[dbrierley]

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection now requires permits for geocaches and letterboxes in state parks and forests:

http://www.ct.gov/de...A=2716&Q=474470

This post has been edited by dbrierley: 14 January 2012 - 05:33 AM

[RIclimber]

 dbrierley, on 14 January 2012 - 05:32 AM, said:

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection now requires permits for geocaches and letterboxes in state parks and forests:

http://www.ct.gov/de...A=2716&Q=474470

Looks simple, But I hope something like this never comes to Mass. I will quit placing caches if I have to deal with permits.

I see an increasing number of guardrail P&G caches soon...

[Bumble!]

Quote

Looks simple, But I hope something like this never comes to Mass. I will quit placing caches if I have to deal with permits.

It already has come to Mass...check out this email I got a few months back

"Dear Geocache Owner;

I am writing from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) with respect to your Geocache that you may have at the DCR Middlesex Fells Reservation. The DCR supports and permits Geocaching in keeping with its mission to protect, promote and enhance the Commonwealth’s natural, cultural and recreational resources.

At the Middlesex Fells, we are currently finalizing a Resource Management Plan. The draft plan and maps are available at http://www.mass.gov/...mp-midfells.htm
We encourage you to read and comment on this plan.

Once the plan is finalized and approved, all Geocaches in the DCR reservation will need to be permitted and approved. In addition, any Geocaches within our Zone 1 areas (see draft map at
http://www.mass.gov/...ip%20Zoning.pdf) will need to be removed."

This post has been edited by Bumble!: 17 January 2012 - 07:59 AM

[Blipple]

This is disappointing news.

I hope this policy can be negotiated by the Groundspeak/geocaching folks as it is likely to kill geocaching. So many are in state parks and forests.

Permitting seems entirely unnecessary. The added difficulty will result in the demise of existing caches and few new ones being established.

How long will it take for a generally understaffed park to review the permits?

When do the fees get tacked on?

Contact info in the cache? Meaning what exactly? The contact info is on the website for the cache. Nobody is going to put real names and addresses in a cache.

Near the beginning many parks banned geocaching, but negotiation won the day. I hope this can happen again.

[CT A-Team]

I just sent in such a request (May 15) at an unmanned park. It will be interesting to see how long the process takes. I even offered to take the local park ranger on a walk to the cache and any others in the area.
We'll see.