GeoawareGSA1

These are just a few small examples, and are definitely not the norm. Without getting into specifics, it looks like there may have been some rather unique issues here that the reviewer was working through with these particular caches. The EarthCache review team does not make a practice of re-evaluating previously published EarthCaches unless there is a good reason to do so. For one, it would be impractical, because the volume of new EarthCache submissions is quite high, so there is plenty of work to do in reviewing new EarthCaches, which does not leave time for hunting for old EarthCaches that might have issues There are a variety of ways an EarthCache may be brought to a reviewer's attention besides a "Needs Archived" log. (Communications from the cache owner, or messages from people attempting to log the cache, etc.) And as pointed out earlier, there are a variety of reasons for which a previously published EarthCache may, at some point, no longer be in compliance with the current guidelines. One obvious reason is that guidelines have changed. Another is that sometimes an EarthCache changes (the text, questions, etc.), or the situation "on the ground" changes (land changes ownership, trails/roads are closed, etc.).

I really like the "kids corner" idea and think it could be a nice addition to any cache

One concern I have about intermediate websites such as this is that it adds another level between the cache owner and people attempting to log the cache, which adds more possibilities of messages and logging task answers getting "lost". I'm sure the site will be mostly reliable, but it is another piece of the system, and the more pieces you add, the more things can "break".

As of our last look at the data (a few months ago), this was the EarthCache with the most logged visits: GCZ8H7 - The Cologne Cathedral - A Geological Point of View One way to see some of the most visited ECs is to do an "Advanced Search" through www.geocaching.com, use EarthCache as the type, and earth or cache as a keyword (to get as many possible), then sort on "Favorites". It doesn't capture all EarthCaches, and favorites are only somewhat correlated to the highest visit totals, but that's one way to see some EarthCaches with high traffic. I suppose one could do this while looking by Country/State too.

Please add me to your list Geoaware, Ill be setting an event up on the 14th! You've been added to the list

The book, Roadside Geology of Pennsylvania, very good resource, and they have books for many states: http://www.amazon.com/Roadside-Geology-Pennsylvania/dp/0878422277 Info on the whole series: http://mountain-press.com/series_detail.php?series_key=2 As a general strategy, I suggest using some sort of field notes or geologic map to get an idea of what SHOULD be there on the ground, and then trying to positively identify the rocks in-person, and hope they match! This map is nice, but only helps in a broad sense, you'd want something with finer detail: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/maps/map7.pdf

Regarding Earth Science Week dates and themes: http://www.earthsciweek.org/whatisesw/futurethemes.html 2012 October 14-20 “Discovering Careers in the Earth Sciences” 2013 October 13-19 2014 October 12-18

I'll take care of this, sorry for the glitch.

earthcache@geosociety.org

My two-cents -- reviewers rarely flat-out "deny" EarthCache submissions (rather, they are disabled, comments provided, etc.). On the other hand, rarely is an EarthCache submission ready to publish on the first go. This is the case with any type of cache, whether it is a reverse fault or a glacial erratic. I recommend that cache owners work with their local reviewer on determining what needs to be done to get their EarthCache published. Unless a location is particularly weak on earth science, there is often a way to enhance a cache listing to get it published. Does it take a bit of extra work? Sure it does, but that's a part of EarthCaching. (This is a fact demonstrated by some of the cachers who have posted in this very thread, who I am pretty sure have put in significant effort to have some of their EarthCaches published.) The bottom line is that no guideline can cover it all. We can debate the particulars of each guideline, each word and clause, each theoretical cache, all day long. But every cache is different, and that's why there are human reviewers. The reviewers are not a rubber stamp, but nor are they out to "deny" or block EarthCaches. Reviewers would much rather hit "publish" than any other button. Reviewers enjoy working with cache owners to help guide their cache toward publication. Happy caching! geoawarehq

The website here has a phone number: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bishop.html Phone: (760) 872-5000 TerryDad2's response makes this a moot point (great info, Terry!), but I find that a quick phone call can often be more effective than an e-mail, as individual e-mail messages are easy to lose in the shuffle of federal business and a chain of forwards. That said, thank you very much for contacting BLM and getting permission, which as you indicated, will probably not be an issue. Best wishes, and if you run into troubles, feel free to contact me. --geoawareHQ

The statement "Native American mounds are no longer accepted" is not accurate. Native American mounds can still get published as an EarthCache, provided there is a strong, location-specific earth science component and lesson. This is also the case with springs, waterfalls, erratics, etc. (Statements that these are no longer accepted are also not true.) Ultimately, your local reviewer will work with you to help guide your cache to the publishing stage. With the tips you've received here already, you seem to be well on your way! We look forward to reviewing your work.

Sorry about that, it's now been taken care of.

That is a good point, Cezanne, about how one defines a power trail. I can certainly say this -- this set of caches was absolutely not developed with the purpose of giving people an opportunity to inflate their number of finds. I can also say that seriously legitimate effort was put into the development of these caches, with education and awareness as the number one goal. Also, as these are a special project, we will continue to work with the cache owner to make a good caching experience for all.

The status of this cache is being looked into. (Review note posted to cache page.) If you have further questions about this cache, feel free to contact me. And by the way, thanks for getting advance permission from the park!!

Thank you to those who have visited these caches and provided helpful feedback to the cache owner and me. The cache owner reports they will be working with local geology students and cachers to further improve the caching experience for all.

Just wanted to interject that these caches are a special project of Groundspeak and a non-profit environmental education organization, with assistance provided by GSA. They have been published, and are in the process of being tested out by local cachers. Visitors to these caches are encouraged to provide feedback to the cache owner, and/or to me at earthcache@geosociety.org.

I highly recommend this book: http://mountain-press.com/item_detail.php?item_key=40 Roadside Geology of Massachusetts Take it on a few road-trips and follow along till you find a spot that moves you! (In general, this series is quite good, although some volumes are better than others. The MA one is good.)

The comments by Neos2 and Lostby look accurate to me, and the link posted by Neos2 is very instructive, definitely check it out! Furthermore, if you intend to develop an EarthCache that is less than 0.10 miles from another cache, it would be courteous to contact the owner of the other cache(s) to discuss your intentions. This is not required by the guidelines, but it's a nice thing to do! (In my reviewing duties, I have yet to see a situation where a traditional cache owner had a problem with a nearby EarthCache.) According to EarthCache guideline #4: "No items, box, or physical cache can be left at the site." This would include items that belong to a different cache as well. Therefore, we could not publish an EarthCache at the exact same coordinates as another cache that has a container. (How far should an EarthCache be from a container-based cache? See Neos2's link for a discussion on that -- basically, it's looked at on a case-by-case basis with the reviewer.) This is a great discussion, and helps highlight the important role of the reviewers and the review process!

If someone wishes to re-subscribe to the EarthCache Master's email list, please send an email to earthcache@geosociety.org to request being re-subscribed. To unsubscribe, just click the "unsubscribe" link in the bottom of any email you received through the list. If you have questions about messages not getting through properly, or other issues related to the email list, please direct those also to earthcache@geosociety.org.

The email list included all levels, so it's likely you unsubscribed at some point (?)

ODragon, The e-mail referred to in this thread was sent by GSA to an internal "EarthCache Masters" e-mail list. This list is limited to the e-mail addresses of EarthCache Masters, and is managed by GSA. These e-mail addresses are not shared with third-party organizations (and certainly not Epsilon!) In fact, to be clear, this e-mail list is not affiliated with Groundspeak, and Groundspeak had nothing to do with this message. Its contents are solely the responsibility of GSA. There is a link at the bottom of the original message to "unsubscribe" from this list and opt-out of future communications. (You may need to view the e-mail in "HTML mode" to be able to see the link properly). If anyone has trouble unsubscribing, or has any other questions regarding this message or list, please feel free to contact me through my profile, or at earthcache@geosociety.org. Sincerely, GeoawareHQ

Hello, This is definitely a legitimate message and is not a scam of any sort. The Southern Ocean Cruise is a wonderful trip that the Geological Society of America is running with the University of Texas at Austin. The trip will include the opportunity to visit EarthCaches in Antarctica. These opportunities really don’t come along very often, so GSA thought people would appreciate knowing about it! Best wishes, geoawarehq

Another thread that may be of interest: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=265153&st=0 on the topic of Redeveloping Archived EarthCaches (there was lots of unrelated debate here too, but maybe some of the initial info will be helpful to you) The keys are to: 1. Be original 2. Have any permissions required 3. Create new, strong logging tasks

One method I've seen in some cache pages is to convert a block of text to an image, then insert the image into the cache page. This may not be ideal, because to edit the text, you need to re-convert to an image and re-insert it, and the text would not be searchable, but I've seen it work on some pages. (This might work for you as a "last resort".)