Rules On Geocaching

[n0wae]

Thanks to CO Admin's hard work it looks like Boulder County will allow Geocaching!

 

Rules on geocaching nearly complete

County opting for regulation instead of ban on activity

 

By Ryan Morgan, Camera Staff Writer

March 29, 2005

 

Boulder County Open Space employees are hoping to have a new set of rules ready to present to the Board of Commissioners early this summer regulating the formerly gonzo outdoor sport called geocaching.

 

Geocachers stow small containers (usually holding trinkets or a log book) on public lands and then post the cache's GPS coordinates on Web sites such as www.geocaching.com for other enthusiasts to track down.

 

The new rule-making represents something of a windfall for geocachers, who saw their sport nearly outlawed in August. That's when members of the county's Open Space Department asked commissioners to clarify a rule that banned leaving objects behind on the county's property.

 

Commissioners decided instead that the sport should be allowed, with limits, and told county staff and geocaching enthusiasts to work together to come up with rules.

 

Tina Nielson, an open space employee who's been heading up the rule-making effort, said geocachers and county staff have come up with a proposal that will allow people to practice their hobby while minimizing environmental impacts.

 

Geocaching will be allowed on designated county trails and within 50 feet of those trails, and the new rules will only allow one cache per mile of trail, Nielson said. The policy will require geocachers to register their cache with the county.

 

Right now, Nielson said, the difficult part is figuring out how to set up a system to let geocachers register on the county's Web site, a task that the county's computer whizzes are studying now. Ideally, she said, geocachers would be able to find out which areas were already stocked to the limit before going into the field.

 

"We're working on the technical side of how we would interact with potential geocachers so that we can have a real-time, possibly dynamic way to communicate," she said.

 

Michael LaPaglia, a representative of www.geocaching.com who works with local governments in several Western states to draft geocaching rules, said he's very happy with the rules the county has proposed. Boulder and Jefferson counties, he said, have been "two of the easiest I've worked with."

 

"When we first got together, I made some suggestions that were actually stricter than what we wound up with," he said.

 

County commissioners will still have to approve the new rules before they take effect.

 

Contact Camera Staff Writer Ryan Morgan at (303) 473-1333 or morganr@dailycamera.com.

[+MrCOgeo]

This is good news. Way to go master negotiator Michael (CO Admin) and all Boulder and other geocachers who present a good image to land managers.

 

I'm trying really hard not to be a bit facetious with a comment in the line of "...is the Republic's wall cracking a little?" Whoops to late!

 

It really seems that most Colorado counties are willing to work with us, geocachers.

Edited March 30, 2005 by MRCOGEO

[+zoltig]

This is very good news and thanks to Michael for his hard work and representaion on our behalf.

[2Bob]

From the Boulder County Colorado site. http://www.co.boulder.co.us/index.htm

 

May 03, 2005

Contact: James Burrus, Boulder County Media Information Officer, 303-441-1622

 

The Boulder County Commissioners today voted unanimously to adopt rules and regulations that outline where and how geocaching will be allowed on Parks and Open Space properties.

 

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt that makes use of a Global Positioning System unit to find the location of a container "hidden" in an easily accessible, public place. The container typically contains inexpensive trinkets and etiquette dictates that the finder leaves something of comparable value while also taking something from the container. The location of a cache is typically listed on a Web site, enabling others to look up its coordinates, plug them into their GPS unit and attempt to find it.

 

The newly adopted rules and regulations were formulated to help prevent environmental damage from people going off-trail to search for caches and overuse from too many caches grouped in a small area.

 

The new rules have the following requirements:

 

The cache must be registered with Boulder County Parks and Open Space

Placement of caches is limited to within 50 feet of designated trails; Caches are PROHIBITED in closed areas or where visitors must stay on existing trails;

No more than one cache is allowed per mile of trail;

Cache containers must be at least 2.5 inches on each side and can be no more than 12 inches on any one side. All caches must be in a container that is transparent on at least two sides and must be clearly labeled "geocache."

No live material, structures, historical sites or cultural resources may be disturbed when placing or searching for a cache;

Caches cannot be placed in a barn, mine site, building or dam;

No geocaching at night;

Geocaches expire after six months and will be removed by staff if the person placing the cache does not do so;

 

Staff will ask that caches be removed if they are creating excessive wear on trails or the surrounding environment or if they violate the registration conditions.

Those wishing to place a cache can go to the Parks and Open Space home page and click on the "Geocaching" link in the center of the page and follow the instructions for registering a cache. There is no charge to do this. The link is:

 

www.co.boulder.co.us/openspace.

 

Once the registration is completed, the applicant will be given a registration number. This number must be supplied in order to list the cache's location on the geocaching website.