rangeray

NYS DEC Temporary Revocable Permits required for caches I just received the following message from the Region 7 Ranger. He was wrong to give permission to place a cache on State Land. A permit is required. Between the insurance and nonrefundable $25 fee I guess another hobby is ruined. He does not say anything about grandfathering existing caches. Now we should start a campaign that this is ridiculous compared to all the other activities that take place on State Lands. Rangeray ----------------------- FROM: David Forness DATE: Monday, May 10, 2004 3:14 PM SUBJECT: Re: Request for information on "Temporary Revocable Permits",Geocaching Over the past three weeks we have received numerous requests for placing geocaches on State Forests. We have recently received clear direction from our Albany supervisors on the way to handle geocache requests. All individuals, groups or organizations wishing to place a geocache on a State Forest or Unique Area must apply for a Temporary Revocable Permit. An electronic copy of the application is attached. Return the completed application (to the address below) along with the required $25 application fee (educational institutions and government entities are exempt from the fee) and a map of the location or locations where you'd like to place a cache. We also need proof that you or your organization has a liability insurance policy in place to cover this activity. This proof, in the form of an insurance certificate, must name the "People of the State of New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation and it's officers and employees" as additional insured parties to the policy. The limits of the policy must be at least $100,000 per person or $300,000 for multiple persons killed or injured in any accident and at least $5,000 for property damages. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Dave Dave Forness Supervising Forester NYS - DEC 1285 Fisher Avenue Cortland, NY 13045 [edited to remove personal contact info]

It's interesting that quickly looking through all the notes in this forum that we are getting bits and pieces of policy and procedures from the DEC and Geocaching.com. My latest from NJ Admin (Isent him Forness's note) was he would rather approve caches and not list them. I take that as a no, the note is not acceptable. I asked NJ Admin to give me his Albany contact, with the hope of putting Forness and him together. I posted this on Southertiergeocachers@yahoogroups.com: My last message indicated that permits were not needed according to Ranger Forness, Region 7. However NJ Admin@Geocaching.com says we need a permit according to Albany. I asked who in Albany and contact info. I also sent Ranger Forness a note asking about Albany. Some regions are requiring TRPs. Ranger Forness will be looking into why a TRP, whether the TRP can be approved to Geocaching.com as an organization, and help us figure this out. A TRP is more than paperwork. It requires insurance for liabnility naming the DEC as an additional insured with yearly renewal. Ranger Forness would like to know if there is an organization who would take this responsibility? I'll keep you posted. Notes are also being posted in the NorthEast section of Geocaching.com forum. ----------------------------------------------- I've got a busy week, and weekends, youth plays, boy scouts, spaghetti suppers, etc, When I get a change I think a summary of the guessed at policy gleaned from this forum might be a nice post. What I would like to see at this point is for NJ Admin to post a reference to this policy of the DEC's geocaching would like to follow and one to the procedures for aquiring a TRP. Thanks, Rangeray

Subject: Placing Geocaches on NYS DEC public lands I have received the following policy from the Ranger for Region 7 regarding placing of caching in State forests: From: David Forness dmfornes@gw.dec.state.ny.us Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 11:45 AM To: raybaker Subject: Re: Request for information on "Temporary Revocable Permits" Ray, On a trial basis we are permitting individuals to place geocaches on State Forests without requiring a permit. We think this is an excellent form of forest based recreation and great use of State Forests. We do, however, have two concerns associated with this activity. The first is with the placement of the cache. We hope that none will be placed in dangerous locations, like at the bottom of a cliff. The second is that they are removed by the individual who places them when they have outlived their usefulness. If these problems do not develop we will continue with the approach of not requiring a permit in DEC Region 7. The only other change might come about is if a Statewide policy is made that would require a permit. Thank you for your approach in this matter. Dave Dave Forness Supervising Forester NYS - DEC 1285 Fisher Avenue Cortland, NY 13045 (607) 753 - 3095 ext. 224 dmfornes@gw.dec.state.ny.us >>> "RAY BAKER" 04/17/04 07:11AM >>> Dear Sir: I have been referred to the NYSDEC Region 7 to inquire about obtaining a "Temporary Revocable Permit" for the purpose of placing a Geocache in the Jenksville State Forest, North of Newark Valley, Tioga County. I would like general information or where to get the information on the regulations, applications and procedures concerning Geocaching and "Temporary Revocable Permits". Geocaching: A hide and seek game where a person places a container (usually ammo can [7x10x5 inches] or smaller) in a hidden location. The coordinates are posted on www.Geocaching.com. Seekers find the container and swap a small trinket, sign a logbook, and record the find on the website. On the web site are the rules about containers, placement, maintenance, etc. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Ray Baker