sumi1795

This is all helpful information. Thanks for the input. I can't imagine why this wouldn't fit into the "Getting Started" forum as newbies need to know how and who to contact for placing their Geocaches, but I see the logic in placing it in a more general one. I've got another twist to this... there are thousands of caches located on other various "public" lands, light skirts, bus stops, etc. Would I ask the same person in the city for permission? I wouldn't think so, since they are not really a part of the "Parks". Who then do I contact? As a relatively new cacher (only 200 finds and no hides), I would think that there should be an instructional piece dedicated to getting permissions on this website. I haven't seen one.

So I'm trying to place my first cache in a city park across from my school. There are 4 caches already in the park, so I figured it would be a piece of cake to get permission, especially since I teach at the school and we'll be using the cache for educational purposes. I called the "land-owner" of the park, the City of Garland, TX, only to find that they frown on geocaches being placed in their parks. He said that I could place it there if it was temporary, but would have to remove it within 6 months. I wrote an email back asking if this was a law or official ordinance of the city, or if it was a norm that has been adopted. The representative said that it was not a law, but because they had found a geocache in a park near some rare plants, and those plants were being trampled by cachers, they had decided against geocaching in Garland parks. I provided a number of reasons why they should reconsider and he told me that he would bring it up in the next council meeting. He also thanked me for asking permission and stated that I was the only one who had ever asked him in the years he had been the parks and recreation rep for the city. My question is, am I the only one that has ever asked for permission for a park hide or does everyone think that since it's city property that the land is public and fair game? I sure hope not. Our community needs to work with the city governments, not covertly doing end-arounds on them.