Below is a letter from David Trotter, followed by a letter from Garry Kozak. Both these men are responsible for discovering more than 30 shipwrecks each (many of which we are diving today). Both these men are recognized as experts in the field of shipwreck discovery and are well known presenters. They have both taken part in numerous shipwreck and diving symposiums such as our own Shipwrecks and Underwater Canada. When you read the content of their letters, you will realize that it is deeply from the heart.
From: DTROTTER1@aol.com
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 21:40:48 EST
Subject: Fwd: FW: Bill 13 1999 Keep Dialogue going
To: marshall@vaxxine.com
Ian & Barb,
After giving this situation additional thought, I believe the rights of divers are in serious trouble. It is important that the Great Lakes divers protect their interests.
Before reading the following comments, remember that I have been a member of SOS (Ontario chapter) for 10+ years and, with John Karry surveyed the Pelee passage. The Point Pelee project was undertaken by John & I when I used vacation time to survey for previously undiscovered shipwreck sites during a 3-4 year time period.
I believe I made one dive on the 18 wrecks discovered....so my interest was not to dive "new" shipwrecks.
I have supported SOS because the approach puts the rights of divers where they belong....up front, and on an EQUAL footing with other users of the Great Lakes.JOHN AND I HAD A VERY GOOD UNDERSTANDING......THE SHIPWRECKS WERE FOUND BY DIVERS FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF DIVERS.....not so some damn bureaucrat or control freak could make the ultimate "power grab" by controlling access.
I have watched with absolute amazement the rollover to the GESTAPO approach by control freaks wanting to restrict the right of access by divers to enjoy the shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. I thought NAZI Germany died in 1945...such is not the case. No doubt the Archeologists (AKA-ArcheNAZIS) are in this behind the scenes.
Let's clear up some misconcepts, as stated by Bob Carey. In his
12/1/99 EM he states that "Michigan has far surpassed Ontario in Heritage
Protection, esp. underwater".Maybe, maybe not, HOWEVER, the 1980 Michigan
legislation preserved the shipwrecks for divers while "GUARANTEEING THE
RIGHT OF RECREATIONAL DIVERS EXPLORATION OF SHIPWRECK SITES". This
is verbatim from the Michigan statute. In other words, no bureaucrat
or control freak trying to feather his or her "power" nest could do so
at the expense of the divers. Do not allow Bob Carey and his type
to misrepresent the rights that Michigan divers have. We know.....some
Michigan state "bureauNAZIS" have given thought to trying to
restrict access, but the 1980 legislation, wisely contructed, prevents
restricting access while preserving the shipwrecks for divers.
In other words no damn bureaucrat or control freak can restrict our right to enjoy the shipwrecks in the state of Michigan.
Now, let's project the results of the type of control proposed and placed in the hands of the power mongers.
#1-Shipwrecks will continue to be discovered, but the flow of information about the discoveries will stop. Why?, you ask. Because the finder is going to enjoy the discovery, without saying a word about it. There is no way that the finder of a shipwreck is going to "bow down" to some damn bureaucrat that didn't spend thousands of dollars or hundreds of hours to make a discovery. There is no economic value to the "find", only the personal pleasure of success.
#2-Loss of items of interest at the site will occur because the finder will conclude that "offsite storage" prevents the bureaucrat/control freak from gaining the "upper hand".
#3- Bureaucracies are like cancer, they spread unless you excise (cut out) the cancer by eradicating all communication. In other words, the appropriate response to the control freaks is this "axiom".....I will keep the knowledge of where I have been, where I am going and what I have found to myself and my team. Yes, a good team will keep it quiet, as they have a big equity interest in the enjoyment of the "exploration".
#4-Historians, divers and even "archenazis" will be the losers when
the flow of communications slows, and often stops. Film festivals
are successful because divers bring other divers and historians the history
of the discovery and exploration...in other words the "final" chapter.
Fewer or no programs means a decline in film festivals, and ultimately,
a decline in diving and
tourism dollars.
#5-I know of a number of discoveries in the US and Canada that will never see the "light of day" with this type of power play made by the control freaks.
IT IS BEING PROMOTED IN SEVERAL U.S. DIVE CLUBS THAT ABUSE OF DIVERS
RIGHTS
WILL STOP THEM FROM DIVING IN CANADA.....IN OTHER WORDS, KEEP THE DIVING
TOURISM DOLLARS AWAY FROM THE THOSE THAT TREAT DIVERS AS SECOND CLASS
CITIZENS.
In the U.S., the only reason that sport divers have any opportunity
to dive the Monitor (of Civil War fame) is because Gary Gentile spent years
in lawsuits against NOAA. The bureaucracy wanted to keep it for their
own private expeditions. We (all divers) should be very bitter, disgusted,
and concerned about what Gary had to do to open the shipwreck to you and
I....
Where we have the choice! By the way, Canadians have the same
right of access to the Monitor.
SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS
The U.S. President, Herbert Hoover, said it very well, "No one with a day's experience in government fails to realize that in all bureaucracies there are three implacable spirits---self perpetuation, expansion and the incessant demand for more power...they drive always to extension of power by interpretation of authority, and by more and more legislation...."
IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR FREEDOM TO ENJOY THE GREAT LAKES, THEN IT IS
IMPORTANT
TO DRIVE THE STAKE INTO THE HEART OF BUREAUCRATIC VAMPIRES (THESE VAMPIRES
ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL AS THEY SUCK THE LIFE OUT OF OUR FREEDOMS).
ALL OF US ARE FORTUNATE IN THAT WE DO NOT LIVE IN A TOTALITARIAN OR COMMUNIST
REGIME.....WE ARE FREE MEN AND WOMEN IN DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES.
Pesonally I do not intend to become a puppet, nor do I intend to become a victim of the bureaucratic vampire puppetmasters.
DO YOU?
A closing thought: "The definition of a good bureaucrat?---that's one without funding". I WONDER, DOESN'T THAT MAKE THEM IMPOTENT?
David Trotter 12/12/99
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 17:16:21 -0500
Subject: Bill13
From: Garry Kozak
To: marshall@vaxxine.com
Dear Ian and Barb,
I see more vague controlling diver legislation is trying to be pushed through in Ontario.
I have posted my views concerning the matter and if you have not seen thought it may be of interest to you. Of course this is my personal opinion and where I stand and am not looking for your support, etc.
Good Luck with your up coming festival in March, and again I had a great time sharing my experiences with your audience last year.
Have a Great Holiday season
Garry Kozak
Ref: BILL13 & Wreck Access
I have been following with interest at http://www.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber?Act=view_archive&list_id=doppler and http://bbaillod.cgi.execpc.com/wwwboard.html the on-going soap opera concerning Ontario¹s Bill 13 and shipwreck access. On one hand it is comical, but on the other, it is very disturbing to see the very real possibility that some clever special interest groups may succeed in restricting (at least on paper) one of the most important rights of a democracy FREEDOM. They place more value on the misguided view that an old rotting hull lying on the lake floor is more valuable and important for mankind than the basic right of FREEDOM. It is true that some shipwrecks are historically significant, and that these should be protected for all mankind. However if this protection means complete denial of access by the general public, what¹s the point, you are restricting to the very public you claim to be protecting these for. Few of these historically important types of wrecks lay on the bottom of the Great Lakes. Most shipwrecks in the Great Lakes are less than 200 years old, which is not old by shipwreck standards, and their construction and history details are for the most part well documented. Just visit a library sometime and see the wealth of documentation available on Great Lakes ship construction and history. Nothing truly revolutionary to be discovered or learned here from most of the wrecks. I have been involved with shipwrecks for over 38 years and have watched as various legislation has been passed for the protection of wrecks. I have observed these special interest groups who lobby to get these laws passed and I recognized early that they were really not as concerned with the protection and making accessible (usually the opposite) of these site¹s for the general public, as they were with meeting the goals of their own special hidden agenda¹s. What kind of agenda¹s? For Provincial or State archaeology and historical agencies it means more justification for their being, it means more funding to expand their little government kingdom, but even more it gives those people in these positions more power. They thrive on power, just sit back and observe them sometime. With power comes the potential for abuse. I have seen one case where a local diver made a bad judgement call and took home a small "goodie" from a local wreck, and ended up in jail with a huge fine. The local drug dealer received far less for peddling drugs than the diver. The divers personal home life and job was nearly destroyed because of the excessive action taken to quote "make him an example". All this for what was no more than a piece of junk. Where was the logic for the penalty to match the size of the crime. The securing of provincial or state funds grants for non-profit organizations such as S.O.S. to pursue their own pet projects. This gives these few select members a Carte Blanche license to secure a wreck site via licensing for their own personal use under the guise of archeology/preservation. The irony is they get the thrills of diving and exploring these wreck sites and the costs for their personal enjoyment and satisfaction doing this are paid by YOUR TAX DOLLAR, from these grants. What a scam, convince everybody that you are pure and doing this for the good of mankind, get your way paid doing it and with an exclusive license that restricts the every day Joe (Jane to)(who by the way PAYS his/her own way) from enjoying the same things. WHATS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE.
The divers who will be affected most will be the general hobby diver who wants to book a charter to a known wreck dive site. It will affect those diving charter business¹s who rely on access to these wreck sites to make their living. It will restrict and limit those individuals who now document these shipwrecks on film and video to share the adventures with the general public at film festivals and local TV documentaries. The general public will be the losers here. Policing will only work for the wreck sites that are already known. These laws will have little effect on those passionate dedicated shipwreck hunters who have zero interest in known wrecks and who are only driven to find another "virgin" and to solve another Great Lakes mystery . There is no way there will ever be enough funding for policing all areas of the Great Lakes to stop these dedicated few from pursuing what they love to do. This type of law only alienates more, the dedicated wreck hunters, and these are the ones who are responsible for most of the new and significant wreck finds. Today¹s technology used by the dedicated shipwreck hunter makes policing a minor concern. Equipped with side scan sonar¹s we search the lake bottoms for new wrecks, differential GPS with electronic charting keeps track of precisely where we are, interfaced to auto-pilots the boat runs survey track lines and grids completely hands -off, and the best part is, that the on board radar is programmed with a intruder alarm zone of any incoming vessel from more than 10 nautical mile radius to warn of an approaching craft long before it is visible by eye on the horizon. Technology has given those dedicated wreck hunters the edge over any legislation that is passed into law. The quest for new undiscovered wrecks will go on, only now they will be kept far more secret than ever in the past. WHO WILL REALLY BE THE LOSER HERE. Not us dedicated wreck hunters.
For those divers who live and dive in Ontario waters, I only hope you recognize truly what is in the Pandora¹s box that is about to be opened. There will be no going back once it is done. Funny how that works.
Garry Kozak 12/15/99