Permission letter

[+scrant55]

Hi everyone. I am contemplating the location for my very first hide and was curious if anyone had a template letter for asking the property owners permission to place the cache. I would assume I would be trying to 'sell' the idea by extolling the benefits (attracting people to the area, Cache In Trash Out, etc.).

 

Just wondering if there was any framework that has worked for others.

 

Thanks!

[+StarBrand]

Forget the letter.

Call for an appointment.

It is always best to show up in person. Bring a Brochure that expalins caching, be prepared to answer a lot of questions. Offer to take them to a cache (pick a good scenic one).

[+kunarion]

I would assume I would be trying to 'sell' the idea by extolling the benefits (attracting people to the area, Cache In Trash Out, etc.).

I thought so, too, but was talked out of it.

 

All I did was email the manager (this was for a park overseen by the county), about the area I'd like to place "a Geocache", and asking if I could meet in person to discuss it. I went to the office with a sample of the container I intended to place, satellite maps, and some ideas about exactly where I'd place it. Turns out, the manager is a Geocacher, so I didn't have to explain that. They had some brochures, and told me their requirements, and they said that my idea would be fine.

 

And I didn't mention that the container had already been in place for a month. Since it was my first hide, I wanted to be sure it wouldn't be immediately muggled, wouldn't wash away, etc., before it was even activated.

[+briansnat]

Going in person is always the best way, but a sending a letter ahead of time might be a good ice breaker. I wrote this one a while ago. You are free to use it all or in part, alter it or ignore it.

 

Dear _______:

 

I'm writing to request permission to place a geocache in _______. If you are not familiar with the term geocache, it's the focal point of a sport called geocaching. This entails a person hiding a small container (the geocache), usually containing a log book and trinkets, then using a Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache. The coordinates are then published on the Internet to allow others to find it.

 

Geocaching is a fun, family oriented activity that has the benefit of getting people outdoors and introducing them to areas of historic, natural, or scenic interest.

 

Managers of many parks and nature preserves have determined that geocaching is a beneficial, low impact activity and encourage the sport on their lands. They see the additional visitors and increased exposure that geocaching brings as a plus. Similarly, geocachers often discover exciting new places through the sport, while getting exercise and gaining an appreciation for these areas.

 

I believe that ________ is one of the special places that would be of interest to geocachers and would like to explore the possibility of my placing a geocache there. I will be calling you shortly to discuss this, or if you prefer you can contact me at _________.

 

Thank You,

[Danielc]

Hi,

Just a tip here. I attempted to get permission to place a cache at a local tourist place, actually a waterfalls with cabins and youth activities etc. I couldn't get an answer when I tried to contact owners and management. Then I hit on the idea of emailing a lowly worker. He took my request to management and I got an interview. Sometimes its the lowly worker who has less emails and so are willing to read your request.

Cheers,

Dan

[+tango501]

all above are good ideas to seek permission

 

I have had the best luck in going face to face with

manager/owner etc to explain our sport

 

my 2 cents worth

 

have fun, be safe and happy hunting

[+ChaceGuild]

Briansnat - that's a fantastic letter/email template! I've been scratching my head over how to word correspondance to the local council, over gaining permission to place a geocache, but that sounds spot on

[+briansnat]

Briansnat - that's a fantastic letter/email template! I've been scratching my head over how to word correspondance to the local council, over gaining permission to place a geocache, but that sounds spot on

 

I think the keys to any letter, e-mail or personal contact are to explain the benefits to the community, explain the benefits to the land manager and emphasize the family friendly aspect of the sport, as well as low impact nature of the sport. Mentioning other entities that have encouraged geocaching is always helpful. There are numerous public parks at all levels that have embraced geocaching. Get your local chamber of commerce on board. They love anything that will bring people into town.

Edited March 15, 2010 by briansnat

[+ChaceGuild]

Hmmm... interesting idea (Chamber of Commerce), thanks Fortunately, that's one thing that's established both in the States where you are, and here in the UK

 

I'm hoping (with luck) that there are at least a couple of Countryside Rangers I used to know still working for the local Council. That way, it will make it a LOT easier getting permission to place caches, as they know what kind of person I am and that any cache will be safe! It also means that they may offer to check in on it every now and then, as they're quite friendly people.

[+Simon Mates]

Still pretty new at this, but I favor the in-person approach. Close to home other cachers have broken the ice and the local village offices & police welcomed my inquiry and were most helpful with guidelines of areas to avoid. In the area that used to be home, I dropped in at the county parks department one afternoon only to discover I had arrived 2-3 hours after closing. Dog-gone if a representative wasn't "catching up" on some details and turned out to be a geo-cacher himself. He was glad to explain safety and caching responsibility concerns and offered suggestions for areas that had not yet been "cached".

[+ChaceGuild]

A good point, and after having a rethink earlier, I realised there was an organisation I'd overlooked - the local town council! Although we consider the area we live in still to be a "village", it's actually a town, and has a council of its own.

 

Having had a look at their website, I've now contacted their secretary regarding hiding a cache in the area, and hopefully they'll be of more help than the local borough council If they don't reply by tomorrow evening, I'll pop into their offices down in the village on Wednesday - as you say, the "in person" approach may be better.

[+godavid]

Dear _______:

 

I'm writing to request permission to place a geocache in _______. If you are not familiar with the term geocache, it's the focal point of a sport called geocaching. This entails a person hiding a small container (the geocache), usually containing a log book and trinkets, then using a Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache. The coordinates are then published on the Internet to allow others to find it.

 

Geocaching is a fun, family oriented activity that has the benefit of getting people outdoors and introducing them to areas of historic, natural, or scenic interest.

 

Managers of many parks and nature preserves have determined that geocaching is a beneficial, low impact activity and encourage the sport on their lands. They see the additional visitors and increased exposure that geocaching brings as a plus. Similarly, geocachers often discover exciting new places through the sport, while getting exercise and gaining an appreciation for these areas.

 

I believe that ________ is one of the special places that would be of interest to geocachers and would like to explore the possibility of my placing a geocache there. I will be calling you shortly to discuss this, or if you prefer you can contact me at _________.

 

Thank You,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear _______:

 

I'm writing to request permission to place a geocache in _______. If you are not familiar with the term geocache,Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices.A GPS is Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache.

 

The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

. This entails a person hiding a small container (the geocache), usually containing a log book and trinkets, then using a Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache. The coordinates are then published on the Internet to allow others to find it.

 

Geocaching is a fun, family oriented activity that has the benefit of getting people,and family outdoors and introducing them to areas of historic, natural, or scenic interest.

 

Managers of many parks and nature preserves have determined that geocaching is a beneficial, low impact activity and encourage the sport on their lands. They see the additional visitors and increased exposure that geocaching brings as a plus. Similarly, geocachers often discover exciting new places through the sport, while getting exercise and gaining an appreciation for these areas.

 

I believe that ________ is one of the special places that would be of interest to geocachers and would like to explore the possibility of my placing a geocache there. I will be calling you shortly to discuss this, or if you prefer you can contact me at _________.

 

Thank You,

 

I add a few things to bring a better understanding to people if they do not know what the world is geocaching,and what is a GPS ??? THE ABOVE IN RED IS WHAT I ADDED

[+TallyCruzan]

I just sent an email that went something like this for a hide in a nice neighborhood (not a park like the other templates) in town (don't know if it will get a good response yet):

 

Hi I am a local geocacher and while I myself don't live in XXXXXX, I have several friends that do and we always enjoy a visit to the neighborhood.

 

First let me explain in a nutshell what geocaching is before I get to my question. Geocaching is a free real world outdoor "treasure hunt." Players, called geocachers, try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using a smartphone for global positioning system (GPS) device and then share their experiences on the website (http://www.geocaching.com/) by logging their find. Its an excellent activity for kids and families to get involved in as well as a way of introducing citizens to their own towns and welcoming visitors by showing them areas they may not have seen otherwise (especially beautiful neighborhoods).

 

I would like to hide a geocache out front of the XXXXXX off XXXX in a tree in the center of the circle driveway. It would be a premium (paying) members only cache to limit the number of visitors to say 1 or 2 per month on average. The cachers would not interfer with the regular use of the property (or I wouldn't ask) and this would be an opportunity to show them how beautiful XXXXXXX is and some of the amenities it offers, if they don't already know. The cache container will be small, unobtrusive, and hidden from view. If it turns out ever to become a problem, you may just ask me as the cache owner to remove it. If I should ever leave the game, I am repsonsible to remove all my caches by archiving them and disposing of the containers properly. Many geocachers are good stewards of the environment and community and we help each other out by maintaining the longevity and appearance of caches and removing trash and debris from cache hide sites (its called Cache In/Trash Out).

 

I would love to speak with you either on the phone or in person about this idea. When would be the best time to call or stop by?

 

Thanks,

 

XXXXXXXX

[+Condorito]

Dear _______:

 

I'm writing to request permission to place a geocache in _______. If you are not familiar with the term geocache, it's the focal point of a sport called geocaching. This entails a person hiding a small container (the geocache), usually containing a log book and trinkets, then using a Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache. The coordinates are then published on the Internet to allow others to find it.

 

Geocaching is a fun, family oriented activity that has the benefit of getting people outdoors and introducing them to areas of historic, natural, or scenic interest.

 

Managers of many parks and nature preserves have determined that geocaching is a beneficial, low impact activity and encourage the sport on their lands. They see the additional visitors and increased exposure that geocaching brings as a plus. Similarly, geocachers often discover exciting new places through the sport, while getting exercise and gaining an appreciation for these areas.

 

I believe that ________ is one of the special places that would be of interest to geocachers and would like to explore the possibility of my placing a geocache there. I will be calling you shortly to discuss this, or if you prefer you can contact me at _________.

 

Thank You,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear _______:

 

I'm writing to request permission to place a geocache in _______. If you are not familiar with the term geocache,Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices.A GPS is Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache.

 

The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

. This entails a person hiding a small container (the geocache), usually containing a log book and trinkets, then using a Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) to mark the longititude and latitude of the geocache. The coordinates are then published on the Internet to allow others to find it.

 

Geocaching is a fun, family oriented activity that has the benefit of getting people,and family outdoors and introducing them to areas of historic, natural, or scenic interest.

 

Managers of many parks and nature preserves have determined that geocaching is a beneficial, low impact activity and encourage the sport on their lands. They see the additional visitors and increased exposure that geocaching brings as a plus. Similarly, geocachers often discover exciting new places through the sport, while getting exercise and gaining an appreciation for these areas.

 

I believe that ________ is one of the special places that would be of interest to geocachers and would like to explore the possibility of my placing a geocache there. I will be calling you shortly to discuss this, or if you prefer you can contact me at _________.

 

Thank You,

 

I add a few things to bring a better understanding to people if they do not know what the world is geocaching,and what is a GPS ??? THE ABOVE IN RED IS WHAT I ADDED

 

Shouldn't CITO get a mention? Love the letter though and have been looking for something like this...

Edited February 28, 2013 by Condorito