Hi guys,

It has been a while since I posted here, but we have been notified of a situation relevant to cache placers. The Ice Age Trail Alliance has decided to prohibit geocaches on all their owned lands. Note that the Ice Age Trail passes through many properties that are not owned by the IATA, and this only applies to lands that they own. It explicitly does not apply to state park lands, county parks, etc. Most of the lands owned by the IATA are in Polk, Dane, and Washington counties, but there are small parcels in many counties. If you own a cache on one of their properties, you will receive an email from me detailing your options, which are basically that you can archive your cache or I can archive it for you. Note that this is a change of policy by the IATA and not any indication that you did anything wrong with your cache placement. They did not provide any reason for their change in policy, other than that they wanted to be a good stewards for the land.

On a related note, they also expressed concern that there were caches placed along the trail on other properties that were placed without permission. Please be aware that ALL geocaches must have permission from the landowner or land manager. This is not optional. If you have caches on private lands that the Ice Age Trail passes through, please make sure that your permissions are in order, as I’m sure they will be looking.

Finally, please understand that we did our best to try to change their minds on this decision, but were not successful. If you want to discuss this with them, please try to be respectful and calm. I know this is disappointing to all of us, but we don’t need to make us look bad as a group.

Thanks for understanding,

Wis Kid / Team Deejay / Dave