Collecting In the Huachucas

[Hank & Priscilla Brodkin]

Doug Yanega wrote:

> 
> It would also help if *you* got your facts straight. It so happens that I
> was one of the people in that group (no one was "leading" it, really), and
> we were NOT collecting butterflies there. We were driving through, stopped
> to go to the restroom and throw out our trash (the Coronado National
> Memorial is basically a parking lot, a plaque, and an outhouse, covering a
> few acres, tops - and about the only restroom for about 30 miles in either
> direction), and one member of our group of 10 pulled out his net to kill
> some time while others were taking some pictures and such. Within a matter
> of minutes, a park ranger pulled up in his Bronco and asked him what he was
> doing, confiscated his net, proceeded to search his vehicle, then grilled
> us and forced us to sit in the sun for two hours (while he took pictures of
> the net and filled out his paperwork) - even though our colleague hadn't
> collected anything, and even though it was nowhere indicated as we
> approached the area that it was National Parks land. Be honest - how many
> of you *automatically* assume that a "National Memorial" that occupies a
> few acres qualifies as a National Park, or that a ranger will be lurking
> around such a place accusing people with nets of being criminals? Do you
> HONESTLY think that anyone in ANY group of entomologists would be so stupid
> as to attempt to collect in an area that was clearly a National Park?
>         If anyone here is not a credit to his office, it's an officious,
> surly, condescending Park Ranger who issues 200 dollar fines for
> "possession of an insect net in a National Park" to polite, cooperative
> people who had no idea that it WAS a National Park, and forces them to sit
> for hours in the sun while he sits in his car and writes out the citations.
> He didn't CARE whether we knew it was a National Park or not, he didn't
> CARE whether any insects had actually been collected, he only cared about
> writing out that citation and - evidently - spreading more false rumors
> about how evil those butterfly collectors are, to come into his Park (with
> a legal, registered, loaded handgun stashed away securely in one vehicle,
> no less! Who could ever imagine that people on camping trips in remote
> areas near the Mexican border might actually be worried about their
> safety?!) and knowingly collect insects illegally. In fact, he claimed that
> university people come onto his land all the time and intentionally collect
> illegally, and he informed us that if we had actually *collected* any
> insects, he would have assessed an *additional* 200 dollar fine, on top of
> the one for possession of the net. I, for one, would like to know if simple
> possession of a net in a National Park really IS illegal, and whether that
> truly means that people on collecting trips in Arizona are breaking the law
> every time they drive through the Coronado National Memorial (you cannot
> drive along that road WITHOUT passing through it). I also can't believe
> anyone would actually waste their time collecting *IN* the CNM (as the
> ranger implied) when you can collect completely legally a few hundred yards
> up or down the road from it, *except* purely by accident.
>         You were fed the version of the story that makes it sound like the
> Ranger was the good guy, and I can assure you, he was not. I've dealt with
> plenty of parks people over the years, and this was the meanest-spirited
> individual I've ever met in such a position. Those of us on the trip were
> even planning to file a complaint about his behavior - or do you honestly
> believe that Park Rangers should routinely issue 200 dollar fines for every
> accidental violation of unposted rules, instead of giving a simple warning?
> Is "guilty until proven innocent" *your* preferred approach??
>         Ordinarily, I never would have brought this unpleasant encounter up
> in public, but you compelled me to respond. But heck, maybe it's a good
> thing this came out in public - I have half a mind to organize a protest,
> attended by the media, where a few hundred insect collectors gather at the
> CNM and wave our nets in the air in front of the ranger, and see if he
> feels like writing citations to all of us while the cameras are rolling.
> Maybe THAT would alert people to the absurdity of the whole thing.
> Possession of an insect net is NOT a crime, people, and it's a sad and
> twisted excuse for logic that's required to *make* it one.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
> phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>            http://insects.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
>   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82


Doug -
I'm glad you did answer my post.  There are two sides to every story and
I appreciate hearing your side.  It sounds like there was over reaction
on the part of NPS.
BTW I am also forwarding your reply to Southwest Leps to whom I also
sent my post.
In defense of the Park personnel at Coronado, many of whom I know,
including the Superintedent, whom I like to think of as a personal
friend.  Coronado has been put in an untenable position.  With an
extremely small staff they are trying to enforce the rules as they see
them.
Thousands of people use the park as a way to enter the country
illegally.  They have had problems with folks poaching endangered herps
and other types of animals and are trying desperatley to keep the park
in some sort of pristine condition - and are sworn to protect the
wildlife in the park.
The fact that they are sometimes overzealous in the performance of their
jobs is perhaps a result of the strain put on the one law eforcement
Ranger having to deal daily with a mutlitude of problems. I will have to
admit that I do not know whether posessing a net in your car on National
Park land is illegal - as I have driven there with a net in my car. 
Certainly waving a net on National Park land in front of the visitor's
center is not a prudent thing to do.  I do know that having a loaded gun
in your car on National Park Land is illegal.
One thing I can not buy in your argument is that someone in your group
did not know that Coronado National Memorial is part of the National
Park system. I have seen your name often enough on these posts to find
this hard to believe - but I will take your word for it.
If you really feel you have a beef - I will be happy to supply you with
the name and e-mail of the Superintendent - so at the very least some
sense can be made out of this unfortunate episode.
Sincerely -

Hank

-- 
	             Hank & Priscilla Brodkin
	          Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ
                    Lat: 31.450, Long: 110.267
             SouthEast Arizona Butterfly Association
          http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabasa/home.html