Waymarking Permits in New Jersey

[+UMainah]

It appears the New Jersey has rolled Waymarking into their new geocaching permit policy regarding state lands.

 

The following are some excerpts of this document: http://www.state.nj...._final_form.pdf

 

SUBJECT:

Geocaching, Waymarking and other Global Positioning System (GPS)-based Recreational activities (collectively reffered to as Geocaching in this policy document) in New Jersey State Parks, Forests, Recreation Areas, Historic Sites and Monuments (collectively "parks").

...

DEFINITIONS:

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Waymark or Virtual - A Virtual Cache is about discovering a location rather than a container. The requirements for logging a Virtual Cache may vary -- you may be required to answer a question about the location, take a picture, complete a task, etc. In any case, you must visit the coordinates before you can post your log.

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GUIDELINES:

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Failure to comply with this policy directive will result in the revocation of effective geocaching permits and online cache/waymark listings. Continues failure to comply with these guidelines will prevent the issuance of any further permits to the non-compliant group or individual.

 

If geocaching or Waymarking activities as a whole are found to have a negative impact on park resources of if safety becomes an issue in geocache/waymark searches, the Park Superintendent/Area Manager or designee may ban geocaching from certain areas or from the entire park.

 

The Park Superintendent/Area Manager or designee will determine the appropriate number of manageable caches and waymarks at each location.

 

Here's a thread concerning the impact to geocaching http://forums.Ground...howtopic=319335

[+saopaulo1]

Someone should tell the state that webcam caches are grandfathered in. Maybe they could invent a photography permit too. Anyone who wants to take photos must get a permit before using a camera.

Edited December 16, 2014 by saopaulo1

[Mr.Yuck]

When Waymarking is outlawed, only outlaws will Waymark.

 

Any of you old timers know if this is a first? A State Waymarking policy?

[+Benchmark Blasterz]

When Waymarking is outlawed, only outlaws will Waymark.

 

Any of you old timers know if this is a first? A State Waymarking policy?

 

Just one more reason NOT to visit New Jersey. They have rolled up the welcome mat, so we will take the hint.

 

Y'all come on down to Texas -- our state park geocaching policy is that most state parks will have one (or more) official Texas Geocaching Challenge caches. Cachers are MOST WELCOME to explore our wonderful state parks, and waymark in them too

Edited December 18, 2014 by Benchmark Blasterz

[+iconions]

I've not heard of a Waymarking policy before - very interesting. So I take a picture from OUTSIDE of the State Park to waymark the State Park Entrance for the State Park category and I have to get a permit? Hmmm... very interesting. I take a picture within the State Park and post it to my personal Facebook page, no worries. Because I post that picture to Waymarking.com with a writeup, I have to get a permit? Gotta love bureaucrats...

[+Manville Possum]

I've not heard of a Waymarking policy before - very interesting. So I take a picture from OUTSIDE of the State Park to waymark the State Park Entrance for the State Park category and I have to get a permit? Hmmm... very interesting. I take a picture within the State Park and post it to my personal Facebook page, no worries. Because I post that picture to Waymarking.com with a writeup, I have to get a permit? Gotta love bureaucrats...

 

Do you think this will effect the review process here?

[+Michaelcycle]

Someone should tell the state that webcam caches are grandfathered in. Maybe they could invent a photography permit too. Anyone who wants to take photos must get a permit before using a camera.

 

To my knowledge, the few still active webcam caches in NJ are NOT on public land. The policy is an unthinking, bureaucratic, spinal level reflex to a problem that doesn't exist. How the policy will work out as regards virtuals, waypoints and virtual stages of multicaches is an open question.

[+iconions]

So here is another question, being totally hypothetical... I am in violation of the New Jersey policy IF I take a picture of lets say the State Park Visitors' Center and post it along with the coordinates of the said Visitors' Center on my Facebook page. I wish I lived closer to New Jersey and was rich - I'd like to take on this policy just on the Waymarking side of things.

[+Manville Possum]

So here is another question, being totally hypothetical... I am in violation of the New Jersey policy IF I take a picture of lets say the State Park Visitors' Center and post it along with the coordinates of the said Visitors' Center on my Facebook page. I wish I lived closer to New Jersey and was rich - I'd like to take on this policy just on the Waymarking side of things.

 

Let's say that you submit it as a Waymark and I review it and approve it. Are we both in trouble? It would be breaking the law would'nt it?

 

Waymarking is so popular that I'm sure someone at HQ would go our bail and Groundspeak would hire a lawyer to represent us.

 

What about Keystone, I think he is near NJ or PA. He would help a fellow Waymarker/Geocacher out.

[+iconions]

So here is another question, being totally hypothetical... I am in violation of the New Jersey policy IF I take a picture of lets say the State Park Visitors' Center and post it along with the coordinates of the said Visitors' Center on my Facebook page. I wish I lived closer to New Jersey and was rich - I'd like to take on this policy just on the Waymarking side of things.

 

Let's say that you submit it as a Waymark and I review it and approve it. Are we both in trouble? It would be breaking the law would'nt it?

 

Waymarking is so popular that I'm sure someone at HQ would go our bail and Groundspeak would hire a lawyer to represent us.

 

What about Keystone, I think he is near NJ or PA. He would help a fellow Waymarker/Geocacher out.

 

...maybe bake us a cake with a file in it??? LOL - I'm of the opinion that it is New Jersey, I can't afford the tolls to drive through the state anyway. I think this is another solution that was looking for a problem. Too bad these administrators just looked at Waymarking without actually doing the activity.

[+Manville Possum]

Here is something else that concerns me. I don't consider Waymarking a game of amusement, not some of the categorys that I'm interested in any. I feel that I am helping to preserve history, similar to the Find a Grave site.

 

This information was taken from the Tennesseee State geocache reviewers profile page, and has been this way for several years. Most of us are already aware of geocache placements in Tennessee cemeterys, but what about Waymarking?

 

Tennessee Cemeteries

It is a violation of Tennessee state law to "play at any game or amusement" in a cemetery. Under current state law this is a Class E Felony punishable with one to six years in jail and a fine of up to $3,000, in addition to any damages. Any geocaches that you may have found in the past inside or near Tennessee cemeteries were placed before this ban took effect.

Here is the relevant statue concerning caches in cemeteries, in this case it is clear that geocaching is considered a game or amusement.

Tennessee Cemetery & Burial Site Laws

Statutory Laws

(Tennessee Code Annotated)

Title 46-1-313. Trespass on or injury to cemetery property — Interference with processions or religious exercises — Penalty. ---

(a) No person shall willfully destroy, deface, or injure any monument, tomb, gravestone, or other structure placed in the cemetery, or any roadway, walk, fence or enclosure in or around the cemetery, or injure any tree, plant or shrub, or hunt or shoot, play at any game or amusement, or loiter for lascivious or lewd purposes in the cemetery, or interfere, by words or actions, with any funeral procession or any religious exercises.

( (1) A violation of this section is a Class E felony.

(2) Following conviction of a person for violating subsection (a), evidence of damages sustained as a result of the violation shall be presented to the jury, which shall ascertain the total amount of the damages. The court shall then render judgment in that amount against the offender in favor of the cemetery and/or the other aggrieved parties and shall order the offender to make full restitution for the damages. Execution of the judgment shall issue as in other civil cases. The order of restitution shall be in addition to other sanctions imposed pursuant to subdivision ((1).

The delicate nature of cemetery caches within Tennessee and issues surrounding them in the past have made it necessary to establish a "buffer zone" and not publish caches that are placed within 528 feet of the boundary of a Tennessee cemetery.

[+iconions]

Here is something else that concerns me. I don't consider Waymarking a game of amusement, not some of the categorys that I'm interested in any. I feel that I am helping to preserve history, similar to the Find a Grave site.

 

This information was taken from the Tennesseee State geocache reviewers profile page, and has been this way for several years. Most of us are already aware of geocache placements in Tennessee cemeterys, but what about Waymarking?

 

Tennessee Cemeteries

It is a violation of Tennessee state law to "play at any game or amusement" in a cemetery. Under current state law this is a Class E Felony punishable with one to six years in jail and a fine of up to $3,000, in addition to any damages. Any geocaches that you may have found in the past inside or near Tennessee cemeteries were placed before this ban took effect.

Here is the relevant statue concerning caches in cemeteries, in this case it is clear that geocaching is considered a game or amusement.

Tennessee Cemetery & Burial Site Laws

Statutory Laws

(Tennessee Code Annotated)

Title 46-1-313. Trespass on or injury to cemetery property — Interference with processions or religious exercises — Penalty. ---

(a) No person shall willfully destroy, deface, or injure any monument, tomb, gravestone, or other structure placed in the cemetery, or any roadway, walk, fence or enclosure in or around the cemetery, or injure any tree, plant or shrub, or hunt or shoot, play at any game or amusement, or loiter for lascivious or lewd purposes in the cemetery, or interfere, by words or actions, with any funeral procession or any religious exercises.

( (1) A violation of this section is a Class E felony.

(2) Following conviction of a person for violating subsection (a), evidence of damages sustained as a result of the violation shall be presented to the jury, which shall ascertain the total amount of the damages. The court shall then render judgment in that amount against the offender in favor of the cemetery and/or the other aggrieved parties and shall order the offender to make full restitution for the damages. Execution of the judgment shall issue as in other civil cases. The order of restitution shall be in addition to other sanctions imposed pursuant to subdivision ((1).

The delicate nature of cemetery caches within Tennessee and issues surrounding them in the past have made it necessary to establish a "buffer zone" and not publish caches that are placed within 528 feet of the boundary of a Tennessee cemetery.

 

To take this in historical context, the whole idea of the "garden" setting idea of the cemetery landscaping at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries was to allow for the living to go and picnic being surrounded with the dead... At the Bellefountaine Cemetery in St. Louis, they have a Beer Baron's Tour with bands, dancing (Lord forbid) and beer drinking on the cemetery grounds. I'm guessing IT would definitely be categorized as "games of amusement..." LOL. If you get a chance, it is really a great cemetery to explore, along with Calvary across the street. (although Billy Sherman is buried over at Calvary...)

Edited January 2, 2015 by iconions