Placing Caches on Public Lands

[+Setan Meyacha]

Placing Caches on Public Lands

 

How many of us have been guilty of placing a cache somewhere without asking permission just because another cache or caches have been placed in the area; namely city, county, state parks or other public lands? I know I’ve been guilty of this on more than one occasion when I saw there was another cache or two placed within the given area I planned on placing a cache. I wrongfully, most likely, assumed that the previous cache placers had already received permission…giving me, by proxy, the same permission; which isn’t necessarily the case.

I know it can be a hassle tracking down the proper people to get permission from to place a cache. Sometimes it takes repeated phone calls or e-mails, if you know their e-mail address, to get a response. And, in most cases, we already have an idea of where we want to place the cache and what type. But, if you are like me (a little impatient and eager to place the cache), we just go ahead and do it and hope for the best. Sometimes the reviewer will catch a submitted cache as being where it shouldn’t be and we get it denied; usually, in most cases, because we forgot some of the rules of placing caches.

The Bureau of Land Management, as a rule, doesn’t have any stipulations about placing caches in areas they manage; with the exception of Wilderness Study Areas. Although they don’t deny, at the present in Idaho, the placement of caches in a Wilderness Study Area, they do monitor caches placed in such areas to determine if they are detrimental to the environment in which they have been placed. In most cases, the most you would have to do is move the cache sufficiently to prevent ‘trails’ being made to the cache.

But, back to the subject of city, county and state parks. I was glancing through some of the posts on geocachingcolo.com when I came across a link to the following from the Colorado Springs, CO Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Dept.

“GEOCACHING GUILDELINES FOR CITY PARKS & OPEN SPACE AREAS

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

In response to the growing sport of geocaching, the City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department has implemented a set of guidelines that works to allow certain activities and/or caches, and at the same time limits the risk of unattended, closed containers being left in the park system. The two main concerns of the Parks Department are: 1) The traditional cache, or large physical container associated with geocaching, and; 2) any activity that promotes off-trail hiking.

Traditional caches: Traditional caches (ammo cans, Tupperware containers, boxes, etc.) are not permitted in any park or open space within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. If a traditional cache is discovered, the team responsible for placing the cache will be contacted via email, along with a letter and copy of the geocache guidelines. Teams will then have a two week period to remove the cache. If the cache is not removed within two weeks, Parks Staff will dispose of the cache.

Micro caches: Certain micro caches are permitted in parks and open spaces within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. The micro caches allowed include any clear plastic ID card holders (wallet-sized) and small containers basically the size of chap-stick tubes. Micro caches must be placed on or directly adjacent to a designated trail.

Virtual caches: Virtual caches are permitted in parks and open spaces within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. Please post the coordinates for a virtual cache on a designated trail. (Palmer Park & Ute Valley Park offer great rock formations and views for virtual caches.)

Tags and post-its: Tags are permitted in parks and open spaces within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. Tags are most common in association with multi-caches, and are simply laminated or metal tags with coordinates, clues or other text listed on them. As with micro or virtual caches, please locate the tag on a designated trail. (Existing trail signage is a good place to post these, as long as the tag does not damage or obscure the sign.) Tying the tag to a tree with string, wire or plastic is OK, as long as the tree is not damaged in the process. Nailing, stapling, or tacking tags to trees is prohibited.

Geocache events: If a team wishes to host a one-day event, geocaches will be permitted (including traditional caches), as long as the caches are placed on designated trails the same day as the event, and are picked up immediately after the event. The containers should be clearly marked with the date and name of the team and/or event. The hosting team must supervise the event in a manner that minimizes the chance an outside group or person might tamper with the caches throughout the event.

Parks Staff will continue to monitor any new caches. New caches that conform to the above guidelines do not require prior approval from Parks Staff. If you or your team has questions, please contact the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department at 385-5940 or email CityParks@springsgov.com.”

As you can see from these ‘guidelines’, they are fairly restrictive and may be just a hint of what could happen in your given area if there isn’t more interaction between the land managers and the geocachers desiring to place caches in such areas. We all have read the rules about placing caches and know that prior permission to place a cache is ‘supposed’ to have been obtained. But, you and I know that hasn’t always been done. And short of even more restrictive ‘rules’ having to be made by geocaching.com to ensure that permission has been granted, it behooves us to impose stricter ‘rules’ upon ourselves to insure our sport continues to grow and prosper. It would be a shame to visit a large park, (city, county, state or otherwise) knowing the largest cache we can search for is a micro.

Do your part…seek permission before placing a cache! And periodically check back with the land manager to make sure new ‘rules’ haven’t been implemented that would preclude you from placing additional caches in the same park or other public lands areas.

[+currykev]

Placing Caches on Public Lands

 

How many of us have been guilty of placing a cache somewhere without asking permission

 

everyone

[+Turtle_Sask]

if it is a public park then there is no reason for permission

[+ngrrfan]

if it is a public park then there is no reason for permission

The city has given their permission, you just have to meet the guidelines. Failure to do that will cause the loss of your cache as well as jeopardize the placement of future caches by others.

[Keystone]

if it is a public park then there is no reason for permission

That's the 2001 answer. Since then, literally hundreds of land managers have adopted geocaching policies, including the rather restrictive one quoted in the OP. I keep track of more than two dozen land manager policies in my review territory.

 

Maybe that regulatory environment hasn't arrived yet in Saskatchewan. If not, it will someday. The smart approach is to make sure that the land manager views geocaches as a desirable recreational use for their land, rather than lawless nuisances that should be banned. One does this by working cooperatively with land managers.

[+Wooden Cyclist]

Sometimes you get a pleasant surprise. I contacted a land manager about placing caches and he very enthusiastically invited me to palace caches in 10 of the preserves he manages. The public is encouraged use those 10, but he feels that they are underused. He gave me a set of easy to follow guidelines and asked me if I was interested in doing a series that would draw people to all 10 of the properties.

 

Another cacher and I are going to place a Letterbox Hybrid in each of the preserves. When a cacher has collected all 10 unique stamps they take them to the office of the manager and he will give them a small gift.

 

This same organization manages 25 other properties that are considered fragile and any use by geocachers or anyone else is prohibited.

[+Turtle_Sask]

if it is a public park then there is no reason for permission

The city has given their permission, you just have to meet the guidelines. Failure to do that will cause the loss of your cache as well as jeopardize the placement of future caches by others.

 

I realize that and I always meet the guidelines when it comes to placing a cache. I was just saying the obvious Happy caching

[+Turtle_Sask]

if it is a public park then there is no reason for permission

That's the 2001 answer. Since then, literally hundreds of land managers have adopted geocaching policies, including the rather restrictive one quoted in the OP. I keep track of more than two dozen land manager policies in my review territory.

 

Maybe that regulatory environment hasn't arrived yet in Saskatchewan. If not, it will someday. The smart approach is to make sure that the land manager views geocaches as a desirable recreational use for their land, rather than lawless nuisances that should be banned. One does this by working cooperatively with land managers.

 

In Saskatchewan ... (Canada), we have lots of big open parks that are open to the public and are not owned by any land managers. The city owns it, meaning we can use it as long as we respect all of the rules of the park and the guidelines set by Groundspeak. I do so and enjoy respecting the guidelines, so that this wonderful hobby can be still here for decades to come. Happy Caching

[+narcissa]

Placing Caches on Public Lands

 

How many of us have been guilty of placing a cache somewhere without asking permission just because another cache or caches have been placed in the area; namely city, county, state parks or other public lands? I know I’ve been guilty of this on more than one occasion when I saw there was another cache or two placed within the given area I planned on placing a cache. I wrongfully, most likely, assumed that the previous cache placers had already received permission…giving me, by proxy, the same permission; which isn’t necessarily the case.

I know it can be a hassle tracking down the proper people to get permission from to place a cache. Sometimes it takes repeated phone calls or e-mails, if you know their e-mail address, to get a response. And, in most cases, we already have an idea of where we want to place the cache and what type. But, if you are like me (a little impatient and eager to place the cache), we just go ahead and do it and hope for the best. Sometimes the reviewer will catch a submitted cache as being where it shouldn’t be and we get it denied; usually, in most cases, because we forgot some of the rules of placing caches.

The Bureau of Land Management, as a rule, doesn’t have any stipulations about placing caches in areas they manage; with the exception of Wilderness Study Areas. Although they don’t deny, at the present in Idaho, the placement of caches in a Wilderness Study Area, they do monitor caches placed in such areas to determine if they are detrimental to the environment in which they have been placed. In most cases, the most you would have to do is move the cache sufficiently to prevent ‘trails’ being made to the cache.

But, back to the subject of city, county and state parks. I was glancing through some of the posts on geocachingcolo.com when I came across a link to the following from the Colorado Springs, CO Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Dept.

“GEOCACHING GUILDELINES FOR CITY PARKS & OPEN SPACE AREAS

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

In response to the growing sport of geocaching, the City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department has implemented a set of guidelines that works to allow certain activities and/or caches, and at the same time limits the risk of unattended, closed containers being left in the park system. The two main concerns of the Parks Department are: 1) The traditional cache, or large physical container associated with geocaching, and; 2) any activity that promotes off-trail hiking.

Traditional caches: Traditional caches (ammo cans, Tupperware containers, boxes, etc.) are not permitted in any park or open space within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. If a traditional cache is discovered, the team responsible for placing the cache will be contacted via email, along with a letter and copy of the geocache guidelines. Teams will then have a two week period to remove the cache. If the cache is not removed within two weeks, Parks Staff will dispose of the cache.

Micro caches: Certain micro caches are permitted in parks and open spaces within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. The micro caches allowed include any clear plastic ID card holders (wallet-sized) and small containers basically the size of chap-stick tubes. Micro caches must be placed on or directly adjacent to a designated trail.

Virtual caches: Virtual caches are permitted in parks and open spaces within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. Please post the coordinates for a virtual cache on a designated trail. (Palmer Park & Ute Valley Park offer great rock formations and views for virtual caches.)

Tags and post-its: Tags are permitted in parks and open spaces within the jurisdiction of the City of Colorado Springs. Tags are most common in association with multi-caches, and are simply laminated or metal tags with coordinates, clues or other text listed on them. As with micro or virtual caches, please locate the tag on a designated trail. (Existing trail signage is a good place to post these, as long as the tag does not damage or obscure the sign.) Tying the tag to a tree with string, wire or plastic is OK, as long as the tree is not damaged in the process. Nailing, stapling, or tacking tags to trees is prohibited.

Geocache events: If a team wishes to host a one-day event, geocaches will be permitted (including traditional caches), as long as the caches are placed on designated trails the same day as the event, and are picked up immediately after the event. The containers should be clearly marked with the date and name of the team and/or event. The hosting team must supervise the event in a manner that minimizes the chance an outside group or person might tamper with the caches throughout the event.

Parks Staff will continue to monitor any new caches. New caches that conform to the above guidelines do not require prior approval from Parks Staff. If you or your team has questions, please contact the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department at 385-5940 or email CityParks@springsgov.com.”

As you can see from these ‘guidelines’, they are fairly restrictive and may be just a hint of what could happen in your given area if there isn’t more interaction between the land managers and the geocachers desiring to place caches in such areas. We all have read the rules about placing caches and know that prior permission to place a cache is ‘supposed’ to have been obtained. But, you and I know that hasn’t always been done. And short of even more restrictive ‘rules’ having to be made by geocaching.com to ensure that permission has been granted, it behooves us to impose stricter ‘rules’ upon ourselves to insure our sport continues to grow and prosper. It would be a shame to visit a large park, (city, county, state or otherwise) knowing the largest cache we can search for is a micro.

Do your part…seek permission before placing a cache! And periodically check back with the land manager to make sure new ‘rules’ haven’t been implemented that would preclude you from placing additional caches in the same park or other public lands areas.

 

Wall of text.

[knowschad]

Wall of text.

Shows the opposite problem of "too much white space", doesn't it?

[benji55545]

In Saskatchewan ... (Canada), we have lots of big open parks that are open to the public and are not owned by any land managers. The city owns it, meaning we can use it as long as we respect all of the rules of the park and the guidelines set by Groundspeak. I do so and enjoy respecting the guidelines, so that this wonderful hobby can be still here for decades to come. Happy Caching

 

I think the land managers we're talking about don't own the land. They are hired by the city. Chances are there's some sort of land manager out there for your Saskatchewan parks, though they might just be higher up and deal less with day to day business.