milwaukee county parks new regulations

[djwini]

I have a copy of the Milwukee County Parks placement guidelines and the document they want you to fill out. The contact person is Paul Kortebein: [email protected]
is there a place i could post these documents?

[Jeremy]

@djwini wrote:

is there a place i could post these documents?

Donna, are these documents in some kind of electronic format (PDF, MS Word document, etc.)?

If so, please email (web wi-geocaching.com)/PM them to me or get them sent to a Board member so we can get them posted on the site ASAP.

Otherwise, we’d have to come up with a way to get the documents you have scanned, or will need to ask the county for electronic versions…

[djwini]

they are in .doc format. i will email them to you later tonite when i get home from work. (around 11pm)

[Jeremy]

I’ve attached are the documents (policy document and cache placement form) that Donna sent to me. We’ll get information on the Milwaukee County geocaching policy and permanent links to these documents added to our “Hiding A Cache” page shortly.

Note that the policy document has “draft” in the title, so maybe things aren’t set in stone yet? You think they would have contacted someone at the WGA if something official was put in place…

[djwini]

Paul told me in an email that they wanted to get the policy up on their web page, but something had slowed it down. there may still be changes, but for right now, this is what there is.

[Team Deejay]

I kinda wonder about some of the terrain restrictions, specifically stream banks, and bluffs. It seems like half of the current caches in their parks are near stream banks.

[Vegas Gamblers]

So do we send in the form before placing a cache or can we place a cache without a form at this time. I have one that is ready to go onto a Milwaukee County Park property but do I wait or place it tomorrow?

[Vegas Gamblers]

@Vegas Gamblers wrote:

So do we send in the form before placing a cache or can we place a cache without a form at this time. I have one that is ready to go onto a Milwaukee County Park property but do I wait or place it tomorrow?

I really need an answer to this today.

[djwini]

i’ve got one placed in a county park. i filled out the form and am waiting to get it ok’d. if the guy isn’t too busy, i figure i’ll hear back sometime this week.

[Uncle_Fun]

Read through the guidelines. Looks like many caches will be in forbidden areas. I am contemplating pulling all of my caches in Milwaukee County parks. They can’t run the park system as it is, now they are going to take on all of these added responsibilities. I would be surprised if there is not long delays in getting caches approved.
Uncle_Fun

[Jay Mills]

Yep it does look like many caches will be in forbidden areas, but forbidden to cachers only. Milwaukee County Parks can not claim they are only concerned about protected nature areas as there are only two that I am aware of (Warnimont and Cudahy) and GC.com will not approve caches in these areas anyway. Nor can they claim they are concerned about saftety. As for the area within the specified distance of the bluffs along Lake Michigan (other than Warimont) it should be insulting to cachers intelligence that the Parks presume we can or can not judge what is within our individual limitations. There are scrappy hiking paths that run right on the edge of many parts of the bluffs and I have encountered bikers and hikers alike on these paths. I almost got hit by a bike that was trying to get around me on a path close to a bluff. So is hiking and biking prohibited also from these areas as these activities are just as potentially “dangerous”? This to me seems to have crossed the line of simply wanting to know where the caches are located (which is a reasonable expectation) and from where I sit it appears that the Milwaukee Parks has singled out a specific group to Regulate.

[zuma]

@Jay Mills wrote:

Yep it does look like many caches will be in forbidden areas, but forbidden to cachers only. Milwaukee County Parks can not claim they are only concerned about protected nature areas as there are only two that I am aware of (Warnimont and Cudahy) and GC.com will not approve caches in these areas anyway. Nor can they claim they are concerned about saftety. As for the area within the specified distance of the bluffs along Lake Michigan (other than Warimont) it should be insulting to cachers intelligence that the Parks presume we can or can not judge what is within our individual limitations. There are scrappy hiking paths that run right on the edge of many parts of the bluffs and I have encountered bikers and hikers alike on these paths. I almost got hit by a bike that was trying to get around me on a path close to a bluff. So is hiking and biking prohibited also from these areas as these activities are just as potentially “dangerous”? This to me seems to have crossed the line of simply wanting to know where the caches are located (which is a reasonable expectation) and from where I sit it appears that the Milwaukee Parks has singled out a specific group to Regulate.

Yep, I agree with you Uncle Fun.

I think when nonelected park officials do dumb things, the best recourse is to contact elected members of the local government and let them know how their hired staff is wasting taxpayers money. Surely there has got to be at least one person on the City Council with a lick of sense.

zuma

[Team Deejay]

Actually, it would be the county board, not the city council. Probably your best bet is to talk to the county executive.

[PCFrog]

I like this part the best.

A cache may remain at the approved site for no more than three years at which time it must be removed, the site restored to its original condition by the party placing the cache and to the satisfaction of the Parks Department, and the Parks Department land manager informed in writing of the removal (the removal notification form is the same as the placement request form). This will control cache abandonment and assist in preventing renegade trail development to the site.

This is a requirement you agree to by placing a cache and the only boundary here is the Parks Department Judgment. In short, they can ask that you not perform but pay for the restoration. $$$$$$

**Possible future phone call
“Your cache caused a volunteer trail and we need new top soil and the site will need to be replanted and since this is a sensitive job area not wanting to damage the surrounding area as well, we will hire someone and bill you.”

While this might not happen, the wording gives them the power to do so.

[Jay Mills]

@PCFrog wrote:

I like this part the best.

A cache may remain at the approved site for no more than three years at which time it must be removed, the site restored to its original condition by the party placing the cache and to the satisfaction of the Parks Department, and the Parks Department land manager informed in writing of the removal (the removal notification form is the same as the placement request form). This will control cache abandonment and assist in preventing renegade trail development to the site.

This is a requirement you agree to by placing a cache and the only boundary here is the Parks Department Judgment. In short, they can ask that you not perform but pay for the restoration. $$$$$$

**Possible future phone call
“Your cache caused a volunteer trail and we need new top soil and the site will need to be replanted and since this is a sensitive job area not wanting to damage the surrounding area as well, we will hire someone and bill you.”

While this might not happen, the wording gives them the power to do so.

Good point, I missed that clause entirely. I think I will have to reread that document again several times. I think that this document has several problems that need to be addressed but I think this is just a proposed document and not in its final form yet if I am understanding correctly.

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