Limiting the number of dives.

[Line Squirrel]

Every outdoor activity I've ever been involved in has a subgroup that wishes the noobs would go away and its rising popularity hadn't happened.

There are always some exceptions but for the most part, most everybody wants to close the door behind them, it's human nature.

(Note to self - use more smiley faces when being tongue in cheek)

Tell me about it. I can't believe how many people thought I was being serious about banning everybody certified since 2001.

(Just about everybody I dive with falls in that category. It was a jab at THEM.)

[bletso]

(Note to self - use more smiley faces when being tongue in cheek)

Tell me about it. I can't believe how many people thought I was being serious about banning everybody certified since 2001.

I hate to point out that there are research , exploration divers who would like nothing better than to ban all cave diving except for research purposes.

They can't be ignored.

If damage appears to be on the upswing, or comes to the attention of politicians looking for their mark, then it's bye bye to all but those SPECIAL few and connected cave divers.

Dale

[Line Squirrel]

Humans = impacts. The more humans you have the greater the chance for bad apples to show up. Whether they carve their names in the Sequoias or in the clay banks of Cow.

Ironically enough, Pompey's Pillar in MT is where William Clark carved his name in a sandstone butte in July of 1806, it's still there!

One of the greatest explorers of all time is guilty of intentionally defacing the landscape

[rjack]

One person's defacing is another's testimony to man's triumph over nature.

[saturation]

[quote="aainslie"]

Still, you're actually agreeing with me. See note below - my earlier post was intended as humour. (I know, I'm not very funny - my girlfriend reminds me of the hourly at home). I think we need to trash a few caves, and keep others more pristine. Short of using tunnelling equipment, how much more could we screw up the first 600 ft of Ginnie? So given it's already a disaster, keep training and early diving there. it can be our Yosemite. Then the other sites can be like our Whitney mountaineer's trail (sorry, I don't know what the equivalent mountais are in Florida )- harder to get to, limited access, and kept low-impact and pretty pristine.

(Note to self - use more smiley faces when being tongue in cheek)

On the bold items specifically:

Yes couldn't agree more, even 'tongue in cheek' there is method to the 'madness.'

If underwater caves were kept off limits except to research, when the time comes to save the caves, there could more resistance to funding or legislation due to the dearth of public sympathy. Similar to reefs, the most vocal champions for reef relief are among recreational divers ... yet diver presence contributes to damage to many reefs.