I was not trying to set up an Us vs. Them situation. I certainly appreciate Geocachers (I consider myself one). I survey within a 4 state area, and it is nice to be able to see if the NGS control points have been recently recovered, or searched for and not found. It saves me time to keep from looking for a point that is probably not there. Being in private practice, time is money. And since time is money, give us surveyors a break. Prior to the Internet, it was more time consuming to file reports on these monuments. We in private practice usually did not have the resources to file said reports, since we would have to charge the client. Try explaining to them! Like I said before, with the Internet, it takes only a matter of minutes.
As far as determining if a marker is destroyed, I am still hesitant to report it as destroyed, unless there is irrefutable evidence. And it is not to save myself future embarrassment, since I do not mind being proved wrong, it is to keep a marker from being written off by someone more skilled at locating them.
I recall a particular marker that had very good ties to the south rail the a track and to a milepost to within a tenth of a foot. Not there. BUT, I know that over time railroads can shift the track and mileposts get knocked out and the Trackmaster just clocks down the track with his truck odometer to reset it. So just maybe that point is still there. Who knows. I just reported it as not found.
I certainly do not want to upset anyone. I try to review my posts to make sure they not too abrasive. I do not intend it.
Thank you for your patience,
Mark Johannes
COlO. PLS