Hiding Geocaches in Wildlife Management Areas

[+geofamily30728]

I'm new to Geocaching and only have 43 finds under my belt. Several of these finds have been in Wildlife Management Area's near my hometown in north Georgia, USA.

 

My family and I just prepared our first Geocache to be hidden. I called my local Georgia Wildlife Resource Division (http://www.n-georgia.com/wildlife.htm#Region1) to obtain permission to hide, and the lady put me on hold and came back almost immediately and told me that Geocaches are not allowed in WMA's. ?!?! What?!

 

Is she wrong?

Have other people not been getting permission?

 

I'm so disappointed.

 

Thanks for any advice!

Rachel

Edited March 4, 2009 by geofamily30728

[+StarBrand]

Check with a local Geocaching group and/or your local reviewer. You can probably get a link from one of them to the offcial "policy" for that area.

 

Sometimes the best question to ask for public lands is "Do you have any policies regarding Geocaching?" - if they do - follow them closely. If not, don't worry about it. But get the policy and read it for yourself.

[+flask]

 

Should I just hide one anyway?

 

 

do not hide one anyway.

 

it is never a good idea to hide a cache where they are forbidden.

 

i find it interesting and disappointing that caches are not allowed in WMAs near me, but snowmobiles are. i guess cache containers are too loud or give off too many diesel fumes or something.

 

i still follow the rules. to do anything else is begging for trouble.

Edited March 4, 2009 by flask

[+geofamily30728]

Check with a local Geocaching group and/or your local reviewer. You can probably get a link from one of them to the offcial "policy" for that area.

 

Sometimes the best question to ask for public lands is "Do you have any policies regarding Geocaching?" - if they do - follow them closely. If not, don't worry about it. But get the policy and read it for yourself.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. I think I'll drive over later and ask our local representative about it. Surely they DO allow it because there are so many caches already hidden there.

 

I was teasing about hiding one anyway. I'd never do anything to get my rear kicked off of here. I'm enjoying it too much.

[+Woodstramp]

Something you might check in to....this wangly-weasely idea, but something to check in to.

 

From the way I understand it (at least here in Bama) a good portion of the land in WMA's is private land that is leased to the state as a WMA. Some is actually state owned with a mix of other parcels under one umbrella,. If a parcel in a WMA is privately held I wonder if land owner's permission has more weight than the state who is leasing it?

 

Also, quite a few of our WMA's are not monolithic blocks of land. There are often plots engulfed in the WMA that are not part of the WMA. (Hunting clubs and private residences) One of these may give you permission. Check WMA maps to see where these plots are.

 

One more weasel suggestion... Often, the roads in WMA's are left open year round to provide access to those that own private lands in the boundaries of a WMA. Would public right-of-way rules apply to the shoulders of these roads?

[+StaticTank]

This might be a case where they haven't had to deal with this yet. Here in South Dakota we had a lot of caches hidden in GPAs (Game Production Areas). When someone went and asked permission they got banned and even had a meeting/event to let us know. They asked us to remove all caches in these areas and we are no longer allowed to use them any more. This might be the case here.

 

StaticTank

[+Renegade Knight]

...Is she wrong?

Have other people not been getting permission?...

 

Hard to say. WMA's vary in what they do and don't allow. The one I know of allows hiking, boating, fishing, walking, hunting, and everthing that caching consists of except they don't allow caches. Go figure. I guess when they ban a cache they are doing it for good of the wildlife. As it happens that's the same reason they allow hunting.

 

Even if the WMA allows caching it's possible that she's the left hand where someone else playing the part of right hand has allowed them. I've encountered that before when I knew flat out that the cache owner had obtained permission and then when I had a question got a completely different answer for something I was planning.

 

My rule of thumb is that any area that allows casual recreational activities which is exactly what geocaching is, there is no need for permission beyond what they have already given. Of course I have no problem talking to the area managers either. If they have specific regulations of course I'll follow them. Becaues I know WMA's are dicey I'll do the extra legwork even if they have a mission allowing casual recreation.

[+BrrrMo]

This thread sounds a lot like getting permission to metal detact.

 

Don't ask can I, ask are there any rules/laws against it.

 

Big difference in the respones you will get, especilly when dealing with "Public Servants"

[+briansnat]

Depends on the state. They are allowed on WMAs in some states and not in others. Since this is specific to Georgia I'm moving this to the southeast forum

[+flask]

best to ask your locals first.

 

if there's a lot of hemming and hawwing about permissions, you will know there are potential problems.

 

going to the land manager first may smoke out existing caches. maybe you want to do that, and maybe you don't, but it's best to have as many facts as you can get before heading into trouble.

 

 

edit: that was weird. brian moved it WHILE i was posting. very disorienting.

[+geofamily30728]

Thank you all so very much for all of the replies. I guess I'll just look elsewhere for a place to hide our Geocaches. There are so many amazing spots to hide Geocaches in our WMA's, which we're completely surrounded by. I can't understand why, when you can do so many other things in a WMA, you can't Geocache. Ugh!

 

Luckily I'm in the northwest corner of Georgia, so I'm within a few minutes driving distance to Alabama or Tennessee. I think I'll check their WMA's, too.

 

Thanks again for the help. You guys are fast!

[+Crow T Robot]

It appears that Georgia enacted a ban on geocaches in state-owned WMA's sometime in September of 2007. We will presume that this policy is still in effect unless someone can provide us with an official communication stating otherwise.

[+jeffbouldin]

Thank you all so very much for all of the replies. I guess I'll just look elsewhere for a place to hide our Geocaches. There are so many amazing spots to hide Geocaches in our WMA's, which we're completely surrounded by. I can't understand why, when you can do so many other things in a WMA, you can't Geocache. Ugh!

 

Luckily I'm in the northwest corner of Georgia, so I'm within a few minutes driving distance to Alabama or Tennessee. I think I'll check their WMA's, too.

 

Thanks again for the help. You guys are fast!

 

Here in Tennessee the TWRA allows Geocaches on their property. When I spoke to the local manager about permission for an Earthcache his only concern was that I don't place it in fields that are leased to farmers.

[Max Cacher]

There is a big difference between national WMA and TWRA, but a few WMA do allow caches with permission in Tennessee

 

Always best to ask first, and there is one area of TWRA that does not allow caches

 

Max

[+Whittling Fisher]

Check out the Georgia's GGA website http://www.ggaonline.org/gadodont.html

 

I know that some of the WMA's in north GA are also National Forest Service land, which allow geocaches (with some rules that you must follow). Some of the State Parks allow geocaches, but it is up to the individual manager of the park.

[+Bluegrass Reviewer]

Geocaches are permitted in Kentucky WMA's.

[+succotash]

In early 2007 we requested permission to place a cache in a Georgia WMA and were told that caching was not allowed. We continue to visit this particular WMA for other reasons and there are still no caches there. However, we have visited several caches placed in different Georgia WMAs and are aware of caches placed in still more locations we haven't yet visited. Unless stated on the cache page, we don't know whether the hiders got permission for these caches. We hope so, since this is generally the type of cache we look forward to seeking.