[Buy_The_Tie]

I have been through the process of looking at all of the caches that I could find that have been disabled for more than 3 months, and here are the results….

8 – Repaired and back on line (Yea! :D)
22 – Owner archived after note left by admin
5 – Contact with owner – pending repairs
7 – Owner archived prior to note left by admin
32 – Archived by admin after note left (no response for 2 weeks)
0 – Angry e-mails or threats to life or property (thank you all)

Of the 32 caches archived by the admin, 12 of them might need to be “rescued”. A cache should be rescued if it (or parts of it) are still in place. This would include stages of a multi-cache, or maybe just an abandoned cache. Our web-master has plans for a cache rescue page on the website similar to what MiGO has done. Maybe after the picnic he will have a chance to create it and get it up and running. In the meanwhile, I am saving the “to be rescued” list.

[Buy_The_Tie]

In addition to the ability to upload waypoints to most units via RS-232 or USB, we will also have paper booklets describing the temporary caches, already decrypted hints for those caches, a page describing nearby permanent caches, and uploads to your PDA with the same information.

[Buy_The_Tie]

@Digital_Dan wrote:

I’m sure we’ll see very few caches being placed on DNR land now. Any time a governmental agency is involved, it’s rarely a good thing, so I seriously doubt that seeking DNR approval will turn out to be good for Geocaching. I wish we had never approached the DNR for a Policy in the first place. If they found a particular cache and had a problem with it, they would just remove it, thereby affecting only one cache. Now with their so called Policy, Many more of our caches are affected. I’m sure what you’ll see is that a number of DNR land managers won’t be aware of the Policy, won’t want caches placed on their lands or will just be ambivalent about it and we’ll get responses from them that won’t seem very consistent. The problem then is, that there is no real recourse or for us as cachers, so we’ll just have to live by what they say, whether or not it’s per the policy. Let’s learn from this and NOT approach any more governmental agencies about policies for placing caches.

Oh, yeah… It worked out really well for Minnesota….

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/rules.html

Geocaching is prohibited in Minnesota State Parks. Due to concerns related to natural resource protection, visitor safety, staff workloads and liability, geocaches are not permitted on lands administered by the Minnesota State Park System. Any geocaches found will be considered abandoned property.

Good plan!

…. and I’m sure the Wisconsin DNR never talks to the Minnesota DNR, why would they?

[Buy_The_Tie]

@NicknMadison wrote:

The Garmin 60csx is $500 at REI….seems to be a pretty high price. I am headed to Milwaukee (from Madison) and would like to buy a unit sometime soon. Are there any places to buy one of these units at less than the REI price other than eBAY?

I’ve purchased a few GPSr accessories from a website: http://www.gpscity.com and have had good luck (your mileage may vary).

Here’s the link to the unit you are interested in: http://www.gpscity.com/item-garmin-gpsmap-60csx-gps/60csx.htm

[Buy_The_Tie]

[Personal Opinion]
So far, the cache mentioned above has been visited (logged) 12 times in the past year.

If a new cache were placed nearby, how many times do you think it might be visited in the first month?

As far as envrionmental impact, an existing cache is likely to cause far less damage than a brand-new one.
[/Personal Opinion]

[Buy_The_Tie]

@hotdogs_off_trail wrote:

Thanks Tie, and also Thanks GoJeepers. Let us know when the cache is set for adoption, we’ll get some items ready for the container and go check it out to preform any needed maintenance.

Hotdogs Off Trail

I just received word that the adoption has gone through.

Hotdogs, you are the proud new parents of a new (to you) geocache!

Thanks!

[Buy_The_Tie]

@Lostby7 wrote:

So DNR owned land would be what?
Are county parks DNR owned?
Local city parks?

The short list….

– State Parks

– State Wildlife Areas

– State Forests

Another good link: DNR Managed Lands Interactive Web Mapping

Keep in mind that geocaches are not allowed in State Natural Areas, even if they are privately held: State Natural Areas Map

[Buy_The_Tie]

The boys at groundspeak say it much better.

Groundspeak – Getting Started Forum

[Buy_The_Tie]

If the person who owns the cache can be reached, have them log into geocaching.com and go to: http://www.geocaching.com/adopt. From there, they can enter the cache they want to put up for adoption, and who they want to have adopt it. Then, the person who wants to adopt the cache can to the same link and complete the adoption automatically.

If the owner of the cache can no longer be reached, then the adoption needs to be processed manually. Send me an e-mail or a PM with details: wga2 dash admin at wi dash geocaching dot com.

[Buy_The_Tie]

@hotdogs_off_trail wrote:

Hi Tye,

This is a great little county park about 20 miles from our home. If you still need someone to watch over it, we’d be willing to adopt. There’s a nice lake for fishing and trails around the lake. Also a very nice campground. Plus we were the FTF this cache!

I’ll start the adoption process right away. Thanks for stepping up.

Thanks also to GoJeepers… we found somebody a bit closer.

[Buy_The_Tie]

@Jeremy wrote:

On a somewhat related note, does anyone know what geocaching.com is going to do when all the waypoint codes starting with GC are used up?

According to Jeremy Irish (the other Jeremy), when they reach {GCZZZZ}, they move to 5 characters. He mentioned this in the reviewer chat session just last week.

[Buy_The_Tie]

I uploaded some photos I took today at the cache-hiding for the Picnic into the WGA photo album: Look Here

[Buy_The_Tie]

@shine_like_a_star wrote:

I have a cache I want to place in the Brule River State Forest, so I’m working on filling out this form. Do I have to wait to be contacted to place the cache? Or is it more like I submit the listing to the DNR, hide the cache, and they’ll contact me only if something’s wrong with my idea? How long should it take to hear back? 😕

-katy-

Some good questions…..

First off, this is a brand new policy, and the bugs are still being worked out. So, what is true today, may not be in the future.

Today… as I understand it…

The notification form is just that… a notification form. The DNR wants to know where the geocaches are and who the geocachers are who placed them in case there is trouble.

Depending on the type of property will likely determine how much the property manager actually cares about the geocaches. A property manager for very popular state park will be much more concerned about a geocache than the manager for a small hunting area. So the DNR wrote their policy so that if a land manager doesn’t want to worry much about the geocaches, they don’t have to.

Practically speaking, if the property doesn’t have an office or other manned facility, place the cache, then submit the form. If there is a manned facility on the property, it would be a really good idea to stop in when they are open and let somebody know ahead of time what you are up to.

Keep in mind, caches on all DNR managed properties are going to require verbage on the cache page that the form was submitted, and also who the form was submitted to.

[Buy_The_Tie]

Right now, the WGA can support *most* GPS units our members have. We have 3 different kinds of cable for Garmins (e-trex, 4-5 pin round, & Rhino), mini-USB, Magellin (Gold, 315,etc..), and GPS enabled eggplant. One of the board members usually brings along a serial cable for older Lawrence (I believe) units.

We usually use either Easy-GPS, or Expert-GPS for doing the downloads.

If you have something different than mentioned above, please bring any required hardware along. If we need specific software, please let us know (this thread would be a fine place).

[Buy_The_Tie]

It’s a nice ride…. (now only if I had a place to store it) 😥

[Author]

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