Geocaching in Kentucky

[MojoCacher]

OK I am starting a new thread for the KY group.

 

Some basic questions:

 

What is the link to the Yahoo groups page?

 

Your web page, if you have one?

 

What is going to be you regular meeting schedual?

 

Do you plan to have meetings in other parts of the state, ie: Louisville, Elizabethtown, Bowlingreen for the people who do not live close to Lexington?

 

Are you planing to incorporate as a legal nonprofit group in KY?

 

Do you want to represent ALL of KY or just the Lexington area?

 

Just some questions I thought might be helpful for potential members.

 

Thanks

Mojocacher from Radcliff KY

[+hoys]

Those are some good questions. Thanks for your interest. I'll do my best to try to answer.

 

>>>>What is the link to the Yahoo groups page?

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/geocky

 

>>>>Your web page, if you have one?

 

http://www.geocky.org

 

>>>>What is going to be you regular meeting schedual?

 

We haven't decided on one yet. Last week, we selected a Steering Committee to start off with, which includes the six starting members of the group and those that are the most likely to make it to all of the meetings. Right now, we are so wrapped up preparing for our presentations with the Kentucky State Preserves Association that we haven't gone much further in terms of actual whole-group meeting schedules, or a more formal organization.

 

>>>>Do you plan to have meetings in other parts of the state, ie: Louisville, Elizabethtown, Bowlingreen for the people who do not live close to Lexington?

 

Hey, that sounds like fun! While we have no plans to do so yet, we pretty much did go as a group to "Show me the Cache"'s 1000th cache party, and hit a bunch of caches up there in the process. If we get bigger and have members that encompass different areas of the state, we will certainly try to be fair to our members that live in different areas.

 

>>>>Are you planing to incorporate as a legal nonprofit group in KY?

 

Not at this point, but we probably will very soon, especially if we end up growing quickly. We have no real finances at this point, the web page is off my server and I bought the domain out-of-pocket and donated it, so the only money we deal with today is splitting the check when we meet at a restaurant.

 

>>>>Do you want to represent ALL of KY or just the Lexington area?

 

Our intended primary focus, for now, is Lexington. However, if help is needed in a particular area and we can pitch in and help, we will try. Our current focus on lobbying to lift the current ban on Caching in the Kentucky State Preserve system, for example, is a statewide effort. If our membership starts to reflect more areas of the state, then we will naturally try to represent and assist those members as we can.

 

I guess it's kind of a "Chicken or the Egg" thing. If people express an interest in our little organization growing into a statewide thing, then we will try to expand to accommodate that. If other groups form in other areas of the state, then that's OK too.

 

I hope this helps out... If not, please feel free to post again here for all to read, and I will do my best to answer. Alternatively, you (or anyone else) can contact me via the email address on the GEOCKY web page if you want to ask anything personally.

 

PS: I hope you decide to join us. Membership in our group will not preclude you from joining another group more local to you later, starting a chapter of our group in your area, or even forming one of your own. We're still figuring all of this out, so you would have input on our eventual goals.

[+koneko]

quote:

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Originally posted by MojoCacher:

OK I am starting a new thread for the KY group.

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go right ahead!!! always good to see geocaching interest in our little state =)

 

quote:

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Some basic questions:

 

What is the link to the Yahoo groups page?

---

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/geocky

 

quote:

---

Your web page, if you have one?

---

 

http://www.geocky.org

 

quote:

---

What is going to be you regular meeting schedual?

---

 

we don't have a regular schedule yet, but we are meeting tomorrow (sunday 1/26) at 1:30 pm. deatils on the yahoo group.

 

quote:

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Do you plan to have meetings in other parts of the state, ie: Louisville, Elizabethtown, Bowlingreen for the people who do not live close to Lexington?

---

 

not sure yet, but you can certainly bring that up on the yahoo group!

 

quote:

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Are you planing to incorporate as a legal nonprofit group in KY?

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that is something we've barely scratched the surface on. we want to get organzied first, and then see where we are and what's involved.

 

quote:

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Do you want to represent ALL of KY or just the Lexington area?

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not sure yet on that either - i've been thinking lately about how it might work with several chapters of the kentucky geocachers organization or something. but that hasn't been discussed at length yet.

 

quote:

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Just some questions I thought might be helpful for potential members.

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thanks! hope to see you at the meeting, or at least on the yahoo group.

 

Jenn -

the white diamond pirates

[+hoys]

OK, MojoCacher, I guess you got your answers - twice.

 

And here I thought I was the only one crazy enough to be up at 1:30 on a Saturday night working on GEOCKY. White Diamond Pirates are everywhere, it seems.

 

If you want to skip my long-winded post, you can just read hers - we said pretty much the same things, I just used more words to do it.

[+koneko]

it's all good hoys!!

 

i'm at work, trying my best not to be too bored while i talk (type) paddy's ear (eyes) off...

 

(that sounds wierd, and i'm sure paddy will have something to say about that!)

 

jenn

[MojoCacher]

Thanks for the info.

 

Is there a ban on caching in the State preserve system?

 

I can understand that some might be concerned with damage but geocaching is definatly a low impact activity, unlike horseback riding or 4 wheeling.

 

Mojo

[+The Li'l Bears]

Following an incident where a cache was placed in a nature preserve without permission, there has been a ban on caching in KY State Nature Preserves. The cache in question was at Pilot Knob and unfortunately it went so far as to suggest an alternate route to the cache that was clearly marked as "Out of Bounds". This unfortunately was a bad introduction of Geocaching to the Preserve managers. They pointed out that the "short-cut" was both dangerous and through sensitive areas both geologically and ecologically. They contacted Jeremy who immediately archived the cache, which has since been physically removed. As a result of all this, they have now placed a ban on ALL caching at ALL State Nature Preserves (including virtuals).

 

Our group, GEOCKY, is planning to meet with these officials to try to repair the damage and come up with a plan that will protect Geocaching AND the Preserves and Parks in the state. My guess is that any agreement that we can reach with the Preserves will ere on the side of protecting nature (since that the focus of the preserves in the first place) where as the agreement with the parks will be more middle of the road. That said, we agree that cachers (as a general lot) are pretty heads-up people who are respectful of nature and are good stewards of the places we visit. The whole "Cache In Trash Out" movement is clear evidence of this.

 

I would think that caching ought to be able to coexist with any type of park or preserve as long as we do things in a good manner ... for instance, a cache in a Preserve should not take seekers off trail, bushwacking through sensitive areas (which could generally be about anywhere in a preserve.) BUT, what if cachers take extra care to place a clever cache that is tricky to find, but easy to get to on an established trail. There is a cache in the Raven Run Nature Sanctuary (in Fayette County, KY ... just SE of Lexington) that is of this type.

 

Hope this helps fill readers in on what is going on here in KY and what GEOCKY is trying to do to help with the whole situation. Unfortunately, we have been getting several responses telling us that we should just mind our own business. I'm afraid that if the responsible geocachers in this game don't take a stand and work to improve relations with park and preserve managers, it could jeapordize caching in some of the best places for caching in the first place. Not to mention that it could result in literally 100s of existing caches being removed by park officials if geocaching is banned in state or local parks ... and that's just here in CKY. Luckily there have not been too many caches placed in or around preserves and at least one of them has already been voluntarily removed by the cache owner pending the outcome of our meetings with the preserve people in a few weeks.

 

Greg AKA Poppy Bear of

 

~ The Li'l Bears from Lexington, KY

[MojoCacher]

Please let me know if there is something I can do to help. I was unaware of the ban in preserves. Thnaks for that bit O info.

 

MojoCacher

[+hoys]

quote:

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Originally posted by MojoCacher:

Please let me know if there is something I can do to help. I was unaware of the ban in preserves. Thnaks for that bit O info.

 

MojoCacher

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Best thing you can do right now is join us as a group. You don't have to be from Lexington, just willing to participate in our discussions and help with ideas.

 

Eventually, it is quite possible that we will expand to encompass the state, or provide assistance to other people that want to form their own group in their own region in a cooperative effort.

 

For now, we are still trying to expand and figure out the different ways we can promote GeoCaching (and right now our big focus is - how do we convince the State Preserve people that GeoCaching can benefit them?). A larger and more diverse group means more voices, and it adds credibility to our group.

 

C'mon board and have some fun. If you at any time disagree with what we are doing or what we are all about, then you can feel free to say so. If you decide we aren't your kind of group for some reason, you can always vote with your feet later.

[sundance5567]

There have been some good things happening in conection with GEOCKY...visit our site to see how things are moving along with the state PTB.

 

DavidGEOCKY