Scga Steering Committee Meeting

[+jon & miki]

I wanted to post this note for those who've been wondering what happened to the SCGA.

 

Normally, the SCGA tries to host about 4 events per year in different parts of the state. This year, between turnover on the steering committee due to limited time, folks moving to other states, illnesses, etc, we only held 3 events, a CITO in May at Colleton State Park, another CITO at the Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve in June, and a general meeting at Paris Mountain in July. There were several other CITO's, but they were not made into official SCGA events. So while we haven't been as active as we would have liked, particularly in the last half of the year, we haven't been completely inactive either.

 

The SCGA steering committee met Saturday to work on two major areas, specifically the steering committee membership & the formation of chapters, and the geocaching bill being reviewed in the Senate Legislative Subcommittee.

 

The steering committee strongly endorsed the formation of local chapters. The expectation would be that each local chapter would appoint a primary and backup representative to serve on the SCGA steering committee. Each local chapter would be asked to host one SCGA general meeting each year. This approach should facilitate having more regular steering committee meetings since the backup could fill in when the primary representative was not available. Having the chapters host one SCGA general meeting per year would spread out the planning effort as well.

 

With respect to H3777, in June several geocachers met with the Dr. Leader, the State Archeologist, and representatives from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), State Parks, and the Department of Archives and History to work out compromise wording for the bill that took into account the concerns of all the stakeholders. The meeting was very productive and a draft compromise was developed. The draft language was further refined over the summer and in a phone call last week, Dr. Leader let us know that he had presented it to the Senior Staff Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee and to Representative Ceips as having the full support of his office as well as DNR, Parks and Archives.

 

The proposed compromise legislation essentially raises the level of protection of South Carolina cemeteries, both private and public, to the same level as national cemeteries. That is to say, most recreational activities are prohibited within cemetery bounds without written permission (see National Cemetery Regulations) . Physical placement of a geocache and rubbing of gravestones (which can cause damage to delicate carvings) have been added to the regulated activities in the South Carolina version.

 

The compromise is a result of the efforts of many folks in state government and geocachers. Geocachers contributing to this effort include Overcached, TinSparrow, The Commissar, Sissy 'n CR, and SwampThing. These individuals contributed significant time and effort to the project and the steering committee expresses their thanks for the accomplishment.

 

As the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee indicated in the last public hearing, and as confirmed in meeting with their Counsel, it is almost certain that a bill protecting at least cemeteries will be presented to the Senate. The steering committee feels that the compromise bill protects the property rights of cemetery owners and custodians without unduly restricting the sport of geocaching in the state. There is still a long road ahead and we may see even more changes and amendments to the final legislation, but assuming the Senate Legislative Subcommittee accepts the compromise language, the SCGA steering committee will endorse the compromise bill and will strongly recommend that geocachers contact their legislators in support of the compromise. The steering committee is working on developing supporting information to help keep our message focused during geocacher's meetings with legislators.

 

We are planning the next steering committee meeting for mid- to late January. We may need emergency steering committee and general meetings if the bill is taken up early in the legislative session, so please watch this and the SCGA forums for updates on the bill's progress.

Edited December 21, 2005 by ikim & noj

[+shawhh]

thank you for the update. i'm sure a lot of work is evidenced in this compromise. my thanks as a cacher who frequently travels to cache in s.c. hope to see you at an event this year. -harry

[CoyoteRed]

Before anyone jumps on the SCGA for compromising, don't. That's all I'm going to say at the moment. You'll see why later.

[+Deliveryguy428]

Please also keep in mine anyone who reads this, not all comments made on this and other threads reflect the offical stance of the SCGA in certain matters.

 

If a compromise is met that gives both parties involved a positive outlook in the future, do it, and lets go back to the hobby we so dearly love.

 

Now is a critical time and doubt and doom is the last attitudes we need to be giving off right now.

Edited December 24, 2005 by geoholic28

[+jamrasc]

Thanks Jon for passing along the info to everyone. We look forward to a great 2006! Merry Christmas to our fellow cachers also!