What about ones that we find are missing?

[+Markwell]

Many of these discs in my area are being uprooted due to major construction. AE2549 near my home is in one of the most constructed intersections in the area (they've been building that corner up since early 2001). I'd be very surprised if the disc is still there.

 

What about making this a true recovery effort? If we find a disc that is truly missing, could we fill out an online form and have it submit data to the NGS? I don't know how much they'd like this, but since the database already has the PID and coordinates, it seems to make sense.

 

I would only suggest this for ones that are missing, not ones that are there and having people say "Yep, I found it." Also, the Groundspeak system should only allow one "Can't find it" per PID.

 

Just an idea.

 

Markwell

My Geocaching Page

[+rdw]

You can submit a recovery report through the NGS website. I have done this on several I have found, including one that had been reported lost, and my recoveries show up if you search the PID.

 

I would be weary of submitting it through Groundspeak. Idiots could easily screw up the official records (false recoveries, etc.) just for "fun." Forcing them to use the official channel would hopefully make pranks less likely.

 

rdw

[+Seth!]

Jeremy and Elias, I am wondering about the NGS markers that NGS has already 'archived'. There are some markers that have data sheets (and thus are on geocaching.com) but the markers are recorded as having been destroyed.

 

One example is SY3728, which was a radio tower in downtown Kirkland, WA. The tower was torn down in 1964.

 

Seth!

[+oregone]

Behind the Barley Mill you can find RD3140 and RD3146. At least, if this were before 1945 you could find them as they were demolished to make room for a church. Too bad that those are the closest to my apartment.

 

all rights reserved, all wrongs reversed

[Ron Streeter]

....in action....

 

Well, when I went for JS4192, I wondered how I has missed seeing a 125 foot water tower next to the golf course I often play.

 

Seems the tower is now gone and the marker was the red light on top of the tower.

 

This BM (that's bench mark!) was last sighted in 1975 by NGS.

 

There is a high school across the street, and when I was there the place was swarming with kids, so I didn't want to look for a 3 inch brass disk...if one was placed.

 

Not the best start to my BM (that's bench mark!) career.

 

Ron (63 hidden/240 found) (that's REGULAR and VIRTUAL CACHES !) (OH, and 2 of those blamed "locationless")

 

I've never been lost. Fearsome confused sometimes, but never lost.

[+oregone]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ron Streeter:

This BM (that's bench mark!) was last sighted in 1975 by NGS.

 

Not the best start to my BM (that's bench mark!) career.

 

Ron (63 hidden/240 found) (that's REGULAR and VIRTUAL CACHES !) (OH, and 2 of those blamed "locationless")

 

__I've never been lost. Fearsome confused sometimes, but never lost.__

---

 

Bench Mark? And all this time i thought we could find more Barley Mills.

 

all rights reserved, all wrongs reversed

[+oregone]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ron Streeter:

This BM (that's bench mark!) was last sighted in 1975 by NGS.

 

Not the best start to my BM (that's bench mark!) career.

 

Ron (63 hidden/240 found) (that's REGULAR and VIRTUAL CACHES !) (OH, and 2 of those blamed "locationless")

 

__I've never been lost. Fearsome confused sometimes, but never lost.__

---

 

Bench Mark? And all this time i thought we could find more Barley Mills.

 

all rights reserved, all wrongs reversed

[+orange]

Some of the ones I read on search page near me are most likely on private property. Two are listed as being on Bell Labs property in the descriptions. I don't think Lucent security is going to let me go searching around their grounds with a digital camera around my neck.

 

Also have seen two posted that are at the toll plaza on the Garden State Parkway. Wonder what the traffic reporter will say about me as I stop my car and get out to look for the metal disk.

 

Some of these should obviously not be looked for.

[+pdxmarathonman]

I guess if we all file recovery reports, either on not-found or found BM's (but mostly on not-founds) the USGS should have much better data.

 

One near me vanished when the Beaverton Airport became the Beaverton Mall, and another disappeared when the Murray Blvd overpass on the Sunset Highway was replaced (5 lanes instead of 2).

[ride_bent]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rdw:

You can submit a recovery report through the NGS website. I have done this on several I have found, including one that had been reported lost, and my recoveries show up if you search the PID.

---

 

Do you have the address of the website where we can do this?

 

The best things in life are not things...

 

Now Open... http://www.geoindiana.com <-Click It! You know you want to!

[+infosponge]

You can fill out a recovery form here:

 

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/FORMS_PROCESSING-cgi-bin/recvy_entry_www.prl

 

If you want to log a mark as missing, they want some kind of proof if possible, otherwise you log it as unable to recover. I wish geocaching worked that way too. :-)

[+Beast of Traal]

I just went to BJ4941

I saw a sign saying there was a benchmark and not to disturb it but all I saw was a a hole about a foot deep I guess someone Ignored the sign

 

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal: a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a brush, but very very ravenous

[+WaldenRun]

This has been going on long before the first cache was ever plundered. I have heard tell of folks that have 400 to 500 disks in their possesion.

 

WR

 

"Why worry when you can obsess?"

[+Renegade Knight]

Unlike geoplundering, stealing of these benchmarks is backed up by the force of law. What that means I don't know, but in theory you can get in a lot of trouble taking one. Do not attempt to place one back unless you are a licensed surveyor. Again the laws are against you. Find them, or the hole where they used to be and take your pic's.

[+Markwell]

quote:

---

Originally posted by infosponge:

You can fill out a recovery form here:

 

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/FORMS_PROCESSING-cgi-bin/recvy_entry_www.prl

 

If you want to log a mark as missing, they want some kind of proof if possible, otherwise you log it as unable to recover. I wish geocaching worked that way too. :-)

---

 

That's what I was looking for. I was wondering about having this site linked on each of the BenchMark's details page.

 

And the best of all worlds would be that if you link from a particular Benchmark page, it prefills the PID on the report page. Don't know if that can be done or not as I'm not a web wizard.

 

Just a thought.

 

Markwell

My Geocaching Page

[+infosponge]

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to link directly to the USGS recovery form.

I'm worried that they'd get a lot of noise/junk data and decide to just ignore reports from individuals.

The reporting groups now have some vested interest in being responsible/accurate...some group of geocaching yahoos doesn't have the same incentive and will give the NGS bad data and the rest of us a bad reputation.

[survey tech]

Hello everyone, Im here to promote, and to thank you for, your interest in Land Surveying.

 

I would like to reiterate and emphasize that it would be unwise and imprudent for anyone to report a marker as missing because they were unable to locate it. One may state that one was unable to recover it, but please refrain from stating that is has been destroyed, unless you have actually observed its removal. Misleading information about these highly valuable control points is quite damaging to surveyors, and can lead ultimately to higher costs for surveys in your area. Those who have collections of these markers are generally construction workers or engineers who pick up the markers that are accidentally hit by construction equipment. This is allowed because the marker loses all of its value as soon as it is moved, since its whole purpose is to mark a particular spot. It is a felony to deliberately deface or disturb a marker in any manner. I see that many of you are experiencing consternation over the markers that have truly been lost. I recommend that you try searching in areas that have undergone little or no development activity in recent years to improve your success rate. Those of you in the west have a distinct advantage, since surveying in this country progressed, along with the settlement of the country, from east to west. The older markers, combined with the density of population, in the east will mean a much lower success rate for those of you east of the Mississippi. Conversely, most of the survey work in the west was done rather more recently, within the last 100 years. This, combined with sparse population and vast tracts of uninhabited public land to search, will spell higher success. Those in Alaska may be luckiest of all, since survey markers there are the newest, having been set only in the last 50 years. So for geocaching success you may well follow that old advice to "go west young man"!

 

For more information on Land Surveying, visit rpls.com and feel free to ask the experts your questions.