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Thread: Ouachita National Forest Geocaching Policy

  1. #41
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Russellville
    Posts
    896
    I'm in the same boat at the moment working with whomever replies to the r8_ouachita_info address about getting a permit as well. I basically told them that I am going to be driving through 27&28 and I'm not exactly sure what district I will be in when I find the spot I want to put a cache. I basically just copied the Ozark page and sent it with info to the Ouachita address, but they replied with just this link about geocaching in the Ouachita's.
    http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/ouachita/maps/d ... itting.doc

    Is Elaine Sharp the MAIN person approving caches for the Ouachita district? I know there are going to be several "small middle men" that approve it as well, but I think There was going to be one person in the district that kept the "master list" of all the caches on record. This way if a ranger(approver) switches jobs or something else, they still have someone to review and check on caches in the mean time.

    I think the Ouachita district is trying to be too political with this. They are trying to be the typical government agency with red tape, etc that they hope will discourage us from placing caches on their property. I'll keep you guys posted with any info I find out.

    The way I would like to see it....Is I go to the Ouachita website, I fill out a webform that ask all the questions they need. When I hit submit, the coords are checked to see which ranger district it needs to go to and is sent. A copy is also sent to the main Ouachita contact or other "storage" file. Then I get a auto response back in my e-mail that says "Thanks for requesting a NFS Geocaching permit, please allow 7-10 days to process your request. Ranger John Bob will contact you with further instructions. If you have any questions in the mean time, please call 870-xxx-xxxx."

    After a few days, My cache either gets approved and I get a e-mail with the permit number or I get a e-mail telling me why my cache was not approved(too close to historical artifact, etc).

    I can wish right

  2. #42
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Madison, AL
    Posts
    321
    Is Elaine Sharp the MAIN person approving caches for the Ouachita district?
    That is my understanding.
    Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription...is more cowbell!!

  3. #43
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Russellville
    Posts
    896
    Any more information or issues with Ouachita NFS from any of the members?
    Any Success Stories?

    It's been a while since we did a CITO for NFS (actually ours was the last one) perhaps we/someone should try and get one going in the Ouachita NFS area? I have not done as much running around in that area as I did in the Ozark side, but I bet someone knows a area that needs some clean up...I actually have a cache beside one area that could be a small half day cleanup!

  4. #44
    astrodav Guest
    I batter around the possibility of doing a major CITO event on the Million Dollar Road in west Yell County/east Scott County, in return for the privilege of setting about 25-40 Right-Of-Way caches along the road. Also, I hoped that we could then get together twice per year for a mini-CITO, as long as we were allowed to keep the caches in play.

    I saw this as a win-win situation for both organizations involved. However. after a very short time & just a few conversations, I got the idea that the ONF wasn't even interested in something like this which would ultimately benefit THEM. Contrary, they seemed to imply that they thought a CITO would have no effect on garbage in the shoulders of the road.

    I don't see their logic in that at all, because there ISN'T any. But I didnt really want to spend what I think would have been wasted time trying to work out a compromise situation with them. So I just completely abandoned the idea, deciding to place caches elsewhere, & leaving the trash along the road.

  5. #45
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Russellville
    Posts
    896
    pm me the district you worked with and who you talked to...the Ouachita NFS has been very Leary about caching mainly because they have no idea what it is. I still think it would be a good idea to get enough people here involved and have a "take a NFS person caching day" to show them what it is, how we hide, etc. One lady I talked to at the district level thought we were going to be mining something

    We just really need a strong foot and patience with them while we educate their personnel on what caching is. After a few "free cito events" that may not benefit us right away, I think they'll see some light.

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