Geocachers Told To Tread Lightly

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

Helpful hints from treadlightly.org on how to minimise your caching impact on the environment.

[johnzissler]

Helpful hints from treadlightly.org on how to minimise your caching impact on the environment.

 

And very good ones too. Although it is US based it is still applicable over here in the UK.

Red Squadron...........John & Ann

[+stora]

Helpful hints from treadlightly.org on how to minimise your caching impact on the environment.

 

CACHE PLACERS

. Avoid sensitive areas including cultural sites, wetlands, caves and steep slopes.

 

I can see where this is going

[+t.a.folk]

Had a very quick scan .

What we did read seemed sensible stuff to us .

[+Dorsetgal & GeoDog]

<snip>There are at least 250,000 caches hidden throughout the world on any given day.<snip>

 

Are they serious? Heck, pretty soon we'll all be knee deep in caches rather than kneee deep in gorse looking for caches!

[nobby.nobbs]

so caching in a tank is against the rules then?

 

makes sense but i doubt any of the worst offenders will pay a blind bit of notice and the rest of us already do exercise care.

[+Moote]

I think there are some who might learn a valuable lesson from this information, nice link Cryptik Souls Crew

 

Moote

[+Geo-Kate]

Helpful hints from treadlightly.org on how to minimise your caching impact on the environment.

 

CACHE PLACERS

. Avoid sensitive areas including cultural sites, wetlands, caves and steep slopes.

 

I can see where this is going

I think there are some who might learn a valuable lesson from this information...

 

Moote

 

I don't know what you mean, stora

 

To the OP, I think the vast majority of cachers use their common sense when looking hunting for tupperware. Most of the time, common sense is enough. There just seems to be a small minority who don't have any, or don't use it that could give geocaching a bad name.

 

Keeping up the good CITO work and other bits and peices should keep the sport in good light.

Edited May 17, 2006 by Geo-Kate

[+Alibags]

I have to say I think it's also the cache setters responsibility to think about what cachers could do to the area round their cache. If you think they could potentially trample, hack, rip, break, dismantle and kung foo their way to your cache, then they probably will. Polite notices on your cache page make no difference, in my experience.

[+sTeamTraen]

I'm not sure I understand the point of the article. For every geocacher there must by 1000 other people rambling, walking the dog, taking their 4x4 out for a spin, etc.

[+Wadders]

I'm not sure I understand the point of the article. For every geocacher there must by 1000 other people rambling, walking the dog, taking their 4x4 out for a spin, etc.

 

And whats wrong with taking my 4x4 out for a spin???

I agree with the points they raise, but for me horseriders do more damage than us

Anyway off to Le France in 2 weeks, got any caches "up north" sTeamTraen..Brittany??

[Nediam]

I'm not sure I understand the point of the article. For every geocacher there must by 1000 other people rambling, walking the dog, taking their 4x4 out for a spin, etc.

 

I think some people/landowners are under the impression that great hoardes of Geocachers will descend on a cache site each and every weekend. It was one of the concerns the landowners had on one of my caches. After I reassured them that there may be an initial "rush" of half a dozen people and then a steady stream of just a few a month, they seem quite happy and relieved.

 

Have to say though, that many of the caches I have done, do tend to have a "cachers trail" appearing after a few visits. I think the comment Alibags made about carefully considering the hiding place is a very good point. Caches that are just placed in the undergrowth do tend to suffer more from "bush-whacking" than a cache in a hole in a tree or a crevice in a rock.

[markandlynn]

I also like the leave no trace web site

http://www.lnt.org/programs/lnt7/index.html

[+sTeamTraen]

Anyway off to Le France in 2 weeks, got any caches "up north" sTeamTraen..Brittany??

 

Well, you could grab your hotel/campsite coords and search around them

 

Or, you could use the most excellent map at Geocaching France (look for "Geo-Carto").

 

BTW, two weeks or ten days? Don't forget the event near Paris on the 27th!

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

I'm not sure I understand the point of the article. For every geocacher there must by 1000 other people rambling, walking the dog, taking their 4x4 out for a spin, etc.

The whole Tread Lightly philosophy has been around in the USA for at least 20 years and if you look you will find article on all the other areas you raise.

 

I think what a lot of us forget is that while great tracts of places like the USA are public land and often wilderness (as in the technical term for an ecosystem (virtually) untouched by direct human impact) so even walking in with the dirt from your garden can have a serious impact. As an example in parts of New Zealand native soil micro-organisms have been devastated along popular hiking trails (sounds funny at first until you realise what the impact of foreign human gut bore microbiology can be).

 

In England where on average there are 383 people per km2 sorry that should read 6 Gross, 6 Score and 6 persons per square mile we no longer have any wilderness the potential seriousness of an individuals impact is lost. We no longer have native forest up to the 2500' treeline and much of the natural dwarf shrub vegetation in upland England & Wales has been replaced by grassland caused by two centuries of overgrazing and acid rain. The whole Tread Lightly approach fits in with lightweight gear (does anyone remember hob nailed walking boots) and CITO. Most of us are doing it already to an extent, its just that we live with a recovering landscape and they are trying to live sustainable with existing wilderness.

 

OK your homework for next week will be the influence of John Muir on the emerging environmental movement in the late C20. 2500 words by Monday please.

Edited May 17, 2006 by Jango & Boba Fett

[+Roving Rangies]

I'm not sure I understand the point of the article. For every geocacher there must by 1000 other people rambling, walking the dog, taking their 4x4 out for a spin, etc.

 

And whats wrong with taking my 4x4 out for a spin???

I agree with the points they raise, but for me horseriders do more damage than us

Anyway off to Le France in 2 weeks, got any caches "up north" sTeamTraen..Brittany??

 

If your anything like me, I always tread lightly...its that equation about downward pressure per square inch involving an elephant and a styleto heal of a shoe thing. My cars tyre footprint is less than a walkers footprint etc!

 

As for the thrashing about in brambles bit.... are we nutters or something? Do you think I am mad? No way! them Bu88ers hurts! I usually walk away and never return. Sorry I am not kinky enough to want to hurt myself on purpose.

[+Firth of Forth]

OK your homework for next week will be the influence of John Muir on the emerging environmental movement in the late C20. 2500 words by Monday please.

 

And there would be no better place to start than here. Ooops!!

[+perth pathfinders]

And there would be no better place to start than here. Ooops!!

 

Sneaky !!