Obtaining permissions.

[+Ry Dawg]

Beginning the planning stages of my first earth cache. My question is about obtaining permission. Those who have earth caches, what is your preferred method of communication? Email? 
I was also thinking of making the cache page, or a mock thereof, so I have something to reference when asking the permissions. Is that better or worse than a more vague request? 
thank you for your time! 

[+niraD]

5 hours ago, Ry Dawg said:

Beginning the planning stages of my first earth cache. My question is about obtaining permission. Those who have earth caches, what is your preferred method of communication? Email? 

My EarthCache is in an open space that has a published geocaching policy. As long as I comply with the policy's requirements, I have permission. I really like this approach, but it's up the each park system or open space, not up to the local geocachers.

 

For my other caches, I prefer talking to someone in person. My initial email or phone contact has been to ask whether they have a geocaching policy, and/or to ask who to contact to request permission.

[+niraD]

5 hours ago, Ry Dawg said:

I was also thinking of making the cache page, or a mock thereof, so I have something to reference when asking the permissions. Is that better or worse than a more vague request? 

Oh, and I haven't seen any interest in seeing a mockup of my cache description. I have seen interest in general info about geocaching. And I've occasionally gotten suggestions, although they haven't been terribly useful since they've come from people with a minimal understanding of geocaching.

[+Touchstone]

I almost always communicate by email.  I first look for any references on the land management website for any mention or restrictions for geocaching, and any specific mentions of earthcaches.  If the land manager already has an established policy, it's not always necessary to get explicit permission.  The State Parks in my area is a local example of an established Policy.   Here is a copy of the general letter I sent to the contact email that was posted on the land manager website on one of more recent submissions a few years ago prior to a trip we made to a Preserve managed by the NPS:

 

Quote

Hi

I'm planning a trip to the City of Rocks this June and was wondering if I could get in touch with the person that would be responsible for giving permission for Earthcaching within the Preserve? You can get some additional details regarding Earthcaching from the sponsor page on the Geologic Society website:

http://www.earthcache.org/

I would like to write up a couple of geologic lessons (or Earthcaches), while I'm visiting the area and would just like to know ahead of time if there are any restrictions.

Thanks in advance for your reply,

 

The Resource Ranger got back to me within a few days, which was unusually fast.  Since there was some concern about off trail use ( a very common concern I might add), he told me he would need some specifics of the areas that I was looking at.  This resulted in me having to wait until I had specific coordinates for the features/topics that I wanted to discuss on my Listing pages.

 

Once I had a set of coordinates, I emailed those off, and he quickly OK'd the locations.  His only other request was to  ask for links to the Listing pages for reference.

 

Best of luck!

Edited February 16, 2020 by Touchstone

[+Harry Dolphin]

Mostly via e-mail.  The county park service wanted to see the cache page in order to make corrections/adjustments.  Park here.  Stay on the trails.  It provided iron for munitions, cast-iron products and implements during the Revolutionary War.  (Not just munitions.)  They were easy to work with.  

[+31BMSG]

8 hours ago, Ry Dawg said:

Those who have earth caches, what is your preferred method of communication? Email? 

Email here but if you have a chance to meet with them take advantage of it. After a face to face meeting with one organization they were excited about the Earthcache, the staff geologist even got on board and gave me some ideas I would not have thought of.

 

Thanks for taking the time to go by Earthcache guidelines and trying to do this correctly, I think this keeps the quality standard higher. Several months ago I tried to place an EC but was denied permission by one of the three organizations involved. A few months later someone else had an EC published at the same location and admits they never considered asking permission from anyone 

[+Ry Dawg]

Thank you for the suggestions! I have only placed physical caches on public land with openly published geocaching policies. 
This is a non-profit managed area, open to the public for hiking. Though there are a small number of physical caches on some of their local properties, I haven’t been able to find any posted policies, so I want to make sure it’s acceptable.

 I will reach out by email first. I don’t mind meeting person, however their office is in Salt Lake City, almost five hours away. It would be a long initial trip if they are uninterested. 
thank you again! 

[+hzoi]

I always try to make phone contact, if not in-person contact, first.  These folks are busy, and it's easy for someone with a lot on their plate to blow past an email or forget to follow up.  It's harder to ignore a conversation.

 

After that, I usually follow up via email to confirm the conversation, and when I have a draft cache description ready to go, I print it to PDF and send it.

 

If I can't make contact in person or by phone first, I have a standard email I send, but then I usually try to follow up by phone anyway.

[+Ry Dawg]

Update: I received a return email stating they’d be happy to work with me, and a cell phone number to discuss my plans! Time to write up my plans.

excited! 

[+Ry Dawg]

Would anyone with experience be interested in viewing some screenshots of my unpublished cache? I would like some input or advice from somebody before submitting it to the land manager for viewing. Please email me via my profile if so. 

Edited February 26, 2020 by Ry Dawg

[+STNolan]

On 2/26/2020 at 2:12 AM, Ry Dawg said:

Would anyone with experience be interested in viewing some screenshots of my unpublished cache? I would like some input or advice from somebody before submitting it to the land manager for viewing. Please email me via my profile if so. 

 

Ry Dawg,

 

If you scroll down the earthcache page we actually created a thread for this a while back!

 

Hope this is helpful!

 

-STNolan