As noted the standards each group have tend to adjust themselves over time. What was once a clear easy to see and describe class A seems to blend into an A- or B+.

I think there is going to be an ego problem if groups try to implement a system. I can almost bet you MM and the BFRO would go ape if he thought for a minute something he could copyright was going to be used without him getting a piece of the action.

It isn’t just him i am sure as big as the egos seem to be in this field this wont ever happen.

It is sad if this were to turn out to be the case. This field is big enough and growing fast enough that we should start national data bases and reporting formats.

So many private investigators have books of reports. These contain gems of info that will most likely die with those people.

If we did have a national database of reports that was instantly accessible to others it would be a huge tool to fill knowledge gaps and stop the certain duplication of research.

This would also be a great way to disseminate information and start a peer review that is so lacking in our area of interest.

To do this we have to get past egos and the secret squirrel crap that goes on. Too many people think the info they have generated would be wasted if some one else finds out.

We also have to get past some the territorial crap that goes on when one group feels another is infringing on a research area. There have been stories about certain large groups trying to intimidate other people or groups into not going into areas they think are their private research preserve.

We also have to get past certain Pacific north west based groups talking down about and to groups from other parts of the country.

Once all these hurdles are cleared we can then start bringing people together to discuss the implementation of a standardised reporting format and database of sighting reports and research reports.