The Pet Posse Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 We gave a geocaching demonstration to a group of Arizona Park Rangers & administrators yesterday in Tucson, AZ. during their annual APRA convention. Of the many things discussed, simply asking for assistance in placing a cache on park grounds was most prominent and ways to get geocachers into the parks more often was another. The Maricopa County Parks & Recreation Dept. would very much like to see geocachers in their parks! Go to www.maricopa.gov/parks/ to see their parks. We're talking a LOT of acreage here in which to hide new caches! There are however two parks that Rangers are most concerned about. One is the Cave Creek Recreation area. There are a large number of sensitive archeolgical sites in this park being over run with foot & horse traffic of all kinds, and they would like a little more control over where the caches in this park are placed! So PLEASE check with Natalie Olson, the park supervisor, to ensure that your caches are placed in an appropriate area within this park! On a positive note, she left the seminar talking with several other rangers about hiding their own "Official Park Ranger" geocaches in the parks they patrol! How Cool is that?! The other is called San Tan Mountain Regional Park. If you have a cache hidden in this park, please remove it immediately and contact the ranger in charge to let them know it's been removed and that you will be happy to work with them for future re-placement!! This is a fairly new land aquisition for Maricopa County, which is in the middle stages of planning a new trail system and recreational facilities for this park. They explained that a couple of caches have been discovered in the park while surveying, caches obviously hidden without permission, and that 'Spider Trails' have formed near these caches. In fact, NOT following our own game rules by asking permission is so troubling to the powers that be, that they are considering a ban on all geocaches in this particular park! So please! Get your caches out of there now and work with the rangers to eventually replace them when the park is completed!! We've found that Rand Hubbell is very receptive and would look forward to mutual cooperation! He's the interim park supervisor at McDowell Mountain Regional Park & you may email him at randhubbell@mail.maricopa.gov Okay! Here's where we need your input: The Maricopa County Parks are basically "Fee For Use" parks, you pay $5 for the day's use. We suggested that they come up with an annual pass for geocachers, a "GEO-PASS" for unlimited access to all the parks for geocaching purposes! What do you think of this idea? Would you then use these "FEE" parks for geocaching? Input?? Anyone?? Bueller?? All in all, we had a great time discussing geocaching with everyone present and it was great watching them all have fun while running around trying to find the caches we hid for them! Feel free to contact us with any questions! Christy & Joe The Pet Posse Dogs Have Owners....Cats Have Staff!! Quote Link to comment
SLCDave Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 I would. We have a canyon here that charges a fee for usage, and I haven't had a problem paying to go up there. It's worth it to me. "I'm 35 Years old, I am divorced, and I live in van down by the river!" - Matt Foley Quote Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 Thanks for the information, although it may have been better placed in the West and Southwest forum. Since you posted it here, however, I will try to answer your questions. quote:So PLEASE check with Natalie Olson, the park supervisor, to ensure that your caches are placed in an appropriate area within this park!Excellent, a contact name is a great place to start, but a contact phone number would improve it. quote:The other is called San Tan Mountain Regional Park. If you have a cache hidden in this park, please remove it immediately and contact the ranger in charge to let them know it's been removed and that you will be happy to work with them for future re-placement!! Why not just check with them like you would with Natalie Olsen at the other park? If there are spider trails around the cache, it should be moved, not removed. Usually, the further away from an established trail a cache is, the less chance two cachers will take the same exact path to find it. This lessens the spider trail formation considerably. Is it possible that native wildlife have created game trails? I don't know about your area, but that happens here in New Mexico and I have witnessed it in Colorado. quote:In fact, NOT following our own game rules by asking permission is so troubling to the powers that be, that they are considering a ban on all geocaches in this particular park! If the park has a policy requiring obtaining permission, then Geocachers should ask permission. If there is no policy, and it is public land, permission is not necessary. If I have a right to be on the land, I have a right to bring my stuff with me, unless specifically prohibited. Fees...well, you mention a certain price for geocachers. How are they to know? What is the difference between a geocacher and a hiker with a GPSr? Can you tell the difference by looking at them? Do geocachers take better care of the environment? I think so, read the CITO forum for more info on this. I'm not against paying fees to visit parks, as long as my fee money is put to good use. I like to see maintained trails, parking area, and restrooms. If they don't have those, then don't have a fee. Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness Quote Link to comment
+TEAM 360 Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 I am in total support of a reduced-fee annual entry permit for geocachers, as we are usually in and out of parks in less than an hour. I pointed this out in an email I already sent off to the Parks, using the e-mail addy you included in the post. Thanks for finding some common ground with the Parks, Pet Posse! [This message was edited by TEAM 360 on August 28, 2003 at 11:50 AM.] Quote Link to comment
The Pet Posse Posted August 28, 2003 Author Share Posted August 28, 2003 It was suggested that I post here in the general forums instead of the regional, because these issues obviously pertain to ALL areas, not just to Arizona Dogs Have Owners....Cats Have Staff!! Quote Link to comment
+TEAM 360 Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 I probably would have missed it if it was in the Southwest Forum. They are good points to cover for all. Quote Link to comment
+Brian - Team A.I. Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 Did you by chance meet the AJ Ranger I mentioned? I'm working with him on an event permit for a Halloween Event Cache I'm co-hosting in October. Brian Team A.I. Quote Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 What's the proposed date for your event, Brian? Halloween is on a Friday this year, not a typical event cache day for us. Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness Quote Link to comment
+Brian - Team A.I. Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 October 18th at Prospector Park in Apache Junction. Halloween Brian Team A.I. Quote Link to comment
+Team Tierra Buena Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 quote:We gave a geocaching demonstration to a group of Arizona Park Rangers & administrators yesterday in Tucson, AZ. during their annual APRA convention. Of the many things discussed, simply asking for assistance in placing a cache on park grounds was most prominent and ways to get geocachers into the parks more often was another. The Maricopa County Parks & Recreation Dept. would very much like to see geocachers in their parks! Maricopa County Parks and Recreation has an unusual and, in my opinion, more-than-fair Geocaching policy posted at the bottom of this page. It's dated 3/6/2003, and as you said, the key is getting permission. We have a cache placed in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, which was originally placed without permission , but after the policy was posted we emailed the Park Supervisor and obtained permission to leave it in place. Thanks, Pet Posse, for picking up on this and enhancing the communications between Arizona land management agencies and the Arizona Geocachers. Steve Team Tierra Buena Quote Link to comment
The Pet Posse Posted August 29, 2003 Author Share Posted August 29, 2003 Thanks! Team Tierra Buena! The geocaching statement/policy you gave the link to was written by Rand Hubbell, whose email address I included above. Did you email to invite him & their group to attend the Roundtable discussion scheduled for Sept? He could be a powerful advocate for geocaching! Thanks again! Dogs Have Owners....Cats Have Staff!! Quote Link to comment
+Team Tierra Buena Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 quote:Did you email to invite him & their group to attend the Roundtable discussion scheduled for Sept? He could be a powerful advocate for geocaching! I'll continue this discussion via direct email. Steve Team Tierra Buena Quote Link to comment
+Brian - Team A.I. Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team Tierra Buena: quote:Did you email to invite him & their group to attend the Roundtable discussion scheduled for Sept? He could be a powerful advocate for geocaching! I'll continue this discussion via direct email. Steve Team Tierra Buena As opposed to indirect e-mail? Brian Team A.I. Quote Link to comment
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