This topic contains 44 replies, has 14 voices, and was last updated by 
Team Northwoods 10 years, 4 months ago.
-
Posts
-
Note…the above was answered in RED text to my paragraphs so you need to discern which paragraphs are mine and which are his.
Sorry.
The Commander
Unfortunately, your red text doesn’t show up on the website.
I was CCed on the following e-mail. I am continuing to work on removing all administrative hurdles but Darren wants to have a “transition” period. At least I have gotten the fees removed for 2015.
The Commander.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your question. Yes, we have been in discussion with a representative of WGA, Steve Biedermann. Dane County Parks will be waiving our permit fee (as a test) staring in 2015 based upon input from WGA and/or it’s volunteer representatives. WGA representatives will provide oversight for geocaches that will be located on Dane County park lands. The official application process will be through WGA with approvals from Dane County Parks and the WGA Geocache oversight person for this area. If there are any problems or issues WGA volunteer representatives will handle any issues that may arise.
I have attached our application for prior approval of a proposed geocache site for Dane County park lands. Dane County Park Rangers will then monitor the Wisconsin Geocache Association related Dane County Parks.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Darren
Darren Marsh
Parks Division
Dane County Land and Water Resources Department
Rm. 234
5201 Fen Oak Drive
Madison WI 53718
(608) 224-3766
Fax (608) 224-3745From: Parks Mail
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2014 7:57 AM
To: Marsh, Darren
Subject: FW: Geocache PermitFrom: Chris Scharlau [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2014 6:04 AM
To: Parks Mail
Subject: Geocache PermitHello,
I noticed that the 2015 fee schedule doesn’t list a cost / price for the geocaching permit in the DCP system. Has this been revised or will the annual fees continue to be the same as 2014?I know there was some discussion with the WGA on the topic awhile ago and was curious if anything has changed.
Regards,
Chris Scharlau
Edgerton, WI
608.290.2572
[email protected]Sent from my U.S. Cellular® Smartphone
GEO CACHE PERMIT APPLICATION Fee Removed 2015.pdfCongrats Commander!
The best sig is no sig.
Awesome! It is really nice to see what WGAers can do! Just out of curiosity, will this plan start on January 1st, or is there some other “magic number” (the beginning of the “DNR Year”, per se)?
Awesome! It is really nice to see what WGAers can do! Just out of curiosity, will this plan start on January 1st, or is there some other “magic number” (the beginning of the “DNR Year”, per se)?
From what Darren told me…it will commence with the calendar year. So far there has only been one new cache and I’m not certain about that one.
The Commander
Just a preview of the policy statement we are working on together. THIS IS NOT THE PRESENT POLICY BUT WHAT IS PROPOSED AND IS SUBMITTED FOR INFORMATION OF THE COMMUNITY ONLY. Although it may become policy soon.
Dane County Parks Geocaching Policy
All rules and regulations of http://www.geocaching.com will be followed by geocachers placing caches in Dane County Parks.
In addition, The Dane County Parks Division has the following restrictions when hiding a geocache in a Dane County Park:
Micro-caches are not allowed. Geocaches that are presently in place in Dane County Parks that are micro-caches will be grandfathered in place until January 1, 2016. After that date, the cache will need to be replaced with a small or larger cache or archived. New geocaches placed after May 1, 2015 will be small or larger if they are physical geocaches.
Earth caches are welcome in all Dane County Parks using available signage.
No geocache may be placed within 250 feet of any historical feature, park building or playground.
No geocache may be placed within 250 feet of any campground.
The following areas are also specifically restricted from geocaching placement.
Mowed areas
Disc Golf Course
Adjacent to a deposit tube.Geocaching in Dane County Parks may not violate Ordinance 53.03(8) of the Dane County Code of Ordinance which states the following activities are prohibited:
Defacing, destroying, vandalizing, digging or removing any park property including soil, turf, trees, shrubs, flowers, wildlife or any archeological object including any man-made article or implement originating from earlier cultures, without written permission from the parks director
Any geocache may be withdrawn, with just cause, by Park Staff. If geocaching activities as a whole are found to have a negative impact on park resources or if safety of the resource and/or park patrons is negatively affected, the Parks Director may ban said activity from certain areas or the entire park system. The Parks Division reserves the right to modify this policy if conditions warrant.
Commander, will a Small be defined? As you have noticed, some people’s Small is another’s micro or large. I think about pill containers that most would say are micros buy occasionally see listed as Small.
Probably do not want to get into splitting hairs on all of this, I understand.
Following the signals from space.
Good call. I will throw a quick definition of a small being at least as large as a 4×4 lock and lock or able to hold a log book and a travel bug. Any other suggestions let me know as it is still a work in progress but it is getting there.
To avoid multiple definitions for the same thing, why not use the definition of a small container that GC.com uses?
Small – 100ml or larger, but less than 1L. Example: A sandwich-sized plastic container or similar.
All opinions, comments, and useless drivel I post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the WGA BOD.
After January 1st, 2016, I think anyone who hides a cache in a Dane County park should be required to also include some type of blurb on their cache page (similar to the blurb that the DNR requires when you hide a cache on their lands) that states that micro caches are not allowed in Dane County parks. A cache owner would be aware of this requirement but as a cache seeker, I probably wouldn’t be. I’m sure there will be micros that are listed as smalls as that happens frequently everywhere else and a notation on the cache page would help keep that somewhat in line. It’s not perfect as more and more cachers do not read descriptions but it would at least be there and visible, so if someone found a micro cache listed as a small, that information would be available. Any given cacher might not act on that information, but sooner or later someone will come along and take action based on knowing micros are prohibited in Dane County and start the process of having it fixed/archived.
Either way, great job on working with the county to come up with a workable solution!
Commander Thanks again for working on this. I know that you have spent a lot of time on this issue. As someone with several micro size containers placed in several Dane County Parks I am a little concerned about the size restriction. I understand the concern about the damage to the environment with extensive searching in an area for a needle in the haystack. I think I have been responsible with my cache placements and they have gotten a lot of positive feedback. My understanding is that this suggestion came from the caching community and not from the Parks Department (I take the concern as a very positive example of the caching community trying to self police itself and a very positive indictor of our responsibility). However, I am wondering if there is another way we can address this concern. This would be a much stricter policy than the DNR has. I am not a big fan of nanos, but it seems to me that it is a big difference between a nano stuck on a sign in a parking lot and one placed in a sensitive natural area. I am also a little surprised at defending another of my lest favorite caches–35mm film canisters in sign posts. But I can imagine a nice multi built around such containers place in, on, or at the bottom sign posts leading one around a park. I am all in favor of the goal of limiting damage to natural areas and would agree to error on the side of caution, but I am wondering if we can achieve this goal with out such a large brush.
Commander Thanks again for working on this. I know that you have spent a lot of time on this issue. As someone with several micro size containers placed in several Dane County Parks I am a little concerned about the size restriction. I understand the concern about the damage to the environment with extensive searching in an area for a needle in the haystack. I think I have been responsible with my cache placements and they have gotten a lot of positive feedback. My understanding is that this suggestion came from the caching community and not from the Parks Department (I take the concern as a very positive example of the caching community trying to self police itself and a very positive indictor of our responsibility). However, I am wondering if there is another way we can address this concern. This would be a much stricter policy than the DNR has. I am not a big fan of nanos, but it seems to me that it is a big difference between a nano stuck on a sign in a parking lot and one placed in a sensitive natural area. I am also a little surprised at defending another of my lest favorite caches–35mm film canisters in sign posts. But I can imagine a nice multi built around such containers place in, on, or at the bottom sign posts leading one around a park. I am all in favor of the goal of limiting damage to natural areas and would agree to error on the side of caution, but I am wondering if we can achieve this goal with out such a large brush.
Jay…I see your point BUT…Micros were initially envisioned as urban hides only and only over time have they become THE cache to hide. With each Dane County park being several acres at a minimum…there surely will be some place to hide a small or larger container. I, personally, don’t appreciate hiking a half mile or a mile one way to find a film canister in a pine tree. Your caches would generally fall into the “Other” category as the container holding the log may be a micro but what is holding the container is definitely NOT a micro.
I’m going to contact the county again tomorrow to see what more needs to be done.
The Commander
I received verbal OK on the following policy and am posting it here. I will forward a copy to reviewers as well.
Dane County Parks Geocaching Policy
All rules and regulations of http://www.geocaching.com will be followed by geocachers placing caches in Dane County Parks.
In addition, The Dane County Parks Division has the following restrictions when hiding a geocache in a Dane County Park:
Micro-caches are not allowed. Geocaches that are presently in place in Dane County Parks that are micro-caches will be grandfathered in place until January 1, 2016. After that date, the cache will need to be replaced with a small (4×4 container) or larger cache or archived. New geocaches placed after May 1, 2015 will be small or larger if they are physical geocaches.
Earth caches are welcome in all Dane County Parks using available signage.
No geocache may be placed within 250 feet of any historical feature, park building or playground.
No geocache may be placed within 250 feet of any campground.
The following areas are also specifically restricted from geocaching placement.
Mowed areas
Disc Golf Course
Adjacent to a deposit tube.Geocaching in Dane County Parks may not violate Ordinance 53.03(8) of the Dane County Code of Ordinance which states the following activities are prohibited:
Defacing, destroying, vandalizing, digging or removing any park property including soil, turf, trees, shrubs, flowers, wildlife or any archeological object including any man-made article or implement originating from earlier cultures, without written permission from the parks director
Any geocache may be withdrawn, with just cause, by Park Staff. If geocaching activities as a whole are found to have a negative impact on park resources or if safety of the resource and/or park patrons is negatively affected, the Parks Director may ban said activity from certain areas or the entire park system. The Parks Division reserves the right to modify this policy if conditions warrant.
Thanks,
The Commander
Sounds fair compared to not allowing anything.
***Opinions expressed are mine alone and will change based upon new information. ***
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.