Free Download of Sighting Locations for GPS

It's nice to see another new development in bigfoot research ushered in by relatively new technology.

Some time ago a GPS enthusiast asked us for permission to use our sighting location data to create a freely downloadable GPS file that people can upload to their car GPS devices. He told us he would make the file(s) for himself, and then give it away freely on a popular web site for GPS enthusiasts. We granted permission not knowing if his project would ever see the light of day. Well, it did ... and it's now available for anyone to download and use.

If you already know what a "POI package" is, then you can go straight to the POI Factory page describing the free POI package of BFRO reports. If you don't know what a POI package is ... now is a good time to learn.

In GPS lingo, "POI" means "point of interest." All of the businesses, government offices, etc., shown on your vehicle's GPS are POI's.

Files containing POI's for a special category, such as historical monuments, old rural cemeteries, etc., are created by GPS enthusiasts and given away on the Internet. These "extras" make it very easy to drive to special places that often have no street address, because your GPS will still guide you to the spot, just as it would guide you to a street address or to a business.

Most GPS devices for cars, such as those made by Garmin, Magellan, TomTom, etc., allow the uploading of POI files to the device via USB cable from your computer. Once you learn how to upload a free POI package to your GPS, you will probably add all sorts of them. Most new GPS devices have large enough memories to hold hundreds (if not thousands) of different POI files.

In order to download the BFRO's file (which will be updated every few months) from the "POI Factory" web site, you will be asked to register and login in, but it costs nothing and they don't ask for much information.

For several years the BFRO has provided location data for sightings of sasquatches. Those who follow the BFRO's efforts know that we only include a report in our publicly accessible archive if we are confident in the credibility of the witness. In other words, the reports we list are not merely random claims. They are reports from witnesses we have interviewed.

We have not thoroughly reviewed this POI package to see if it contains the whole archive of public sighting reports (and track finds, and possible vocalizations, etc.). "Public" reports are those we can freely share with the public. There are many sighting reports in the BFRO's database which we cannot share with the public, often because the reporting party asked us to keep the information confidential (which we must do if requested by a witness).

Hopefully we'll hear feedback from some of you about this accuracy of this published data, via our public message board which we call the "Blue Forum" (because it has a blue background). For example we don't know how he selected GPS points for those locations which we do not define with a point, but rather with a rectangle on a map, when we know only the general area of an incident. Don't hesitate to provide input via our forum, or you can send an email to Contact@BFRO.net

'Irresponsible' to provide this information?

Some people felt our release of this GPS file was irresponsible, and could eventually put too much pressure on the sasquatch population. Various folks imagine hoards of humans heading out to look for evidence, and trampling the tranquility of sasquatch habitats.

Yes, if millions of humans simultaneously deployed into enough, specific remote areas ... it would indeed put temporary pressure on some sasquatches. That scenario has been discussed among bigfoot researchers for years. There is every reason to believe that will never happen.

But what about thousands of people going out to look sasquatches ... what impact would that have on them?

The opinions often divide into two camps:

Camp #1 -- believes the best way to protect the species would be to 'leave them alone,' and not try to make bigfoot field research more popular, on the amateur level.

Camp #2 -- believes humans, collectively, do not leave them alone at present. They believe man-made impacts on their food resources affect them much, much more than occasional passing hikers or motorists, to which sasquatches have already adapted. This camp has faith in human nature, rather than fear of human nature. They believe the good in human nature will seek to protect active habitats from the bad elements of human nature.

Both camps agree that appreciation for sasquatches and their habitats will eventually influence land use decisions that affect habitats and food resources. Both camps believe this is the best way to ensure the survival of the species, but the camps differ on whether increased human intrusion will harm the species in the meantime.

Camp #2 usually points to bird-watchers as a comparitive. No bird scientists would say that bird-watching and bird-watchers decrease the survivability of various bird species. You just don't hear that ... even as speculation. Bird scientists agree that bird-watching and bird-watchers tend to increase the survivability of various bird species, both in the short run and in the long run.

The vast majority of people who will use the POI file might occasionally drive past old sighting locations and slow down to peer into the woods a little longer. The POI file will not lead to the formation of hunting parties to track down and subdue a sasquatch family. If that was an easy thing to do, it would have happened by now.

Sasquatches always prefer to live in, and move through, very quiet places with lots of trees and brush and tricky terrain -- places that make it easy to hear humans approaching, and make it easy to hide and/or evade both humans and dogs.

Both their behavior and habitats suggest they've adapted to the direct threats of humans and dogs long, long ago ....

The sasquatch population will not suffer because of this POI file. Rather, it will benefit from this POI file over the long-run.