Fees for hiding?

[+cerberus1]

I know that in Pennsylvania, in order to place a cache in a State Park, you need to purchase a permit from the State Parks Service that costs about $150, which I thought was kind of outrageous until I found out that you can also get the permit by providing eight hours of service for the Parks Service, which is pretty neat and something I'll probably look into this Summer.

$25. , not $150.

If that's changed since the 5th (post #36), please send a link.

 

wow, the last time i heard about it about six or so months ago it was $150, they must have really dropped the price

That's odd, since we were complaining about the twenty-five buck fee in 2010.

[+wimseyguy]

I'm betting someone was pulling his monkey paw.

Linky.

[+onthehuntin702]

Taxifornia, New "No big sodas" York, or one of the other over-regulated wonderlands perhaps?

 

Sorry, but this whole "fee" for this and "fee" for that is just bogus nonsense. Taxation without representation is making a huge comeback in these debt ridden areas.

 

Now if you come back and say it's in Montana, Idaho, Florida, etc etc then that will be funny. : )

Edited April 9, 2013 by onthehuntin702

[+Zinnware]

I live in Pennsylvania. I had good and odd experiences with State Park rangers in this state before they imposed A $25 fee.

I am an ambassador of Geocaching and have been promoting the sport since 2003 through various presentations. (See my profile for details: http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=67185)

 

Here is my "odd" story with dealing with Kings Gap Environmental Education Center in Pennsylvania. It is a state park.

What seems odd to me is that almost every year beginning in 2007, they have been trying to have programs in the park to promote geocaching, but at the same time would have not allowed a single cache placed in the park since 2006.

 

Details below:

 

- June 2007 -I was approached by a member of the Educational Staff to do a geocaching presentation. I happily agreed to do the presentation. I coordinated this through the Program Director of the park. As a follow-up I asked to set up geocaches in the park. I was politely refused. I asked if I could setup 5 one-day demonstration caches in the park. I could with the approval of the head park ranger. No problem. I conducted the demonstrations that year.

 

- June 2008 - Again, I was requested to conduct another geocaching presentation for 2008 and happily agreed. Again I asked if I could place real geocaches in the park and was denied. This really seems odd to me that a park would promote geocaching and at the same time not allow ANY geocaches in the park. When asked, I was told that Geocaches are not allowed because someone had placed a Geocache in the park back in April 2002 (before Pennsylvania State Parks had any geocaching policy) and the cache was in an area that rattle snakes frequent in the summer. I explained to them that with the new State Park rules that all caches and their locations must be approved by the park. Note: That since 2003 the State does run the suggested geocache location through a PNDI database search (Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory search) to make sure it is not in a sensitive area. I indicated that I would work with the park to establish acceptable locations.

 

- April 2010 - I was asked to assist in providing more information about setting up Geocaches. Apparently, the park was considering allowing geocaches placed only by park staff. Great. I offered to assist. I discussed ideas with the park staff member about theme ideas for geocaching that incorporated education and taking advantage of views in the park without any invasive placement. They said they would get back to me if they needed any additional assistance.

 

- June 2011 - Again I was approached by the Education staff member to conduct another presentation on a specific weekend. Unfortunately, I had multiple other activities planned for that same weekend and was unavailable to do the presentation. As a follow-up, I inquired about the Parks ban on Geocaching. I did not receive a response.

 

- June 2012 - I was approached again to lead a presentation on Geocaching at the "Get Outdoors Day" event at the park. I again agreed to the do the event and also followed up about placing Geocaches in the park. As a follow-up, I inquired about the Parks ban on Geocaching. I did not receive a response.

 

- April 2013 - I inquired about the park's stance on geocaching.

Here is the response;

"Kings Gap EE Center is not opposed to geocaches, but we do not have any currently in the park. Here is the information on how to set up a geocache in a state park. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/recreation/geocaching/index.htm All rules apply and the application must be submitted through DCNR, therefore there is a $25 fee. Any questions on geocache locations need to be directed at and approved by the park manager, Scott Hackenburg (shackenbur@pa.gov). This is not what we need for the geocaching activity for Get Outdoors Day event on June 9th.

 

For the geocaching activity, we’d like to set up about 4 somewhat-easy-to-find geocaches in the Mansion area, exactly like what you did for Get Outdoors Day last year. We will then set up a table outdoors where you can give basic information about geocaching and then ask the visitors if they would like to try it. You will then explain to participants how to start and they will go out on their own to find the 4 that you had placed in advance.

 

Again, State Parks will provide GPS units for the activity and print any handouts that you need."

 

OK So now that they impose a $25 fee, they will consider Geocaching in the park. Note: There have been no geocaches in that park (other than my one-day demonstration caches) since 2006.

 

What seems odd to me is that almost every year beginning in 2007, they have been trying to have programs in the park to promote geocaching, but at the same time would have not allowed a single cache placed in the park since 2006.

 

-Zinnware

Edited May 26, 2014 by Zinnware

[+repcosy]

I find that unbelievable that they want to charge you a fee... what exactly do they want the fee for? To bring people into there park? That doesn't make sense to me.

 

I asked our local country park and informed him people travel to geocache here and he said that's fantastic put as many down as you like. I shall put it on our website. Surely if your cache brings people into there park, they would be making revenue some how else. Tea rooms, parking etc...

 

Why are they charging you?

[Keystone]

A $25 fee is charged for all caches in all Pennsylvania State Parks (but not State Forests). Some Parks will waive the fee in exchange for services rendered, like a CITO Event or -- as in Zinnware's case -- conducting an educational program. Information about obtaining a permit can be found on the DCNR website at: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/recreation/geocaching/index.htm

 

The fee has not changed in its amount since DCNR started imposing it. The fee resulted from a headquarters mandate to make all non-essential activities self-sustaining due to a budget crunch. PA State Parks do not charge an admission fee.

 

As a result of the cache placement fee, new hides in PA State Parks have slowed to a trickle. Most hiders who want to hide "outdoorsy" or "hiking" type caches will gravitate towards State Game Lands, the Allegheny National Forest, large County Parks, or State Forests.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Keystone

[+BikeBill]

Here's the PA state park link: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/recreation/geocaching/index.htm

 

So far as I know, the fee has been an annoying $25 since it was introduced. According to the DCNR site "Caches on DCNR lands are approved for three years, after which they must be removed or reassessed and re-approved." In other words, another $25 fee. No thanks.

 

The result in our local Tyler State Park has been a drop in caches from 7-8 before the fee to currently four in a 1700 acre wooded park. I heard from a local geocacher that he wanted to put a new cache in the park and was happy to pay the fee but the ranger said that they had enough caches already.

 

Since there is no fee for entry to most PA state parks, I think that some rangers are probably happy having fewer people visit. Less work for them.

 

Since the institution of State Park fees, the Bucks County PA Parks now are looking at their own system. So far this has resulted in a moratorium on caches for about two years now. Older ones are still allowed but no new hides. The person responsible for this refuses to reply to emails or phone calls from geocachers. I had worked with her successfully in the past but since the unforeseen moratorium, she has refused contact.

 

I feel that if they want to require permitting to prevent caches in environmentally sensitive areas, fine. But fees are ridiculous and have the direct effect of discouraging legitimate caching. We could make the argument that they should be paying us for the service of placing and maintaining caches in the parks.

[+edscott]

I know that in Pennsylvania, in order to place a cache in a State Park, you need to purchase a permit from the State Parks Service that costs about $150, which I thought was kind of outrageous until I found out that you can also get the permit by providing eight hours of service for the Parks Service, which is pretty neat and something I'll probably look into this Summer.

$25. , not $150.

If that's changed since the 5th (post #36), please send a link.

 

wow, the last time i heard about it about six or so months ago it was $150, they must have really dropped the price

 

Never was $150. I've never seen anything about a set number of volunteer hours/cache placement but I know at least some parks do help out that way.

 

Rumor control center is here. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/recreation/geocaching/index.htm