On Wednesday, September 13, two members of the ArkGeo Steering Committee were graciously invited to represent ArkGeo at the annual meeting of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission in Little Rock. Our intention was to ask the Commission to allow the placement of geocaches on lands they own. We were given 10 minutes in which to make our case.
An oral presentation was given, accompanied by some printed materials for each of the Commissioners. These materials included:
A copy of the "Geocacher's Creed"
An article entitiled "What Is Geocaching?"
A list of members who indicated they wanted to be represented
Pictures from a CITO event held at Beaverfork Lake
A document entitled "An Arkansas Landowner's Guide to Geocaching"
A copy of the Arkansas State Parks directive regarding geocaching
A copy of the Arkansas State Parks Geocache Placement Permit
We are proud to report that the Commission was very impressed with the idea of geocaching and they were all in agreement that it would be another tool they could use to draw people to AG&FC-owned lands. Further, they believe (as do we) that geocaching offers several benefits.
The official vote by the Commission on the approval of this policy will be on Thursday, September 14. Details about the new policy will be forthcoming. However, the Commission clearly indicated that they would like to work with ArkGeo during its creation.
Finally, THANK YOU to all those who sent us information and helpful suggestions and comments!!! It was very much appreciated!
ArkGeo is a significant part of the "face" of geocaching in Arkansas. Let's continue to be good representatives for geocaching and let the AG&FC (and others) see just how great a group of people we really are!
Steering Committee
Arkansas Geocachers Association