WashoeZephyr

Those on the other side of the country have a dog in this fight because what happens on one side of the country can affect all of us. The NPS wide ban on geocaching started with one buried cache. I'm curious as to why you think an email sent to the Ely BLM office could result in a geocaching ban. If this is all hunky dory with them as you and others here have indicated, then an email should make no difference. They'd just repeat what you've been saying, that it's only desert and not a sensitive area. NPS is one thing. How much BLM land is there in New Jersey? Seriously, if you would like to send the BLM a letter, be my guest. The BLM folks I've dealt with in the field don't have a problem with it, in fact we have gotten their blessing in the past to have Geocaching 4X4 rally's on their land. The rally's were along trails, some new, some old, but you had to get out and find caches along the way. People walking to and from the caches also create trails. As far as being shut down...I was speaking theoretically as there is always that one person with a little bit of power that likes to ruin it for everybody (ahem! )

Gambling and prostitution would still be legal. *wiping coffee off of monitor* ...and we still have our 24/7 alcohol to fall back on. Oh and not to mention the west side of Reno is burning now....yeah, part of it's BLM and Tahoe National Forest, probably started by Geocachers.

Wow....just wow. A big pissing match started by people that don't even cache in the area or much less live on this side of the country. I believe Rachel falls under the Ely office. I've searched BLM regs and can't find much other than the ORV restrictions in the Las Vegas area. That would be awesome if someone from the east coast sent a nasty gram to the BLM and have geocaching banned because they have a personal vendetta against power trails. Dude, you rock!

Pretty interesting, if somewhat Yossarian-ian. It is but the BLM is kind of Honey Badgerish, in that "Honey Badger don't care" when it comes to off roading. I personally can't imagine why one would just bounce over sage brush instead of staying on the trail. Southern sagebrush is a lot smaller than the ones we have up north. Seems like a good way to get stuck in place that most likely has no cell service or the slim chance of seeing another person for a long period of time. I'm just saying that I've seen it (people just bouncing over desert) and I've dealt with the BLM. They (BLM) are more interested in poachers and people discharging firearms where they aren't supposed to be than the evil sage brush killers.

Another resource, much of this isn't defined trails and still BLM land

Hrmmm, need to start running them over with the car, roundup won't even kill that stuff. (Try having it grow it in your yard. You'll have it forever.) This particular picture looks like a trail that's been there longer than the alien head, but that's neither here nor there. Ok, spending my lunch looking at BLM regs, yaaay. Of course can't find much defining anything outside of Las Vegas proper, but did find a proposition for a race that actually did an environmental impact study where both the race promoter and the BLM signed off on it. https://www.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/nepa/7750/15751/15901/Signed_DR_FONSI.PDF and I found this; Off-highway vehicles are one of many ways to enjoy the Southern Nevada landscape. Due to public health and environmental concerns, off-highway vehicle closures are in place for BLM managed public lands within and designated areas surrounding the Las Vegas Valley. The BLM closure includes Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area and wilderness areas. The boundaries are: • North – Apex on I-15 or Lee Canyon on US 95 • South – Sloan Exit on I-15 or mile marker 14.5 on State Route 604 • East – National Park Service’s Lake Mead National Recreation Area • West – U.S. Forest Service’s Spring Mountains National Recreation Area Outside of the closure area, off-highway vehicles can use existing roads, trails and washes within the BLM Las Vegas Field Office managed public lands. I can guarantee you if the BLM were to come out they would consider your picture display above, existing trails. One vehicle would not create that defined of a trail. Even if several have been to the alien head and have created a trail, guess what, the BLM will now consider that a trail. It is what it is.

Haha, funny story about this, we used to have a cache in town called Hoofocker, it's the first time I'd ever had a run in with the police, this was in '07. The officer was surprised to find three middle aged women digging around in a big ammo can that was chained to a power pole. Apparently there had been some copper theft going on at the mobile home sales place next door. We explained what we were doing and he was very nice and let us pose in front of his car. ....wait it gets better!! 4 years later and some more urban expansion, some jacktard called in a suspicious object that allegedly had "explosive" symbols painted on it...it was the geocaching.com logo. Of course the bomb squad was called and they disposed of said cache. The police were well aware of it's existance. It had been in that location for 5 years! Here's the story of when they blew it up.

No, I'm not. I haven't a doubt in my mind that people drive these caches. I'm just tired of people comparing what goes on in the deserts of Nevada with the woods of the south. It's apples and oranges. Actually it's more like plastic and oranges. This is very near the highway, on an open range/public land where off roading IS ALLOWED. End of story. The CO's (whom I know both) would rather people walk it than drive as it adds to the experience and probably keeps people from running over their caches. ...again, in the south and on private property more or less. Personally, I generally don't do cememtery caches anymore as I find them disrespectful. It's my opinion, I choose not to do them, rather than make a public stink about them. Have you ever been to the Nevada desert? If not, maybe visit before you make a judgement.

Looks like a frontage road seen most places along the highways here. I'm thinking NDOT or utilities are probably the creators of this one...the rest of them look like the rest of the thousands of miles of desert.

Every time I read "BLM" in this thread, I'm getting irritated. I think they are too busy killing off the wild horses in our area to worry about a track on dirt. But now I understand why they are horse killing, given what you wrote. Sorry to go waaay off topic here. The BLM charges ranchers per head of cattle to graze on thier land. They claim the wild horses & burros don't have enough to eat....um contradiction perhaps or competition for food for the paid feeders?? Anyhooo, the ones near our house are pretty fat & happy. Of course a diet of lawn grass opposed to scrub is probably a major contributor.

Other, bigger things seen from space that exist in the Nevada desert; A temporary city of 50,000+ people every year the week before Labor Day. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40.794188,-119.19342&hl=en&ll=40.777552,-119.209042&spn=0.097363,0.153637&sll=40.794188,-119.19342&sspn=0.097339,0.153637&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=13 ...and a weird a** cult like group not far from where I live....itty bitty alien head..pffft! http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.728841,-119.816551&hl=en&ll=39.729898,-119.815886&spn=0.01236,0.019205&sll=39.728841,-119.816551&sspn=0.01236,0.019205&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=16

If that is true, the CO should state the fact. I have a cache on Buck-for-Wildlife land. I was given premisison bassed on No Vehicles, No Fires, No Camping, No Littering. I stated on my cache page that permission was bassed on these things, and so far, no one has violated that. CO should stop asking nicely if it is a condition of permission, and demand adherence. People will normaly respect that. I doubt seriously this is a condition of permission but more of a request to keep the tree huggers happy.

The bolded bit has not been shown to be true. Nor, has it been shown to be untrue. The area where the Alien Head and the UFO is located is Open Range. By definition Open Range is not ecologically sensitive. In addition to the walking hamburger are the mules, horses, antelope and other wildlife running free in the area. You don't graze cattle in ecological sensitive areas. The BLM does not permit geocaching in designated ecological sensitive areas. THANK YOU! Pretty much the whole state is open to grazing. The BLM makes big bucks off cattle, hence one of the reason's they want to get rid of the horse population. They aren't making money off the horses. Environmentally, with the exception of garbage, there isn't much you can do to "hurt" the area.

In this case, I don't think it's any of us who did. I think it's the guys who owned the power transmission towers they were attached to. I recall hearing something more along the lines of NVEnergy employees sighting lots of random people near their towers and taking it as suspicious activity. Even if they approached the people and the peoople gave the usual schpiel on Geocaching. I still wouldn't want the activity happening on or near the power grid. There's a lot of stupid in the world, geocacher's aren't exempt.

Here's another... http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/22/conspiracy-theory-why-really-did-nevada-remove-geocaches/

Here's an article on the economic impact. http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/15902301/rachel-nevada-cashing-in-on-geocaching

If it's Trail of the Gods, that's my recollection. They were located along "Powerline Road". I believe most of the containers were under piles of rocks near transmission towers, but a few were MHAK's actually attached to the towers, which probably didn't help matters any. Wow, attached to the towers?

The latest ET Powertrail has been revived with NDOT's blessing (it even made local news). As much as I'm not really a fan of power trails, the trail has had a large economical impact on Rachel, NV. They didn't realize it until the first power trail was disabled. The original ET trail was a safety issue (caches being too close to the road, not enough room for snow removal equipment, etc.), not an environmental issue. I believe the other power trail you speak of was the one that was near power lines. I haven't as of yet been to either of these places. The one near the power lines was stupid, of course TPTB are going to question suspicious activity near a power grid that most likely supplies power to the majority of the southwestern US.

I have no doubts people are driving it. Especially in the summer when it's 100+ out. I've never been on the ET highway (hoping to get to it in March), yet I've seen pretty much the rest of our state at one point or another. From what I hear, it's pretty much the same. Seriously, it's all dirt, sagebrush and Joshua Trees (in the south). There's nothing to damage. The radioactive mess left in the '60's and previous has left a footprint that will carry on way longer than us. A newly created Jeep trail really isn't that big of a deal here. Like Snoogan's mentioned, it's close to the highway, very little (if any) environmental impact will be made.

Well put!

I keep checking the cache pages, and they keep saying "Please don't drive to these caches," every time I load them up. Thankfully, that rather weak request ("please"? who says "please" these days?) hasn't gotten in the way of some awesome geocaching artistry! Have you spent much time caching in Nevada? Ok, and I know the tree huggers are going to start throwing stuff at me. Seriously, if you've never cached in the Nevada desert, you don't understand. We have thousands upon thousands of sqare miles of untouched desert. As long as you leave no trace (no littering), who cares if it leaves a foot trail? If it's growing out there, you can't kill it. Trust me, the crap grows everywhere (Roundup doesn't even kill sagebrush). As far as wildlife, I believe the areas that the desert tortises are, are clearly marked.(I'm from the north, we don't have them up here, don't quote me on that) The rest of our wildlife is abundant. The BLM themselves are trying to eliminate our wild horse population...other than that, there really isn't much that can be hurt. You should see what 54,000 people do to the Black Rock Desert every summer!! (it's also BLM land)

We can carry signs demanding 'Redistribution of Magic!' .... to much time on my hands..... back to the firewood stacking... Or how about; "No more muggle oppression" or "Muggle Studies is not a crime!" Yeah, I'm rummy from lack of sleep and should probably get other stuff done.

Hrmmm,I think the OP is the 1% Occupy Hogwarts perhaps?...anyone in?

I'm going to Buffalo this weekend. At least your states are small and you can hit a few in a weekend. But yeah, Europe sounds way better!

Best snake encounter ever was a Garter Snake taking off with a baby rattler. (I'm ok with one less rattler in the world!) We didn't stick around to find out if there were more. photo courtesy of NevadaWolf