildly, dumbfounded by the reaction to this humble butterfly watcher
reporting three unendangered and common species that he sees on federal
property.
I have no intention, of course, of  following this Ranger's
unconstitutional (freedom of speech) suggestion and I intend to use that
Park for more of my butterfly surveys in the future.
Cheers!


--
  Hank Brodkin, Nicksville, AZ
              31.44 Degrees N, 110.23 Degrees W
        send mailto:hankb at theriver.com