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Thread: Ouachita National Forest Caching

  1. #111
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Russellville
    Posts
    1,117
    See the post I just made under "From the Board" about new information on the Ouachita NF geocaching policy.

    ORR
    "Wildness is a necessity." -- John Muir

    "I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth." -- Steve McQueen


  2. #112
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Russellville
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    1,117
    The following letter was received by another member of ArkGeo, who then forwarded it to me for posting, as they wished to remain anonymous. It provides a few more details about the ONF's changing position and it puts into a formal communication information that matches what I had been told over the phone from an official at the ONF. -- ORR

    File Code: 1510
    Date: August 29, 2008

    Honorable Mark Pryor
    United States Senator
    Attn: Jim Pitcock
    River Market
    500 Clinton Avenue, Suite 401
    Little Rock, AR 72201

    Dear Senator Pryor:

    Thank you for your interest in the Ouachita National Forest. This letter is in response to your previous inquiries regarding the forest’s Geocaching policy.

    The Ouachita National Forest has received quite a few inquiries regarding this activity. It is a legitimate use of the forest and an activity that encourages a whole new segment of recreational visitors to enjoy their national forests.

    Our staff has been working with the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests and our regional office in Atlanta, GA to determine the most recent agency guidelines for this activity, where both forests’ policies would be as similar as possible in this respect.

    The Ouachita and Ozark-St. Francis are finalizing the exact language; however, the following will be the basic policy/procedure for the national forests in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

    When a geocacher wants to establish/ renew a geocache on public land managed by the US Forest Service, he/she will be able to go to the forest website and print an information sheet that explains the policy / procedure and requests some basic information regarding the geocacher, the proposed location, and the contents of the cache.

    The geocacher will then take that information to the district office that manages that area of the proposed location to discuss with the district manager. If the district manager determines that there would be little or no impact, then they will accept the information on the site. The district manager would work with them to determine when the site information would need to be renewed or updated. There would be no fee associated with this.

    However, if the location would potentially cause impacts then the proponent would be asked to change locations of the cache. Otherwise, that could trigger more analysis and potential fees that would be associated with the land use and potentially the environmental analysis. This would typically be very rare.

    We appreciate your patience as we work through this process. This should be an equitable process for everyone involved and will encourage this “light on the land” activity. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Tracy Farley, Public Affairs Team Leader at 479-964-7232.

    Sincerely,

    /S/ NORMAN L. WAGONER
    NORMAN L. WAGONER
    Forest Supervisor
    "Wildness is a necessity." -- John Muir

    "I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth." -- Steve McQueen


  3. #113
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Ridgway, CO
    Posts
    488

    Follow-up

    Glad you posted this. Jim Pitcock in Senator Pryor's office really went to bat for us on this. After receipt of this letter a week ago, I responded with a note to Jim and Senator Pryor thanking them for their help. I'm sure they would like to hear from others in the ArkGeo. This is a reasonable compromise by the NFS, no? Onward/SJC

  4. #114

  5. #115
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Jacksonville, AR
    Posts
    944
    Wonderful!

  6. #116
    flannelman Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by OEnavigator
    Great News!!! I was contacted Friday by our district ranger who had a meeting earlier this week and they are almost done with the permits. The really great news is he is allowing me to use the Ozark permit for now and start getting some caches hidden!!!
    When you get some contact info could you pass it on please. I need to get my caches that are already out there permitted. And I'd like to hide some more.

  7. #117

  8. #118
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Madison, AL
    Posts
    321
    Just wanted to let everybody know. I got my letter in the mail yesterday, and the six caches that I have in the ONF are now legal! I have some others that I want to place now, so I will be doing that soon. There is, in fact, one that was already placed by another cacher, that they wanted me to get approved. This will be my first one. In fact I talked to Ms. Vaughn about it, and she said that it didn't sound like any problem. She did say, however, that she would not be approving any caches in areas that were enviromentaly sensitive. Meaning caves, streambeds, and areas where there is rare and endangered plant life (lady's slipper was mentioned).
    Just thought y'all might want to know.
    Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription...is more cowbell!!

  9. #119
    Dentful1 Guest
    Thank you for the update Bruce. Was there any mention of a MAX number of caches that a cacher can place in the National Forest? Cause if there was, I am sure you have went way over your limit.

  10. #120
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Madison, AL
    Posts
    321
    No, not exactly. I DID mention that I wanted to place a string of them from Hwy 7 to Hwy 9, going through the mountains there. She kinda just stared at me and swallowed hard, wondering what she had gotten into, I think, but she didn't say no, so......
    I am looking forward to getting more out there, because I know some awesome views to see. I would like to get people out here to go through the auto tour and find some caches! It is a great place, so let's see what happens.
    And no, I don't think I can put out just one at a time. It's against my nature to do almost anything one at a time!
    Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription...is more cowbell!!

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