This cache is in loving memory of some great and cleaver caches that tragically lost their lives in (what I'm calling) The Great Trust Land Geo-sweep of 2014.
On April 21st, 2014, the Arizona State Land Department determined that Geocaching was not permitted on their lands and ordered Geocaching HQ to archive all existing geocaches on State Trust Land and requested that CO's remove all items from their locations. MANY of these geocaches were some of the best our great state had to offer! 200 Years in the Making (167 favorites), OPTICsAL ILLUSION, Black Out!, Feelin' Lucky?, Simple Machine (my 100th find), SCRUNCH #4, Pole Vault (125 favorites), Fun with Engineering #2 (113 favorites), Beeper's AZ Cache, Charolette's Sign, Movie Cache X Reborn, QR Fun (multi), More Like a Guideline, Pen Passion, and FDNY (a cache set as a tribute to the FDNY 343 that gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001) just to name a few. All archived on the same exact day, April 21st, 2014.
After the sweep, an upset cacher decided to email the state and inquire about the reasons why (see the log for OPTICsAL ILLUSION - GC3VQ56). Especially because some of these were right in the middle of shopping centers and areas that were built up! The reply email from the state explained that Trust Land cannot be used for recreation. The land and it's resources can only be used for revenue. So even something as eco-friendly as Geocaching is prohibited, yet a giant shopping center with restaurants and a movie theater and even a WAL-MART are okay to tear up the land?! But even after that's all built, Geocaching is still prohibited!! Simply because it "doesn't benefit the Trust" by creating revenue! Something isn't right with that.
SO! In loving memory of all those caches that have been archived by the State and as a THANK YOU to all those CO's that put hard work and passion into such wonderful hides - making great contributions to out wonderful hobby, sport, game, and community - I place this cache!! May their memory be the subject of many stories, and may their creator's work not be taken in vain!!
Cheers and Happy Hunting everybody!!!!
P.S. cache is micro with log only, B.Y.O.P. Please be cautious of muggles as they like to stroll through this area.