milwaukee county parks new regulations

[Johnny Cache]

@Uncle_Fun wrote:

I am contemplating pulling all of my caches in Milwaukee County parks.
Uncle_Fun

Dave, I’m pulling all of mine too. 😆

[Team Deejay]

@Jay Mills wrote:

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.

I think you are right, but if we don’t have someone working on the inside now, I suspect it is too late for Milwaukee County. AuntieNae has been talking with these folks, but it sounds like they were not sharing what they were actually planning to do. She was given the impression that the rules would be very similar to the DNR regulation. The proposed rule is actually the direct opposite of the DNR regulation.

Like I have said before, it pays to be proactive when dealing with government agencies. If we approach these parks boards before they believe geocaching is a problem, we can get them on our side and establish a working relationship with our organization. We cannot just assume that these agencies will act in a logical manner without any guidance.

What happens today in Milwaukee and Madison could easily happen tomorrow in Eau Claire, Waukesha, Racine and Wausau, and next week in Appleton, Sheboygan, LaCrosse, and Stevens Point. The easiest way to guarantee this is to do nothing. Governments exist to make rules and take money. If we don’t take the time to influence the governments to act in a fair manner, we will get what we deserve.

[Lostby7]

Clearly this policy is disappointing at best. I too hope that this is a first draft as they still have to get some of the facts right such as:

As is required by the Wisconsin Geocaching Association, a geocache shall be clearly labeled in large lettering with the word “Geocache” on the outside of the container.

To my knowledge the WGA has made no REQUIREMENTS that caches be labeled…in fact the WGA has no say whatsoever in the labeling of caches; that falls to the listing body (http://www.geocaching.com).

Perhaps they will ask for some input from people who actually know something about this sport. It wouldn’t hurt to help them draft this document….we could leave out some of those pesky PERMIT REQUIRED BEFORE PLACEMENT wordings.

[Greendale4X4]

This is a shame. I *just* got into geocaching. Now I have to jump through hoops to get a simple micro approved? I know – whine, whine.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This won’t deter me from placing caches, but will definitely limit the amount I create, and where I place them.

I feel sorry for the guys/gals who have dozens of caches out there already… 😥

-Jason

[djwini]

my cache was approved by paul k after i sent in the form. something like a 3 day turnaround. i think their biggest reason for wanting these filled out is just so they know that there are caches hidden in these parks. i don’t think they are going to be really picky on the locations.
and flapping about this among ourselves is not going to accomplish anything. you can contact the parks department and talk to them before they make this thing official.

[brkster]

I currently have one cache located in a Milwaukee County Park. It is GCJG3X, Daniel’s Mind Bender, located in Bender Park, and very close to a path along a bluff which offers cachers a great view of Lake Michigan’s shoreline up and down the coast. According to the guidelines, it may have to be removed. I’m hoping that’s not the case.

[Greendale4X4]

After 4 days, I had the go-ahead from a GC approver to list my 4 caches in Milwaukee Parks. I have since decided to post only one of them, since it is on a paved trail. The other is in Racine County. I will remove the other two and find new homes for them.

[lee42048]

copied from general to the right forum.
I have had a few emails with Paul. The form is not yet required but he would like to have one on file. I find him willing to approve reasonable caches. The guidelines are still a work in progress and I have given him ideas that I think they will use. I think someone went to the web site and grabbed what they thought good without regard to practicality. We need to have input. However I am not sure if we all should email him or speak as one coherent voice. Either way we should all be of the same opinion. Giving him conflicting messages will only hurt. I did mine before I realized there were so many others involved. He didn’t indicate that he had lots of advice from others. He did seem to like my input. I am glad to share what I said.

Once this becomes SOP I think he will find the job bigger than they thought. I think we as a group can be of help to get the results we would like to see. I think their concern is land abuse, caches getting out of hand or not maintained or abandoned. They would prefer virtual caches to minimize the impact to the land. I think I got him to realize that isn’t going to happen. I think we can help them understand that we can and will place caches in a responsible manner and help police those who abuse the system. One thing they want is a map of all existing caches. I think they will ask us to move caches that are in areas that are too sensitive for a lot of traffic.
Lee

[Buy_The_Tie]

@lee42048 wrote:

copied from general to the right forum.

The duplicate posting has been deleted.

[emtgregg]

How does these new proposed regulations apply to a virtual cache? Virtual caches are listed in their regulations as falling under the same precedence as other cache types. Does this mean that I need to register a for a object I would hope they know is already there? Am I going to have to maintain the area around this object?

[GrouseTales]

I’ve been trying to contact the Director of Milwaukee County Parks. Haven’t received replies to my email yet.

It looks like most of this policy has been copied from the DNR’s policy. There are some items in this policy that have me very concerned, especially the “geocache land restoration act of 2007” 🙂

I think they need to set forth a policy that can succeed, not one that is doomed to fail from the beginning.

There are hundreds of geocaches in Milwaukee County Parks. Do all these cache owners need to fill out paperwork for caches that have been there for up years?

Perhaps we should organize a Permit compliance day. Everyone could submit their permit forms on the same day. It might make it easier for them to handle 500 permits on the same day, rather then spread them out 😉

[Lostby7]

@GrouseTales wrote:

Perhaps we should organize a Permit compliance day. Everyone could submit their permit forms on the same day. It might make it easier for them to handle 500 permits on the same day, rather then spread them out 😉

That’s good thinking. That way they’d be sure not to misplace the forms. Gotta keep things organized and tidy.

[AuntieNae]

Last count, Team DeeJay & I had was 215ish caches. I too am not getting a reply.
AuntieNae

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