The hoax has taken its turn. Most of the damage done was within the community. Those that didn't believe before now have new ammo for those of us that do believe (or wish to). I have heard no "watercooler" talk about this at work or at any "corner stores" where the old guys hang out. It seems that mainstream america has already decided this was a hoax from the get go and has moved on, if they heard about it at all.

Now, as an outsider/armchair/internet researcher/historian/hobbyist, and from reading the different blogs and forums, would it not make sense for the different respectable groups to get together? This is just an idea, but, maybe start a whole new BF association or society that has things in place for if/when a real squatch is discovered? A leadership association per se for the different leaderships to communicate and share info. A place where data and contacts could be centrally located. A list of trusted people to talk to the media. Maybe get a couple of trusted veternarians, primatoligists, journalists (from national geographic for example), and a senator or congressman on a list as a physical evidence verifying team. A place that helps to police its own. An autobahn society (is it autobahn? You know, the old wildlife organization.) for bigfoot. You could run it by donations to help pay for conferences or whatever expenses that may occur. There will be plenty of out of pocket expenses as well I am sure. These are just a couple of ideas. I'm sure other people could come up with better ideas especially those of you that do research on a regular basis.

There is a lot of competition in this field. Some groups are blatently more competitive than others. That hatchet needs to be buried if anybody is going to discover/find anything. No university or government entity believes the mystery of bigfoot is worth looking into without solid scientific proof.
That's a catch 22, isn't it? It's up to the BF community as a whole to do it on thier own. Now is as good a time as any I think.

Does anybody see where I am going with this?

Sam

ya think?

I take it this idea is being kicked around? All I have seen is a couple fleeting remarks here and there and nothing else. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

I would like to see some type of general protocol adopted by the various groups of what to do if a body is found. If a body is ever found, it will likely be discovered by average everyday individuals who spend a lot of time outdoors. What we don't want to occur is some person who genuinely finds a body to get on the net and find some untrustworthy bigfoot huckster to contact. I think that every bigfoot research group make a statement that if the group or anyone finds a body, the state DNR is the appropriate agency to call. As we have previously discussed, in most states the wildlife is the property of the state.

I hereby challenge BFRO and other types of group to publicly state that if they are contacted by someone who claims to have the body, that they will advise that person to call the local DNR so the appropriate people will be on the scene as soon as possible. That they promise that they will not take possession of the body for their own purposes. That they promise to not enter into any agreements with the finder of the body for exclusive rights to the photographs. That they will not put profit ahead of scientific research.

I kindly request that anyone who is associated with any bf research groups respond to my challenge. Thanks.