Since this has all been discussed so much recently, I brought up
geocaching (letterboxers are few and far in these parts) at a staff
meeting with all the supervisory rangers/resource managers/maintenance
chiefs this morning.

We determined that boxing is well within department policy, provided
that boxers don't break any laws or park regulations. This means no
boxes in Natural or Cultural Preserves, no boxes that damage resources,
encourage finders to damage resources (trailing), or impact sensitive
habitat. Rangers will remove boxes located in hazardous areas. Otherwise
everyone seemed to think it was just a novel way to enjoy the parks-
nobody had any problem with it.

Do rangers want to know about the boxes? Their primary job is public
safety, so yeah, they are probably happiest when they know where people
are and what they are doing. None of them expect to be notified or
asked before anyone places a box though. Out of a dozen geocaches here
they have only removed one, due to safety reasons.

Some postings I have seen on chat groups talk about rangers as though
they are the enemy. They aren't. They do this because they love the
land, they enjoy the visitors, and they want to allow people the
opportunity to spend time outdoors and learn about nature. If they were
all about busting people, they would be working for a sheriff's
department for much better pay ;-) Honestly, if you show a ranger your
logbook she is very likely to be buying a speedball kit on her way home
from work.

have fun,

punky


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "gillespieba"
wrote:
>
> Just curious, but for your parks (not sure which ones exactly), but do
> the rangers prefer to know about boxes in the parks, or do they care?
> I am specifically interested in letterboxes of course.
>
> Thanks!
> Rhea of The Gillespie Tribe
>
> --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "larrynncarver"
> larrynncarver@ wrote:
> >
> > Not only are they allowed in my parks (a rather large chunk of the
> > California system), but two of our rangers are purchasing additional
> > GPS units so they can teach Geocaching to the visitors.
> >
> > punky
> >
>