SNA’s

[rogheff]

Ooh, since I’m not running for the board this year, I get to ask a question (or 7).

As you may or may not know, I am a prolific geocache hider. I am also in the minority in that I much prefer hiding them to finding them. So my question refers to hiding of geocaches.

There are large tracts of public land that are not open to geocaching – State Natural Areas. Yes, I know Earthcaches are allowed, but I’m talking about physical caches. One can only place so many earthcaches.

Now put yourself in my shoes – Be Like Rogheff, if you will. I realize this is a dangerous mission, but try anyway. I need more areas to place caches. I see these vast open areas that are forbidden. I want to place them, there – I can’t.

What will YOU do to open these areas to geocaching?

[Lostby7]

What will YOU do to open these areas (such as SNA’s) to geocaching?
To be honest, there will always be places that are off limits and I’m OK with that so long as most areas are still open.

For those not aware of the history of State Natural Areas, geocaches were banned and removed some time ago. I believe it was Tie’s pet project (while on the BOD) to get us let back into them. I applaud the work he did as I now have a few Earthcaches in them.

If one feels strongly that there is something in an SNA that they want to share there is still a way. There is always a way. Currently we are allowed (after gaining permission) to geocache in SNA’s. We are just not allowed to leave a marker or container there. That said we can still have a multi-cache with the coords in the SNA directing us to an object from which we derive our coords (questions answered about a site help determine the next or final waypoint). We can still have Earthcaches and puzzles as well. These sites are not off limits they are just restricted zones where extra permissions are needed and our physical containers need to be placed off site.

So long story short, at least in terms of SNA’s there is nothing that needs to be done to open them, in regard to other areas, those would need to be addressed on a case by case basis.

[greyhounder]

At this time physical geocaches are not allowed in SNAs. There are some that probably could easily support a geocache, and others that are more fragile.

We have built a great relationship with DNR and I hope we continue to do so. Getting earthcaches back in SNAs was a major victory. Maybe one of these days they will agree to physical caches in some SNAs. As long as we continue to have a positive and open relationship with the DNR, perhaps one day, Roger, you will get your wish.

Bec

[K0rpl]

I have to agree with having some areas off Limits. Unfortunately not all cachers are “Environmentally Friendly” I have been to many areas that damage has occured due to geocaching. While most geocachers express great Caution, there are those that do not. I do feel that to this point, there have been many great things done by the WGA to get caching back into the SNA’s. Everytime we volunteer a little time during the Campouts or Picnic’s, that goes along way. People see that good that becomes of it. Unfortunately government moves slower than Molasses in January, so we have to rool with the flow.

Justin

[Jeremy]

I think giving up the ability to place any caches in SNAs was a fair trade off for the reasonable rules regarding geocaching we got from the DNR. Regaining the ability to place virtual caches or stages in less sensitive areas was a pleasant surprise. I agree with the DNR that some of the SNAs are special places and should not be visited by large numbers of people (geocachers included). So I would not support going to the DNR at this moment and asking for permission for physical caches in SNAs.

But at some point this may be desirable. The DNR keeps adding more and more existing public land to the State Natural Areas program. And it seems that a lot of the new land being acquired by the state is immediately designated as a SNA. I question whether this classification is being too broadly applied, as obviously some of these locations could easily support geocaching without serious damage, and are not that sensitive. A lot of this new land is former forest crop / paper company or farm land, so it is far from being in a pristine “natural” state that deserves particular protection.

[Team Deejay]

Originally I was not going to post to this thread, but Jeremy’s post struck a chord. Speaking as a reviewer, not a candidate, my plan was to wait until next July (after the current SNA process had been in place for a year) and then broach the topic with the state naturalist, with the objective of getting a trial cache placed. I think they would be amenable to this, and in the long run, would be willing to open certain SNAs to geocaching. They do understand that not all SNAs are created equal, and that some can handle the increased traffic, while others cannot. Unlike certain agencies, the DNR seems to have embraced the concept of geocaching as a tool to bring people to their properties, but they are also concerned with the damage that a lot of increased traffic will bring.

If you want to do something to encourage the DNR to continue to support geocaching (including in SNAs), there are 2 things you can do:

1. When placing any geocaches on DNR lands, be mindful of the amount of damage that traffic and extensive searches can cause. If you must place a difficult-to-find cache, try to place it in a dry evergreen forest or a rock pile. Better yet, pick a spot for that masterpiece somewhere in a ball field or parking lot.
2. Be sure to submit your notification forms to the appropriate office before placing your cache. The DNR recently detected that a particular person had been placing caches without submitting the forms at all. Needless to say, this will set us back a bit. Brian (and others) did a lot of work to get the streamlined process we use today. I would hate to see one or two scofflaws ruin this for the rest of us.

[AuntieNae]

[AuntieNae]

DeeJay,

A possible approach when asking the WI DNR about the SNA areas for regular caches might be to suggest use of the public parking areas and any other non sensitive areas.

As I thought about this question, one particular park that is now an SNA came to mind. It has a nice drive way and a picnic shelter. However, the picnic shelter is no longer in use since the tables had been removed and I no longer see the restrooms open. These two areas were planned for use as were the many trails. However, I do know there are places off the trails that are home to sensitive plant species and that is probably how it got the SNA designation. If a geocache could be placed up front of this park, I do not see why it would be a problem. If it was placed off the trails as several once were, I can see how it could.

AuntieNae

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