[GeoStL] Chicago Tribine geocaching story
- From: "Jim Bensman" <jbensman1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 17:55:21 -0600
Forest districts unsettled by new sport of geocaching
By M. Daniel Gibbard
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 28, 2003
Jon Cunningham and his girlfriend were on a treasure hunt in a DuPage County
forest preserve on a rainy Easter last year, when a ranger confiscated their
prize: an old ammo box filled with beads and other trinkets. For the
ranger, it was an early brush with "geocachers," a booming fraternity of
techno-savvy treasure hunters who use satellite navigation devices as they
hike through parks looking for containers full of doodads hidden by other
geocachers. For Cunningham, 54, a freelance photographer from Aurora, the
encounter was a rude shock. "It was obvious that he had been stalking us
during our search," Cunningham said. He said the "bad taste" from the
incident greatly reduced his interest in the sport. Such confrontations with
the law are rare, but underscore the tensions that have emerged as
geocachers increasingly invade public parks.
Technology vs. nature
With more and more people logging on to the geocaching.com Web site and
joining the crowds, officials fear the worst: armies of amateur adventurers
stomping on flowers and shrubs. Not to mention possibly falling down ravines
and getting hurt. Geocaching policies vary widely. The U.S. Park Service
bans it outright, said spokesman Jerry Gaumer. "The bottom line is by
geocaching, you are disturbing the resources," he said, adding that
unattended boxes hidden in forests could cause terrorism scares.
In the Chicago area, the DuPage County Forest Preserve District heavily
regulates the activity, requiring a difficult-to-get permit. At the other
end of the spectrum, forest preserve officials from Lake, Cook and McHenry
Counties say they have no policies specifically mentioning geocaching, but
warn that other land-use ordinances apply, especially at ecologically
sensitive sites. "You cannot go into areas that we are restoring and put
things there for people to find. You can't molest the ground" by digging,
said Steve Mayberry, spokesman for the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
Geocaching has only been around for a few years, but there are hundreds of
geocachers and easily 1,000 caches listed on the Chicago-area site,
chicagogeocaching.com. It's not clear how many people participate
nationwide, but there are at least 10,000 geocachers and more than 70,000
caches hidden in 188 countries, according to geocaching.com.
The federal government made it all possible in May 2000 when it stopped
interfering with satellite signals to civilian Global Positioning System
devices. Two days later, the first cache was hidden--near Portland. Within
three days, it had been visited twice.
Using handheld GPS receivers, geocachers travel to coordinates listed on the
Web sites. The devices, which sell for about $100 and up, get the hunters
into the general area; after that, they rely on clues that given on the Web.
The caches contain toys, trinkets, oddities such as ugly ties and, always, a
log book for finders to sign.
If a finder keeps an item, he or she is expected to replace it with
something else.
To avoid trampling on private property, the caches are nearly always hidden
on public land, and that's where governments get involved.
Restrictions vary
DuPage County's policy is among the most restrictive, requiring a geocacher
to obtain a special-use permit before placing a cache. That isn't
particularly easy, said Forest Preserve District naturalist Dave Andrusyk.
"They'll have to go through channels and have it approved," he said.
Andrusyk would not speculate on how long that might take. He said he thought
there were only two sanctioned caches in DuPage preserves.
Kelly Markwell of Plainfield, who says he has found and placed hundreds of
caches since March 2001, was the first to get official approval from DuPage.
It took almost a year, he said.
Dr. Dan Boyle, a veterinarian from Winfield, added that "DuPage is sticking
out like a sore thumb with their position. It's aggravating."
In fact, the rules apparently are aggravating enough that few people follow
them: a check of the local geocaching Web site shows plenty of caches hidden
in DuPage forest preserves.
Andrusyk defends the process.
"The reason for the [special use] permit is for public safety and for their
enjoyment," he said. "We want to make sure these are being put in places
that are safe for people and are safe for wildlife." In Lake County, a
forest preserve official said he and others are keeping a close eye on
geocaching activities. "Our rangers monitor the Web sites and go out and
look for inappropriate content in the caches" such as pornography or drugs,
said Mike Tully, director of maintenance and operations. No such material
has been found, he said.
McHenry County asks participants to consult with rangers before placing
anything, "so we can ensure caches are put in a safe area and an area not
too environmentally sensitive," said Operations Director John Kramer.
DuPage isn't alone in creating strict rules. The Illinois Department of
Natural Resources has similar standards in place.
Bob Grosso, superintendent of the park, said that under state rules,
requests must be made in advance to his office. Geocaching "is not banned,"
he said, but "you can't just show up that day, and you have to go through a
formal process on each site."
No such requests have come through his office, Grosso said, and it is
unclear whether there are any unauthorized caches at Illinois Beach.
Officials concede the caches haven't caused much trouble. Lt. Rick Haake of
the DuPage County Forest Preserve Ranger Police assumes that there are
forbidden caches in the woods. But, he said, "We're not putting our people
to look at the Web site and trying to find [the caches] and go pick them up.
As we come across them, we'll treat them as abandoned property.
Haake and the other officials could not remember a problem with a geocache
or a geocacher.
The reason for that appears to be the geocachers themselves.
Many are self-described computer geeks with a passion for nature at least as
strong as their love of technology.
Advocates say they carry garbage bags on their searches to clean up other
peoples' litter, and this "cache in, trash out" philosophy is repeated like
a mantra.
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