by tncaver » Mar 10, 2015 7:48 am
Hey, Granpa. That's not a bad idea and it beats the heck out of gating. Cleaning up a cave is always a plus, gating is a negative. Your idea to place a trash receptacle may or may not have made much difference. So long as there is no gate, there is no reason for anyone to
look elsewhere for a place to spray paint. I agree that when grafitti is present it invites more. So cleaning up a cave may work provided ALL
the grafitti is removed. Providing a trash receptical may work once the grafitti is all gone. But someone will always have to empty that thing.
If that receptical ever fills up then trash will begin to overflow.
The Spencer Mountain Grotto used to empty trash barrels at Camps Gulf Cave. That actually seemed to work pretty good but it was a hassle
for the grotto. But once the state bought the property and started leading van loads of tourists to the cave, the trash barrels quickly over filled,
and grafitti became a problem. Once tourists knew the location of the cave, they would come back on their own and do whatever they pleased.
Now the state has a big gate across the road to prevent vehicles from going there. That helps reduce traffic a lot although the irony is that the state is the one who increased traffic at the cave in the first place. I remember long ago before the state owned the cave, there
was just about zero grafitti at the cave. Back then only cavers knew about the cave. Once locals and tourists were brought there in van loads
by the park system, things got out of control. Probably the only reason they didn't gate the cave is due to the expense of gating such a large
entrance.