Re: [Az-Geocaching] Tucson Mountain Park

                  Scott,
         THANK YOU very much for taking this very sensible and logical   
      approach.  Also for your personal efforts to keep GeoCaching an    
    important part of the Park.
        Bob Smith, Team Petite Elite, Prescott, AZ
    On 4/15/2011 10:24 PM, TeamShack wrote:
It recently came to my attention that Pima County Parks            and 
Recreation has put a ban on caches within the boundries            of 
the Tucson Mountain Park.  I’ve never been one to sit by            and 
have things like this go by without finding out the            source 
of the problem so I sent off a letter which follows.
My name is Scott and I have been GeoCaching for eight              
years now.  I was recently told that GeoCaching is not              
allowed in the Tucson Mountain Park and am writing to find              
out why this is the case.
One of the largest reasons I                like to GeoCache is that it 
gives me the opportunity to                visit areas that I would 
otherwise have never seen.                 GeoCaching has taken me to 
many spots with breath taking                views, natural beauty, and 
sites of historical                 significance.  For me, caching is a 
family event.  Every                time we go caching, it gets the 
kids away from video                games, and me some much needed 
exercise.  Geocachers are                very active in a practice we 
call CITO or Cache In Trash                Out.  It seems that 
everywhere you go these days, you                will find the trash of 
others tossed on the ground.  We                hike in to the cache, 
and pick up trash as we hike back                out. 
Another aspect of GeoCaching is                that we strive to make 
as little impact on the                environment as we can.  Follow 
established trails, don’t                disturb wildlife or plant life.
With values such as this, it is                difficult to understand 
why we are being denied the use                of these public lands 
while others are allowed.  I would                like to know the 
reasoning behind the ban on GeoCaching                in the Tucson 
Mountain Park, and would request that this                limitation be 
reviewed and removed.
I got a reply right away and you can read it for            yourself.
Because                of past cases of resource damage and safety 
concerns,                Geocaching has never been formally allowed in 
Pima                County Parks. We have only aggressively enforced 
this                prohibition where we find caches that have been 
located                in places that are, or may potentially, damage 
park                resources, create new undesignated trails or create 
                safety issues accessing the cache. The Geocaching        
         community has not approached us at Tucson Mountain Park         
       with Geocache site location requests in past. 
We                are looking at revising Park Rules and are 
considering a                new Rule specific to Geocaching that would 
only allow it                to occur if cache locations are approved 
by NRPR prior                to placement.
When                done responsibly and with knowledge/permission of 
the                land owner, Geocaching can be a legitimate activity 
on                park lands. Most Geocachers do have a strong land 
ethic,                unfortunately, not all do. As is often the 
unfortunate                case, public agencies must regulate for the  
              irresponsible user and not the responsible one.
I                hope this explains our position
Kerry                Baldwin
Natural                Resource Division Manager
Once                again, I replied to Mr. Baldwin right away with the 
               following...
Thank you for the prompt reply.  I              agree with you that not 
all Geocachers have the strong              land ethic, but that can 
also be said of other land users              unfortunately.  We have 
rules on where caches can and              cannot be placed, and one or 
two individuals in each state              that are responsible for 
approving cache locations to              ensure that natural resources 
are preserved and safety              standards are followed.  It would 
be very easy to have              those reviewers ensure that the cache 
locations have been              approved by NRPR prior to being 
approved and published on              the GeoCaching web site. 
I would be more than happy to help              facilitate the approval 
or removal of current cache              locations in all Pima County 
Parks as well as work with              you to ensure that all future 
locations are approved prior              to being placed if you do 
indeed revise the Park Rules              specific to GeoCaching.
I provided my contact information              to Mr. Baldwin and he 
called me within about two hours of              me sending the email.  
He took me up on the offer and will              be inviting me to 
present at the next meeting where the              rules are being 
discussed for revision.
Rather than mounting an army and trying to corner them on            
this one, lets try to open up caching by being responsible            
concerned advocates.  I will continue to keep the community            
updated on this issue and would appreciate comments,            
suggestions that anyone may have.

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