AR Game and Fish and AR Natural Heritage Commissions

[Geezer_Veazey]

Never mind, LE. Google found it.

http://www.agfc.state.ar.us/education/geocaching.html

According to this web site the two fish hatcheries are also virtuals and the others have physical caches.

There is no provision for logging. I think when one is found an email would be in order if we knew who to send it to.

Geezer

[LadyEngineer]

Geezer,

Here is the link. You have to scroll down the page and they have them all listed there.

http://www.agfc.com/education/geocaching.html

LE

You are right, these should be one thread. Know a way to fix that?

In any case this reply will bump it back to the top breifly.

As far as the issue itself I can see at least one partial cure for the preceived disinterest in the AGFC caches....If anyone owns a cache in close proximity to the AGFC caches put a reference note either on the cache page on in the cache itself saying "While you are in the area...."

I don't see how they'd know if there was interest in the three virtual caches without any way to track the visitors, but sending people their way for the ones that do have logbooks might at least show the interest from that angle.

ARkayaker

[Gaddiel]

You are right, these should be one thread. Know a way to fix that?

Moderators can split a topic, but I haven't found a way to combine topics yet. I'll keep looking...

[Team_Pink]

I just happened to run across their web page today. I noticed they had caches but they weren't listed on geocaching.com and I email to ask about that. I told them I didn't quite understand why they seemed to stop short of a good idea and that I would be much more likely to visit one of their facilities if I could log a find. I got a very generic "The guy who hid those is in charge of that" type response.

Oh, well.

[Gersteacker]

I have been reading on this and other websites to try and determine if Geocaching is something I would like to get involved in. This thread caught my eye and is very disturbing. I don't think that very many people have any idea just how much land AG&FC controls. Just for instance in the Ozarks. If you go east from Highway 71. Nearly all of the Ozarks that is not private land is either in the White Rock Management area or the Ozark National Forest WMA. That is probably in excess of 300,000 acres. Looking at caches on Geocach.com many, many of the caches fall into that area. Another example is Mt. Magazine. Except for private land and the state park, nearly all is a WMA. And in many of these areas the AG&FC shares control with the Forest Service. So I guess one agency could say go ahead and the other agency would say no way.
Since the Forest with it's wonderful hiking trails was my main area of interest, I suppose I will just wait and watch for awhile before I jump in.

By the way, a great site.
Gersteacker

Has anything new come of your actions with the AGFC LadyEngineer?

I haven't noticed any listings on the GC website for them.

[LadyEngineer]

No. I've called and sent emails but she hasn't responded. I don't really know what to think of it. I guess I will try one more time.

[LadyRedbug]

A couple new ones by AGFC were listed on 3/24:

Rick Evans Grandview Prairie Education Center
Ponca Elk Education Center

[flannelman]

I have contacted Mike Bonds ( the guy that is in cahrge of that stuff) and he said that as of yet the WMAs are off limits for caches other than ones placed by the AGFC. However he did not rule out the possibility that they may open up, in a limited sense, to geocaches placed by others.

I think their main concern is not disrupting the ecology and the intended use of the WMA's.

Here is the email he sent me on this:

I'm not sure what the status of publicly-placed caches would be right now.
For the most part, what stays and goes on our WMA's is the decision of the
WMA manager. The big thing we want to avoid are user conflicts and habitat
impairment--we want people to be able to enjoy the WMA's, but we don't want
traditional uses profoundly affected or to create unsafe conditions for
visitors. Additionally, we need to be sure that any caches won't have an
adverse impact on habitats. However, we'll be trying to work through those
issues so that the public can gain a fuller use of the properties we manage
for them and to promote more visits by the public to those properties