Bad Experiences With Private Property Owners In Clark County?

[wastro]

Hi, everyone! My name is Matt Wastradowski, and I'm a Features News Assistant with The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Washington.

 

I'm working on a story about geocaching and was curious if I could get a feel for how fellow geocachers have encountered certain issues.

 

In short, have you had bad experiences with property owners in or around Vancouver, Washington? Or on the other end of the spectrum, have you had some really good experiences, too?

 

I've talked to a few people about this topic but am interested in getting more feedback so I can really turn in a quality story. If you don't want to respond to me on the forum, you can e-mail me at matt.wastradowski@columbian.com or give me a ring at 360/759-8053.

 

I'd love to hear from fellow Southwest Washington geocachers about your experiences with property owners and am interested to see what those experiences have been like.

 

Thanks!

Matt

[+klossner]

In short, have you had bad experiences with property owners in or around Vancouver, Washington?

I don't understand the premise for the question. We don't put caches on private property without the owner's permission.

 

Perhaps you're referring to land managers of public property? If so, there's a good story at The Headwall cache page.

I'd love to hear from fellow Southwest Washington geocachers

"Fellow" geocachers? Your account has zero finds.

[+Cyclometh]

Any cache placed on private property without the owner's permission would not be listed or would be immediately archived if it was discovered after publication.

 

Not many cachers that I know of ask private individual property owners for permission to place caches. It's best to avoid that. You'll find a few, but the vast majority are on public land of one form or another. Some are managed lands that are accessible to the public, but not owned by indivdiuals.

 

If anyone tells you about a bad experience with a private property owner, if the story doesn't start with "I asked permission to place a cache..." or "I found out a cache I placed was on private property after I placed it..." you can be sure the cacher is in the wrong.

[wastro]

In short, have you had bad experiences with property owners in or around Vancouver, Washington?

I don't understand the premise for the question. We don't put caches on private property without the owner's permission.

 

Perhaps you're referring to land managers of public property? If so, there's a good story at The Headwall cache page.

I'd love to hear from fellow Southwest Washington geocachers

"Fellow" geocachers? Your account has zero finds.

 

Maybe I was a little unclear; I was referring to finding caches on private property (rare as that may be), not hiding them. Whether geocachers have permission or not, I was curious if they'd had bad experiences with property owners for whatever reason.

 

Also, I realize my account has zero finds, as I didn't mention in my first post that I am new to geocaching. A friend of mine took me geocaching about two or three weeks ago, which inspired me to start the story; I just hadn't listed the geocaches as "found" because I haven't thought to yet.

[+Team Maccabee]

I think that you're so new to geocaching that you just don't quite understand it well enough to write this story well. Because we need to ask permission before placing a cache on private property those caches are extremely rare (I know of 1 in all of Seattle, not including shopping mall parking lots or parking strips). And no one hunts for non-existent caches. It's like asking people about their perspectives on the green sky; it's not green (green flash aside) so no one's going to be able to give you credible information.

 

Maybe you should work up a different kind of story about geocaching...

 

Team Maccabee

[wastro]

I think that you're so new to geocaching that you just don't quite understand it well enough to write this story well. Because we need to ask permission before placing a cache on private property those caches are extremely rare (I know of 1 in all of Seattle, not including shopping mall parking lots or parking strips). And no one hunts for non-existent caches. It's like asking people about their perspectives on the green sky; it's not green (green flash aside) so no one's going to be able to give you credible information.

 

Maybe you should work up a different kind of story about geocaching...

 

Team Maccabee

 

I appeciate the feedback on whether or not I know enough about geocaching, but maybe you misunderstood me.

 

I already talked to one geocacher who told me about local businesses that have hidden caches, as well as a firehouse that's done the same. I guess some of these local businesses and other property owners even ASK to have caches hidden there. So I know there's smoething there; it's just figuring out if this is a microcosm of something bigger or an anomaly.

 

The focus of the story isn't clear yet; I don't know how it will turn out, which is why I'm seeking input from other geocachers on their experiences (good or bad) with private property owners - whether hiding or finding.

Edited March 24, 2006 by wastro

[+WeightMan]

 

I already talked to one geocacher who told me about local businesses that have hidden caches, as well as a firehouse that's done the same. I guess some of these local businesses and other property owners even ASK to have caches hidden there. So I know there's smoething there; it's just figuring out if this is a microcosm of something bigger or an anomaly.

 

 

There is also a prohibition on commercial caches. A business might want a cache on their property to draw people there, but that is against the guidelines. Sometimes this is hard for the cache reviewer to determine, but if someone reports it as such, and that report is verified, the cache will be quickly archived. In some cases the reviewer may even require a written permission for the cache. I'm sure one of out local reviewers will add to this discussion. I have found a few caches that were on private property, but I generally don't hunt for them especially if there is no note on the cache page that the cache is there with permission.

[+hydnsek]

I think that you're so new to geocaching that you just don't quite understand it well enough to write this story well. Because we need to ask permission before placing a cache on private property those caches are extremely rare (I know of 1 in all of Seattle, not including shopping mall parking lots or parking strips). And no one hunts for non-existent caches. It's like asking people about their perspectives on the green sky; it's not green (green flash aside) so no one's going to be able to give you credible information.

 

Maybe you should work up a different kind of story about geocaching...

 

Team Maccabee

 

I appeciate the feedback on whether or not I know enough about geocaching, but maybe you misunderstood me.

 

I already talked to one geocacher who told me about local businesses that have hidden caches, as well as a firehouse that's done the same. I guess some of these local businesses and other property owners even ASK to have caches hidden there. So I know there's smoething there; it's just figuring out if this is a microcosm of something bigger or an anomaly.

 

The focus of the story isn't clear yet; I don't know how it will turn out, which is why I'm seeking input from other geocachers on their experiences (good or bad) with private property owners - whether hiding or finding.

 

Sounds like you're trying to focus the story on "caches on private property" and "experiences with private property owners." Why? It's an extremely odd focus, considering that it's almost non-existent, and seems like a recipe for stirring up bad press and trouble for geocaching, which would be mighty unfair, since as everyone has noted, placing caches on private property is against geocaching rules. There are tons more interesting things to write about - devilish hides, clever puzzles, strenuous mountain-top caches, fun family caches - something for everyone!

[+Kfam]

Didn't Ronnie say it was "his" land?

Buck's Crossing is in nearby Pierce county.

Is that the kind of story you're after?

[+Stump]

Sounds like you're trying to focus the story on "caches on private property" and "experiences with private property owners." Why? It's an extremely odd focus, considering that it's almost non-existent,...

 

What about all those Wal-Mart and Target caches? There's also the caches hidden on timber company land.

 

I've found dozens of caches on public access private property. I'd hardly call it almost non-existent.

[+hydnsek]

Sounds like you're trying to focus the story on "caches on private property" and "experiences with private property owners." Why? It's an extremely odd focus, considering that it's almost non-existent,...

 

What about all those Wal-Mart and Target caches? There's also the caches hidden on timber company land.

 

I've found dozens of caches on public access private property. I'd hardly call it almost non-existent.

OK, fair enough - but parking lots didn't seem to be the sort of private property he was referencing.

 

Yes, I have visited many parking lot caches in my caching career, and some on timber land, and not one property owner has ever noticed or interacted with me. How's that?

 

The only caches I've accessed on private private property (as opposed to public access private property) were with the owners' permission, and they were rare. Either the cacher got permission from the owner (usually a commercial establishment) or it was on the cacher's own property (My Backyard cache is an example, it's one of mine).

 

Two of my favorites:

- The Nevada micro hidden in a sign outside a soda shop. The store owner offered a free ice-cream cone to every finder - yum!!

- The TB hotel cache in the Travel Bug travel & map store in Sante Fe, NM.

 

How's that?

Edited March 30, 2006 by hydnsek

[+1stimestar]

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...&log=y&decrypt=

 

Mukluk News owners were certainly friendly. Of course, it's in Alaska, not Washington...