Lecture on trespassing – please be careful !!!

[GrouseTales]

Please read the following email I received. The letter is from the President of a local homeowners association. They have been having trouble with geocachers trespassing through their yards to find a local cache.

I understand that a cache may have accidently been placed on private property if access was gained through a local park. I think the “no trespassing” signs are a pretty good indication that you shouldn’t be there.

If you see “no trespassing” signs, DON’T GO THERE! Find a different route. You you’re not always suppposed to take the most direct route to a cache. Above all, If you notice the cache is in on private property, leave a “should be archived” note.

In this particular cache, some of the first finders were approached by landowners and advised it they were trespassing. I am disappointed that these people didnt leave archive notes on the page. Almost a year of trespassing problems could have been avoided if someone left an archive note early on.

Some people are worried they may offend the cache owner by leaving an archive note. Taking the proper action early on could prevent someone from being arrested later. Mistakes happen and it’s up to each and every one of us to help each other out. Leaving a SBA note is a way of helping fix a problem.

Here is the email I received.

quote:

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Brian,

I found your name and E-Mail address on the Wisconsin Geocaching Assn. website, and as President of that group, I’m hoping that you can help solve a problem that I have experienced.

Over the past couple of years, my neighbors and I have been having problems with trespassers on our property. The fact that our properties are largely wooded, and also back up to a city park in one section, has created a situation where ignorant kids and others who aren’t paying attention to what
they’re doing are ending up in our yards. This problem has resulted in vandalism and other destruction of property, and you can imagine that we take these problems very seriously.

In the past year alone, I have intercepted about a half-dozen people calling themselves geocachers looking for some stashed item nearby. Each time, I have tried to be friendly and understanding, and explain to them that they are on private property, even going to the length of explaining where the
public property ends and private property begins.

Last year, I even found a guy walking hrough our woods with a lit cigar in one hand and a GPS unit in another! Another had a dog with him, running without a leash. This kind of disregard for the woods in general much less
my private property increases my disdain for geocachers. My neighbors have also had similar experiences, where people are roaming through their property, clearly off any kind of beaten path. This activity sheds a very bad light on your hobby, and will cause problems for any efforts you are
trying to make to get public sanction for your activities.

We have tried to put up “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” signs to warn people that they are not on public land, but they have been repeatedly torn down or damaged. While I’d like to think that geocachers are not responsible for such behavior, they are unfortunately lumped into the same category as vagrant kids looking for something to do by building forts and breaking tree branches on private property.

In each experience with geocachers, I have asked them to report back to whatever group, individual, or web site they found the information on, that they were on private property and to remove the items that were stashed there. A recent search of geocaching.com shows that people have reported that they were on private property, but no effort was made to correct the situation or to inform people as to where the property boundaries were.

Last night, I was thankful that the women I intercepted were willing to retrieve the item that was hidden, and I see that they posted an update on your site saying that the item was removed.
I’m hoping that ends the problems that we have been having with geocachers straying onto our properties.

Please take whatever steps you can to inform your members that land is private unless marked otherwise. As far as I am aware, this is now Wisconsin law. Private property does not have to be marked as such. Unless it is
marked as public property, people should not assume that it is.

Just as I do not walk onto your yard ruffling through your bushes, I would
appreciate it if you did not do the same in my yard. Such disregard for private property (esp. in the case of the cigar and people letting their dogs run free) damages the reputation of your hobby as a whole.

I would be interested in what steps you will be taking (and have taken) to help your members be more responsible in this regard when they partake in their hobby.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

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I’m not pointing any fingers here. Mistakes happen and you might not know you have strayed outside the park. People who ignore “no trespassing” signs could be subject to arrest.

I’m very thankful that this gentleman sent me a kindly worded email. I can completely agree with all of the points he made. He mentions he advised several people to leave a report that the cache was on private property. This apparently wasn’t done, or wasn’t correctly done.

A “should be archived” note is a way of letting the cache owner, cachers, and admins know there is a problem with the cache. It doesn’t mean the cache is bad or sucks. It means there is a problem. Don’t be afraid to leave a SBA note if there is an obvious problem.

These notes are forwarded to the admins so we can take a look at the page. If there is a minor problem, we might just temp disable the page until it can be fixed. If there is a more serious problem, the cache may be temporarily archived. It only takes one mouse click to “unarchive” a cache page. Don’t be afraid to use the “SBA” tool if there is a problem.

The gentleman is right, this make geocachers look badly.

We all need to look out after each other and do a better job of policing ourselves.

[/rant}

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“There are two kinds of hunting: ordinary hunting and grouse hunting.”
-Aldo Leopold, A sand county Almanac

Brian
WGA President
[email protected]

[Ms. WISearcher]

Brian I couldn’t agree with you more that we need to take this very seriously. We are putting forth huge amounts of effort to work collaboratively with local, state and fed. agencies. We certainly don’t need bad PR out there. Thank you so much for sharing this with the whole organization!

[GrouseTales]

I should have also mentioned, if you have concerns about a cache but are uncomfortable leaving a SBA note, you can contact an admin in private.

Myself and Tie would be happy to look into any concerns you have. We seem to be doing this on an almost daily basis. Stuff happens and we would be glad to help a cache in need of repair or a new home.

My admin email is: [email protected]

Tie is: [email protected]

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