All Maryland State Parks Adopt Guidelines!

[birdsfan & birdsfan2]

Good News For Geocaching in Maryland!!!

We have completed the quest we began a few months ago, which was the acceptance of caching in Md. State parks. The guidelines and approval process that we initially negotiated for Md. Central Region state parks has now been adopted for use in "ALL Maryland State Parks". The guidelines and Pre-approval forms should be available at park entrances/offices.

 

Birdsfan & Birdsfan2

[+MissJenn]

we here in PA would sure like to see a copy of these guidelines.... if possible, please post a Word doc or a pdf file. That would be much appreciated.

 

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You must be present to win.

[Davros]

quote:

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Originally posted by MissJenn:

we here in PA would sure like to see a copy of these guidelines.... if possible, please post a Word doc or a pdf file. That would be much appreciated.

 

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You must be present to win.

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http://www.mdgps.net/westguide.html

 

Converted to HTML from MS Word. Saved file should work as a stand alone word document as well.

 

Randall J. Berry

davros@mdgps.net

www.mdgps.net

[+briansnat]

Yuk, another set of regulations where they ban ammo boxes. Doesn't make sense. They're concerned about the box "causing alarm". OK someone finds it and is alarmed. They call the authorities, who look at a master list and see that its a Geocache. End of story.

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on its hind legs, but by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" -Max Beerbohm

[birdsfan & birdsfan2]

Hi Miss Jenn,

I've been following your guidelines situation thru these forums the last few months. I would be more then willing to answer any questions or give some insight into my experience negotiating the guidelines for Maryland State parks. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

Good Luck,

Ed

 

Birdsfan & Birdsfan2

 

[This message was edited by birdsfan & birdsfan2 on November 18, 2002 at 08:45 PM.]

[+crashmore]

Well up until these guidlines were put in place geocaches were set to be completely banned from all Maryland State Parks. I for one think conceding the ammo boxes is a very small price to pay for being able to continue the sport in these parks. I don't necsasarily agree with their point of view but I'm trying to see the bigger picture here.

 

quote:

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Originally posted by BrianSnat:

Yuk, another set of regulations where they ban ammo boxes. Doesn't make sense. They're concerned about the box "causing alarm". OK someone finds it and is alarmed. They call the authorities, who look at a master list and see that its a Geocache. End of story.

 

_"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on its hind legs, but by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" -Max Beerbohm_

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-------------------------------------

Hope is the destination that we seek.

Love is the road that leads to hope.

Courage is the motor that drives us.

We travel out of darkness into faith.

 

-=The Book Of Counted Sorrows=-

[+Alan2]

THat is terrific!! Congrats and it's a pleasure to see officials finally recognizoing geocaching as an outdoor hobby that is envirnment friendly, egts people into state forest so they can enjoy these facilities more and adds to the overall acceptability of the hobby.

 

And their "requirements" are fairly simple and not overburdening to the hider or finder.

 

This could be a model for other states.

 

My hat's off to all those who worked with the oficials to get this done. Now if other states would only be as visionary.

 

Alan

[+Alan2]

You ought to start another thread in the General section of the forums so the rest of the country can see what you did and use your success and model to gain acceptance in their states.

 

Alan

[+briansnat]

quote:

---

Well up until these guidlines were put in place geocaches were set to be completely banned from all Maryland State Parks. I for one think conceding the ammo boxes is a very small price to pay for being able to continue the sport in these parks. I don't necsasarily agree with their point of view but I'm trying to see the bigger picture here.

---

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that Geocaching is allowed (I still dont understand why the authorities think they have to GRANT us permission to pursue this sport, but that's a whole 'nother thread). I just get a kick out of the thought of some bureacurat sitting in an office, making up these silly rules with no practical experience. And when they're done, they smugly think that they are "protecting" us, theirselves, or whomever.

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on its hind legs, but by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" -Max Beerbohm

[birdsfan & birdsfan2]

I decided to get involved after a couple other MD Cachers and park officials had a dissagreement that led to Maryland State parks deciding to ban all caches from thier parks. I initially contacted an upper level official who answered some of the legal questions and directed me to who I needed to talk to.

Basically, after a couple of coversations they asked me to submit a draft of what we thought were reasonable guidelines and an approval form. After a few minor changes the guidelines were approved region by region till it reached the point of full state approval. We thought that the ammo cans were a non-issue since there weren't really that many being used in our area. While we did give in on that and a pre-approval process the state parks gave us blanket approval for all previously placed caches.

Ed

 

Birdsfan & Birdsfan2

 

[This message was edited by birdsfan & birdsfan2 on November 19, 2002 at 09:03 PM.]

[+Alan2]

quote:

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I still dont understand why the authorities think they have to GRANT us permission to pursue this sport

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I agree that it's kinda like the minnow bucket example in another thread. No one approves minnow buckets, why do you need to approve caches?

 

However, when some states officially sanction geocaching, it will help change the policy in other states where it has be banned. Like most new things, people are nervous about accepting it. When others accept it, it makes it easier to go along under the theory that I'm not the only one doing it or others have investigated this and find no problem with it. Plus, with the procedures and forms in place, it's simple to just copy the procedures from one state to another.

 

MD approval will help throughout the country.

 

Alan

[+infosponge]

Can you put the ammo box in a big tupperware container?

I have a cache in Palmer State Park (tupperware). Even though I live in Florida, I visit the area at least 4 times a year because of family in the area. Do I need to archive the cache, or retroactively fill out a permission form, or... ? I'll be up there next week and can archive it if need be.

[+infosponge]

It would be nice if the policy could be modified to allow ammo cans, as long as they were clearly marked as being a geocache (either in letters 3" high, or with one of the official stickers). This seems more sensible than banning them outright.

Maybe we could take to calling them "federal surplus watertight storage containers" instead of "ammo cans".

[+crashmore]

I would just swap out the container to meet their guidelines. The parks have been really great about letting the caches already placed stay.

It surely couldn't hurt to send in the form to let them know it's there as well.

 

-------------------------------------

Hope is the destination that we seek.

Love is the road that leads to hope.

Courage is the motor that drives us.

We travel out of darkness into faith.

 

-=The Book Of Counted Sorrows=-

[+Rebel]

The Georgia Geocaching Association has been working with the Georgia Parks folks for quite some time and this info will be very handy!

 

Does anyone know the decision process that the Marland Parks folks will be using in determining whether to approve a cache or not?

 

Sure would be helpful to reach into their minds, so to speak.

 

Again, way to go!

 

[Davros]

Maryland is basing cache approvals (or denials) on several issues. Environmentally Sensitive areas, unsafe areas, or any location such as dams, bridges, railroads, any other area which could be considered a target for terrorist activity. They also don't want people placing caches on private property that borders the park therefore assumed it must be park property.

 

They have also offered to provide a suitable alternative location if such an area is considered off limits.

 

The reason for the ammo box rule (or any Military Issue container) is to prevent concern of anyone who may accidentally find the cache.

 

It does happen no matter how well you conceal it.

 

For the record: The State of Maryland fully agrees with the pros of using ammo boxes. Thier durability, protection of curious wildlife, The concealability due to the natural earth colors, Etc.

 

The reason for banning them is strictly to prevent fear in unsuspecting people. A person who finds the cache by accident may not be alarmed to see a plastic container with some trinkets in it. An Ammo box that they can't see into strangely placed somewhere chances are they are not going to pick it up to see that it say's GEOCACHING.COM on it. Better yet more than 3/4's of the population does not even know what geocaching is. Let alone the definition of 'cache'. A panicked park ranger who stumbled across a suspicious ammo can is what started this whole deal. Cause for alarm is the bottom line here.

 

In my book this is a very small sacrifice to make if it will allow me to participate in the game I enjoy. Besides, I have to pay $5-$10 for an ammo can to hide one cache. I can go to the dollar store and buy a carload of plastic containers for that price! Now I've got enough containers to hide caches all year. Besides keeping some in my pack to rescue a damaged cache by replacing the broken container.

 

Randall J. Berry

davros@mdgps.net

www.mdgps.net

 

[This message was edited by Davros on November 20, 2002 at 08:53 PM.]

[+Rebel]

Thanks!

 

[Musashi]

I think its silly to bann ammo cans but, you have to look at it from your average bureaucrats point of view. They see the word AMMO, they see the way anything related to firearms is treated in the press and bingo, they have to play the PC side of things. Now in some areas it just makes sense though. Think about an area like the north tract of the Patuxent wildlife refuge ( I know the WMA are a seperate issue altogether but its an example ) it used to be part of the Fort Meade training area. There could concievably be leftover and dangerous munitions about. So I guess erring on the safe side isn't too silly.

 

"The earth does not belong to us, wwe belong to the earth."

Chief Seattle

[Musashi]

Just a quick diversion from the topic. I noticed and liked your avatar Crashmore!

 

"The earth does not belong to us, wwe belong to the earth."

Chief Seattle