State Parks

[+Gan Dalf]

Sorry for not being able to locate this as I am sure it has been discussed before but the Search Feature seems to be broken, at least for me.

 

Can someone point me in the direction of the policies regarding placing caches in Washington State Parks. I am considering placing one and I want to be sure and get all of the correct permissions before doing so, if it is even allowed.

 

Thanks

-FM

[+Right Wing Wacko]

Sorry for not being able to locate this as I am sure it has been discussed before but the Search Feature seems to be broken, at least for me.

 

Can someone point me in the direction of the policies regarding placing caches in Washington State Parks. I am considering placing one and I want to be sure and get all of the correct permissions before doing so, if it is even allowed.

 

Thanks

-FM

WSGA - State Park Regulations

Edited July 17, 2008 by Right Wing Wacko

[jholly]

I tried making a hide is a state park once. I've been waiting 3 months now. Since my permit expires in December I hardly doubt I'll bother with the hide or bother trying to hide one in the state parks again.

 

Jim

[+Gan Dalf]

I tried making a hide is a state park once. I've been waiting 3 months now. Since my permit expires in December I hardly doubt I'll bother with the hide or bother trying to hide one in the state parks again.

 

Jim

 

You have a permit from the Washington State Parks commission? What seems to be th ehold up in getting it done? Is the approval not getting done or is it something to do with the park itself?

[jholly]

I tried making a hide is a state park once. I've been waiting 3 months now. Since my permit expires in December I hardly doubt I'll bother with the hide or bother trying to hide one in the state parks again.

 

Jim

 

You have a permit from the Washington State Parks commission? What seems to be th ehold up in getting it done? Is the approval not getting done or is it something to do with the park itself?

 

Yes you need a permit that has to be signed by a higher authority. The local park management can not approve the permit. I'm still waiting on higher authority. Apparently this is not a very urgent item on the to do list.

 

Jim

[+Shop99er]

I tried making a hide is a state park once. I've been waiting 3 months now. Since my permit expires in December I hardly doubt I'll bother with the hide or bother trying to hide one in the state parks again.

 

Jim

 

You have a permit from the Washington State Parks commission? What seems to be th ehold up in getting it done? Is the approval not getting done or is it something to do with the park itself?

 

Yes you need a permit that has to be signed by a higher authority. The local park management can not approve the permit. I'm still waiting on higher authority. Apparently this is not a very urgent item on the to do list.

 

Jim

 

Have you talked to the Park Manager about the delay? He/she might know what the issue is.

[gonegeofishing]

The problem is not at the local state park level. It is at the state level.

 

We having been working for months with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to place a puzzle cache at one of the fish hatcheries in the Columbia River Gorge. Under no circumstance are there to be physical geocaches placed on U.S. Fish and Wildlife land.

 

The solution was to place the final at an adjacent State Park. After contacting the local state park manager they were very receptive to the idea and even suggested a couple of spots they believe would have little or no impact on the location. That is when we ran into the brick wall.

 

They pushed it up the chain of command and there it has stopped. Even with assistance in communication from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, approval has gone nowhere.

 

This is in no way an excuse for placing a cache on state park land without the proper permission. Unfortunately it is probably the reason it has been done more often than not.

 

We are not giving up. We realize a geocache is probably not very high on their priority list. Just realize you are in for a long drawn out process trying to get permission.

[+Lightning Jeff]

Can someone point me in the direction of the policies regarding placing caches in Washington State Parks.

WSGA - State Park Regulations

The WSGA site links to the "directive" on geocaches. There is also a formal regulation at WAC 352-32-237. The definitions also clarify that the policy applies to letterboxes and "related activities" (e.g., terracaches). Punishable as an infraction, meaning fine up to $500 plus statutory assessments that bring the actual fine close to $1000. Not that I've heard of anyone actually being cited, but I suppose a blatant violation or violation in the wrong park could lead to enforcement.

 

By the way, it's interesting to note that the WAC applies not only to the hider, but also to anyone who puts prohibited material in a cache - which includes anything that is "inappropriate" or "offensive." Wow. I place pathtags in most caches I find, and I wouldn't put it past someone to be offended by my little martini-drinking cacher.

[+Harriet the Spy]

PNW Admin has an excellent guide on his profile page describing off limits areas, and policies and general stuff you need to know to hide a cache in our area.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=15...a0-19abb4ead2b3

[+hydnsek]

PNW Admin has an excellent guide on his profile page describing off limits areas, and policies and general stuff you need to know to hide a cache in our area.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=15...a0-19abb4ead2b3

Wow, I hadn't looked at their profile in a while. What an incredibly useful set of info - kudos, PNWadmin!