Placing Caches on Federal Foresty Land

[+OregonCacher]

Hey all,

 

Quick question. After reading posts of rulings made by the various agencies overseeing Federal Forestry Land, I find myself a bit confused on where I can and cannot place caches in the Wilderness.

 

In the field, how do you all know who owns the land you are on? Do you bring a Topo map with you? I feel like it would be very easy to place a cache, grab the coordinates, and a few days later arrive home to find out you placed it on land not allowed by geocaching.org, so now there is a random ammo can up in the Cascades or Rockies that most likely will not be retrieved.

 

Any tips?

[+hydnsek]

Here in Washington state we have a lot of national forest land (ok to cache) intermixed with wilderness areas (no caching) and national parks (no caching w/o permission). We use maps showing the boundaries to determine where caching is permissible. (Green Trails is popular here.) Those who haven't checked beforehand have indeed had caches denied and had to trudge back out to retrieve them.

[+mpilchfamily]

If it takes you a few days to get to the cache location then your running into a problem right there.

 

You are responsible for occasional visits to your cache to maintain proper working order, especially when someone reports a problem with the cache (missing, damaged, wet, etc.).

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=307#maint

 

This is why everyone who asks is told to read the placement guidelines over several times before placing a cache. So that caches are not placed wrong then left out in the middle of no where after being denied.

 

Locations that are against GS's guidelines are outlined in the guidelines. Such as Schools, military facilities and airports. All other areas you need to get land owner's approvals. Every square inch of the USA is owned/managed by someone. Wilderness areas are manged by the various park and forestry services around the country. So find a near by park service and they can point you to the right location/person to ask about placing a cache. Yes some agencies have ruled that they allow no caches. Most federally owned lands do not allow a physical cache but Earth caches are allowed in some areas. Most state owned lands will allow caches but you need to ask before placing. These organizations are aware of Geocache and many have a form you have to fill out and send in to get permission. Typically you'll need to find the location and cords for your cache, ask permission to place it. Only when approved can you place the cache then run it through the site to have the cache published.

[+kunarion]

You should place a cache that you can maintain, so you can retrieve it if there's an issue (although there are tons of exceptions). One thing to consider about forestry land is that it's sometimes managed with controlled burns. That adds an additional challenge to finding the perfect hiding place.

 

But more to your point, may find property information on tax assessors' web sites. You'd either have to research an area in advance, or have some way to access the information once you find a cache spot.

[mtbikernate]

1. There are a handful of land management agencies in the United States. Of primary concern would be the United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (from a federal standpoint). There are often multiple state and local agencies to deal with, too, depending on where you are.

 

2. The USFS (sounds like that's primarily what you're asking about) is divided into regions, and each region might contain multiple forests and/or grasslands and those might each have multiple districts. Many management decisions are made at the region level. The caching policy for several forests and grasslands in my area is set at the region (Region 8) level, but some places have such policies (or lack thereof) at the individual forest level.

 

3. You say Wilderness, but are you talking about specific federally-designated Wilderness Areas. Those are "capital-W" Wildernesses, and again, each one may have a different policy in place for caching. But also note that Wilderness areas are not exclusive to USFS lands. They may also be managed by other land management agencies. wilderness (lower case) is what you'd use when referring to any old expanse of undeveloped land...of which there really is very little. I would even argue that many federally-designated Wilderness areas really aren't wilderness at all. I went hiking in one (found a geocache while I was there, even) recently and found a busted up 8-track tape on the trail (which is labeled on my topo map as a county road). The only water source that had any water was a little pond...an obvious remnant from when ranchers ran cattle there prior to designation of the area as Wilderness.

 

4. The way you're supposed to do it is this:

A. Decide you would like to place a cache in a particular area.

B. Find out who owns/manages the land and find out whether it is permissible to place a cache there. Obtain necessary permission (through

either an open policy of permitting caching, verbal permission, or written permission/permit). Ask if the type of cache you would like to

place is permissible.

C. Find the specific place you'd like to put the cache. Some permits require specific coordinates of the cache, so you'd have to do this step

before getting your permit.

D. Talk to your reviewer to make sure the type of cache you'd like to place is permissible under the gc.com listing guidelines if there is a

question.

E. Place your cache and list it on gc.com. Since you have obtained permission from the landowner/manager and you have spoken to your reviewer

about the cache you'd like to place, you should have no problem getting your cache published.

[+OregonCacher]

I'm from the Oregon area, and when viewing the Cascades, I see many caches that have been placed all throughout Wilderness areas. Have these been grandfathered in?

 

My dream would be to be able to go backpacking and place a cache at a cool spot I find (assuming it's the required distance from another cache), and place it, then go home and log it. I guess I'm trying to figure out how I can be prepared when I go out on a trip such that I respect all of the laws in place.

[+SwineFlew]

I'm from the Oregon area, and when viewing the Cascades, I see many caches that have been placed all throughout Wilderness areas. Have these been grandfathered in?

 

My dream would be to be able to go backpacking and place a cache at a cool spot I find (assuming it's the required distance from another cache), and place it, then go home and log it. I guess I'm trying to figure out how I can be prepared when I go out on a trip such that I respect all of the laws in place.

 

Since I live in your area and, yes, there is one for sure that its grandfathered. I found one of them and its a hard one to get to.(about 14 miles round trip for just one cache) There is another one thats a mutli but the cache itself is not in the Wilderness area.

 

You can send a set coordinates of question to your local review and ask him/her to check to see it allowed. Our reviewers are awesome to work with.

[+OregonCacher]

I'm from the Oregon area, and when viewing the Cascades, I see many caches that have been placed all throughout Wilderness areas. Have these been grandfathered in?

 

My dream would be to be able to go backpacking and place a cache at a cool spot I find (assuming it's the required distance from another cache), and place it, then go home and log it. I guess I'm trying to figure out how I can be prepared when I go out on a trip such that I respect all of the laws in place.

 

Since I live in your area and, yes, there is one for sure that its grandfathered. I found one of them and its a hard one to get to.(about 14 miles round trip for just one cache) There is another one thats a mutli but the cache itself is not in the Wilderness area.

 

You can send a set coordinates of question to your local review and ask him/her to check to see it allowed. Our reviewers are awesome to work with.

 

I never considered that... how do I know who is the assigned reviewer for that "neck of the woods", if you will.

Edited July 4, 2011 by OregonCacher

[+niraD]

how do I know who is the assigned reviewer for that "neck of the woods", if you will.

Please see the knowledge books article:

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=200