Geocaching on Ohio Department of Natural Resources Properties

[Bryan]

I have been in contact with Scott Zody. Scott the Deputy Director for Recreation &

Resource Management with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. We have been working together to address some of their basic concerns regarding geo-caching on ODNR properties, and also to see how they can be of assistance to promote safety and responsibility for participants.

 

The following are guidelines they developed to address these concerns.

 

Below the guidelines is the full text of his original [very informative] email to Groundspeak.

 

Scott will be monitoring this forum and will be happy to address any questions or concerns going forward.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rothstafari

Groundspeak

www.Groundspeak.com

 

Here is the policy:

 

If you are considering establishing a cache on property owned or managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, (State Parks, State Forests, State Nature Preserves, State Wildlife Areas) please adhere to the following guidelines to avoid legal complications and/or prosecution:

 

1. Always consult the local facility manager for permission before establishing a cache. Many are eager to help determine safe, scenic, and fun locations.

 

2. Traditional caches are NOT permitted on state Nature Preserves or Wildlife Areas – virtual caches only. Illegally placed caches will be removed from this website.

 

3. If you do not know how to contact a local facility manager, please contact the following staff:

 

State Parks – Mr. Lynn Boydelatour – (614) 265-6561

State Forests – Mr. Don Karas – (614) 265-6694

State Nature Preserves – Mr. Ron Demmy – (614) 265-6453

State Wildlife Areas – Ms. Jennifer Windus – (614) 265-6330

 

Here is the email text:

 

Good Day!

 

My name is Scott Zody, I am the Deputy Director for Recreation &

Resource Management with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

 

We recently discovered your site, and were quite intrigued by the

activity and number of caches being established in Ohio. I am

contacting you to see if we can work together to address some basic

concerns regarding geo-caching on ODNR properties, and also to see how

we can be of assistance to promote safety and responsibility for

participants.

 

First, I want to compliment you for encouraging geo-cachers to take a

trash bag with them and help clean up areas around the caches.

 

As you may know, ODNR operates four different types of public outdoor

recreations areas, each with different missions and rules. The Division

of Parks & Recreation operates 74 state parks, ranging in size from a

few hundred acres to over 20,000 acres. The Division of Forestry

operates 19 state forests, again ranging in size from a few hundred

acres to over 62,000 acres. The Division of Wildlife owns approximately

120 wildife areas, ranging in size from 50 acres to over 17,000 acres.

Lastly, the Division of Natural Areas & Preserves owns and/or operates

about 120 state natur preserves, ranging in size from a few acres to

over 1,000 acres.

 

We are most concerned about geo-caching on the Nature Preserves and

Wildlife areas. The Division of Natural & Preserves (DNAP) mission is

to preserve and protect threatened and endangered plant species, uniques

habitats for certain plant and animal species, and areas of geographic

or natural significance. Because of the rare and endangered nature of

most of the preserves, we are very concerned about geo-caching on

preserves, especially those caches involving burial/hiding of

containers. We would prefer that any caches on nature preserves be

virtual-only, and that the Division be consulted with prior to the

establishment of any cache on a preserve. In fact, for any cache to be

established on any ODNR property, a special-use permit would be required

(not a big deal, mainly to ensure contact has been made and the activity

and location is approved).

 

For our Wildlife areas, the concern would obviously be that any cache

not be established or active during any of the main hunting seasons.

Safety of our visitors is of paramount concern, and the other issue

would be to avoid conflict between different user groups. In fact,

Wildlife would strongly prefer that any caches be of the virtual nature,

to avoid any concerns being raised by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,

who provides a large portion of the division's funding. According to

our contacts with USFWS, they view geo-caching as an "incompatible use"

- i.e., wildlife areas are for wildlife habitat and public hunting &

fishing. I think we can work around this concern - again, prior

authorization via a special use permit, timing of the cache, and

virtual-only caches should not pose a problem.

 

The two areas where I believe we can offer the most flexibility are

state parks and state forests. Both divisions are open to both the

traditional cache and other types of caches, and the vast majority of

the acreage they manage are easily accessible to the public. They would

require a special-use permit for either area, but again, that is more of

a way to let us know what is planned for an area, and also to allow our

local managers to work with cachers' on the type and location of the

cache.

 

In fact, we would be happy to work with cachers' to provide locations

and suggestions for some neat virtual caches (there are some truly

beautiful vistas that would make great virtual caches).

 

Sorry about the length of this message, but I wanted to be clear that we

like the idea of what you are doing, but we are concerned about public

safety and the conservation of the areas we are responsible for

managing. Please contact me at your earliest convenience via e-mail, or

if you wish, please do not hesitate to call me at (614) 265-6845. I

will be on vacation next week, but I will be checking my e-mail daily.

 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

[+OblongFred]

Yet one more step forward. The permit issue, well, we can get use to that. The Cleveland Metro Parks have permits that you need to fill out and they are free (which is good). BTW, how much are the permit fees from the state?

 

Who knows, maybe the NPS will allow Geocaching by these same guidlines.

 

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Never hold a cat and a Dustbuster at the same time.