Removing caches on Ohio National Park land!

[Guest Buddur]

Yeasteday while searching for the Mouse cache in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) between Akron and Cleveland, OH, i ran into a Park Ranger doing the same thing. We had a great talk about the activity, very nice person he was. But to make a long story short...he wanted me to talk to his Superior because "She doesn't know what to think of this activity!"

 

Well, she called me early this morning and things don't look so good as far as geocaching in the CVNP (and in ALL NPs from what she indicated). We had an ope and friendly discussion, and although she was intrigued and interested in this activity, there are rules and regulations that must be abided by...which demands the removal of ALL caches (current and future) on CVNP lands. She said an area has already had some caches removed...an area that holds some of MY caches. I'm going out today to confirm this.

 

I admit there is alot of history in this area with sensitive archeological sites and endangered species, etc. And I see "the other side of the coin" wrt her supervisory point of view. Therefore I regret to say that I am soon going to remove MY geocaches before the NPS does (better me than them!).

 

I hope this removal action will make a good impression to the NPS, also, this is the area I hike all the time and I don't want to create any friction or bad NPS feelings toward geocachers.

 

Buddur

[Guest woodseylovesgeocaching]

silly forest rangers think they own the woods. Sheeesh. Our government pilaged that land from the natives... now they dont even let the new owners (us) enjoy it. I am very familier with ecological impacts... if they want to reduce impacts in OUR NPS maybe they should remove the 1756 underground fuel tanks in our park land eh? My ammobox is not going to leak and comtaminate the groundwater.... in fact my ammo box serves to enlighten other people families etc.. into locations that I feel deserve to be. Awareness breeds respect. And the NPS is responsable for the sale of thousands of acres of our park lands timber each year. come on... tell me about replanting the trees after the "selective logging". you strip a forest with 7-16 differerent indigenous varieties of trees and replant it with one soft pine monoculture. Maybe the rangers should bring along a metal detector to find all those spiked trees in the woods... O wait those are ceramic spikes... sorry. www.geocaching.com freddies... get used to it. or your going to have to do overtime.

[Guest Dan Bollinger]

Hmm... Sounds like the NPS at the lower levels is having a difficult time with this. Which is just another way of saying "cover your ***." What I suggest is that a GeoCaching committee of levelheaded people approach the National Park Service and get permission for caches on all National Parks (and Forests) as long as they follow approved guidelines that address their concerns. After all, this is about enjoying the countyside which is part of the reason we do this and what the parks are about. I see no difference between a cache and a park installed roadside 'vista'. The former impacts one square foot, the latter thousands of square feet. You can do the same math with a dirt path! And here's my favorite comparison: A cache has less environmental impact than a park road sign.

[Guest Justin Thyme]

Perhaps if permission had been asked prior to placing the caches this perdicament would have never occurred.

[Guest CaptHawke]

quote:

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Perhaps if permission had been asked prior to placing the caches this perdicament would have never occurred.

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Perhaps not. Its NPS policy from Washington. http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/msg00806.html The kicker is that the NPS has a policy regarding 'abandoned property' that requires its removal after 24 hours.

 

This has all been gone over before. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000114.html

 

[This message has been edited by CaptHawke (edited 24 May 2001).]

[Guest Iron Chef]

uch in the gift shops. ;~)

 

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-Iron Chef

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[Guest bearboy]

Like our states DNR your NPS sounds like lame brain idiots.I dont think that it hurts a park or other area at all by placing caches out there.Like most geocachers I like to Cache in trash out.Its not like we are destroying the place.Like all tourist activities geocaching will bring a few dollars into the area they are visiting.I know that I have stopped to eat or get gas in towns that have Caches.I think Rangers and National park systems should intentionally place caches all over the place near hiking trails and other attractions that way they could sell maps and other things associated with geocaching at their gift shops and visitor centers.They should capitalize on this new idea before someone else does.