The leaseholder for Colossal Cave Mountain Park has updated its procedures and instituted personnel changes after an anonymous letter to the Pima County Board of Supervisors alleged multiple grievances with operations at the park.
According to a memo from County Administrator Jan Lesher from April 30, the anonymous letter prompted the Pima County Attractions and Tourism Department to contact ExplorUs Management about the concerns and to review operations and training of the staff.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, KGUN 9 obtained the letter, which alleges, among other issues:
- ExplorUS operated Colossal Cave Mountain Park without any standard operating procedures for over three years.
- Employees would catch rattlesnakes and display them to guests, flash-photograph bats and even pet them. Staff would also feed the wildlife, including coatis, to attract visitors.
- Employees would hold weekly, off-trail exploration sessions, often with unpaid non-employees invited by the company. They would regularly visit other restricted sites on the property, including Carter Cave (a State Trust site with penal codes prohibiting trespassing.) The letter alleges management knew about it.
- Allegations in the letter were made of sexual activity taking place in the cave and in other areas of the park.
- Sexual and gender discrimination was alleged, with promotions denied to experienced transgender and female guides in favor of less-qualified candidates.
The county memo did not specify any of the allegations.
According to the Lesher memo, "ExploreUS has advised Pima County that updated procedures were put into place to address the grievances, including review of corporate policies regarding social and traditional media, implementation of revised cave procedures and protocols for cleaning and safe operation of the show cave. Personnel changes were also made at the park."
The memo said an extension of the lease agreement between Pima County and ExplorUS is being worked on and will "be forthcoming in the coming months."
