Hiding Caches in State Parks - a question.

[+KorinaCigars]

Hello - I am wondering about experiences of people here that have hidden caches in state parks.  I submitted my completed Geocache Placement Permit for placing a cache in a state park, and even walked to the desired location with the Park Ranger.  Nearly 5 weeks have passed with no word one way or another as to whether it has been approved.  Is this a typical wait time, or should I scuttle the whole thing and find a new location?  If this lag is typical, it would be great to know! 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[Frau Potter]

26 minutes ago, KorinaCigars said:

Hello - I am wondering about experiences of people here that have hidden caches in state parks.  I submitted my completed Geocache Placement Permit for placing a cache in a state park, and even walked to the desired location with the Park Ranger.  Nearly 5 weeks have passed with no word one way or another as to whether it has been approved.  Is this a typical wait time, or should I scuttle the whole thing and find a new location?  If this lag is typical, it would be great to know! 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Hello KorinaCigars!

Thank you for your question to the forums. I did a quick search of your account, and see that you never submitted your cache for review. Please return to this page and you will see your unpublished cache. Go to the page, and look at the top of the page for "Submit for Review". Please add a Reviewer Note to explain that you have permission from the state park for your cache hide. That can be very helpful to the community volunteer reviewer.

Good luck!

[+noncentric]

Is the OP asking about approval from the State Parks or from geocaching.com?  The way the OP reads, it sounds like the former.

[+kunarion]

21 minutes ago, noncentric said:

Is the OP asking about approval from the State Parks or from geocaching.com?  The way the OP reads, it sounds like the former.

 

If that's the case (could be), and if this is for Washington State (who knows), it may simply require patience.  The info I read suggests it can take "several days or weeks".  And that the applicant will be notified whatever the decision.

https://www.wsgaonline.org/caching/placement/wastateparks/

Edited October 27, 2017 by kunarion

[Blue Square Thing]

Nova Scotia provincial parks got back to me within 24 hours with a "yes please". I guess it will vary tremendously from place to place and by time of year as well.

[+justintim1999]

Town property + Conservation Restriction + Board of directors unfamiliar with Geocaching =  Attended 3 meetings, 1 geocaching presentation  and about 3 Months worth of work.

Is the location worth the work?   If the answers yes than fight for it.

[+cerberus1]

16 hours ago, KorinaCigars said:

Nearly 5 weeks have passed with no word one way or another as to whether it has been approved.  Is this a typical wait time, or should I scuttle the whole thing and find a new location?  If this lag is typical, it would be great to know! 

If me, I'd stop in or call, and ask the park ranger if the state approved your permit so you can submit your cache.  Five weeks seems (to me) like maybe someone forgot.  You've placed a cache already (and hopefully remembered there is a "submit" to get it published), so I'd guess that you're waiting on the state so there's no issues in your placement.   

 Approved there, listen to Frau Potter's helpful info on mentioning permission in a Reviewer note, submit your cache, and you should be good. 

[+Blue_Ranger]

I imagine it varies a lot, from state to state and park to park.  I have a few in Lakeside Beach State Park in New York, and it was harder to find the manager's office than it was to get them approved.  Once I found the office, which was in the back of the maintenance garage, I was lucky enough to catch the manager in.  I actually had to tell him what all I needed-- apparently the last geocaches placed there had been a few years back.  Thankfully, he didn't want to inspect them, because he would have needed a boat (they're paddle caches) and who knows how long it would have taken him to get out there, or send someone.  In my case, they were already in place, because I submitted them to the local reviewer, and the reviewer pointed out that half the series was within the park and needed permits.

Also, I visited a state park in New Hampshire, and I don't think they have any sort of permit requirement, because that park is absolutely saturated!

[+noncentric]

My suspicion is that the OP is asking about the WA State Parks review timeline.  They mention a "Geocache Placement Permit", which is the exact name of the form that is required by WA State Parks.

As kunarion mentioned, the office is supposed to reply back with either yes or no, so it may be that they just haven't gotten to it yet OR that it's slipped through the cracks.

Maybe this topic belongs in the Northwest subforum.

[+KorinaCigars]

Thanks for all of your replies.  I think I've found some answers from within them.

As mentioned in the first post, I submitted required paperwork for a Geocache Placement Permit to the Ranger's office on 24 September '17 , and walked to the location with another Ranger on the same date.  I also attempted to submit it for review with a reviewer's note explaining my situation and asking for advice, who temporarily suspended it as I suspected would happen, since the permit had not yet been granted. The reviewer suggested waiting 60 days and then contacting them again.  I know that my cache request is near the bottom of the priority list of the rangers.  My query here was just to find out if others in the community had similar experiences with caches in state parks, to see if this was the norm, locally and/or nationally. 

The intended location is beautiful, though had I known that there would be a 7 week (or more) paperwork lag prior to even being able to submit for review, I would have scouted out a different location.  Right now I'm learning all about how to be patient... and thinking about places to put additional caches that are not in state parks.  

Happy caching to you all, and thanks again.

[+Isonzo Karst]

2 hours ago, KorinaCigars said:

to see if this was the norm, locally and/or nationally. 

I place in Florida, where, fortunately, State Parks operate on a simple verbal permission basis. So simply showing the cache to a ranger, and getting that rangers real name and work email addy is sufficient for publication.  Anything near trails, they're just going to okay. I know of someone who had  a struggle with a major bushwhacking cache, outside of developed areas of the park, but once the park manager got involved, it was okayed.

Two other major land managers in areas I place (state forests, state wildlife management) have permit systems, that vary in response time from slow to extremely slow.  I still place in those locations, I just lower my expectations with regard to response time. I know that once it's out there, it's going to be out there for as long as I want to deal with it.(i own many 10+ year old caches).  So 6 - 18 months wait upfront is only a small part of the life expectancy of a cache.  

[+jellis]

Depends on the state. In WA I placed 3 in a state park and contacted the Park Manager. Filled out the forms and the Park Manager reviewed the caches and that was it, except you have to have on the cache page something about the State Park and you got them approved.

In California no permits are required but some will say No to Caches but many don't mind. I had a cacher tell me a State Police told her they were not allowed in the state park near Clear Lake, CA that I had one in. When I contacted the State Park they said they don't know why the State Police said that. They love having the caches there because it brings more people to the park. And the State Police does not have jurisdiction in the State Park.