[Az-Geocaching] Our Day in Tonto
Regan Smith
listserv@azgeocaching.com
Tue, 4 Feb 2003 14:35:26 -0700
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_0034_01C2CC5A.A8AE18A0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
MessageHe recognizes the values of Geocaching and feels it's an ideal =
activity for National Forests. He doesn't think formal permission is =
required to place caches in Tonto, but as he said, "it can't hurt to =
stop in at the ranger station and let them know what you're doing." And =
he reiterated that caches do not belong in designated wilderness areas.
Is it possible that someone official could log on the Main website and =
Request an Archive of those Physical Caches?
as after logging a find on Scorpions2003 was emailed by the owner with =
this question:
Why would the rangers go out looking for it?
and if you read my log and wonder what my note said it was simply Forest =
Ranger dude login to the website and join us on the legal caches
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Team Tierra Buena=20
To: listserv@azgeocaching.com=20
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 7:42 PM
Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Our Day in Tonto
J. Scott Wood, Forest Archaeologist and Heritage Program Manager for =
Tonto National Forest today took a group of Geocachers on a tour of some =
of the archaeological sites within the Cave Creek Ranger District along =
the Seven Springs Road (FR24). He described methods of identifying =
sites, site etiquette, and the problems and challenges of managing such =
sites on public lands. He worked his way from the more obvious to some =
very subtle indicators of where sites are located. If this sounds =
familiar to those of you who have had site steward training, it's =
because we were given the same tour, and the same topics, although =
perhaps not to the level of depth that the stewards get.
We had a sunny but very windy day. It was chilly by comparison to some =
of our recent weather, but it was still a great day to be out in Tonto. =
Scott also prepared a special "virtual" cache for us. He gave us the =
coordinates for an archaeological site and challenged us to find it. =
Just to make things interesting, he gave us the coordinates as they use =
them in the Forest Service: UTM and NAD27! (Note to Garmin owners: If =
you ever have to change format and datum in your GPSr, make sure you =
change the format first and then change the datum. You can ask just =
about any Garmin owner who was there why you need to remember that.)
The Arizona Geocaching community is very fortunate to have someone =
like Scott at the Forest Service. Scott believes that the public owns =
the land and it's the Forest Service's job to manage it on behalf of the =
public. He recognizes the values of Geocaching and feels it's an ideal =
activity for National Forests. He doesn't think formal permission is =
required to place caches in Tonto, but as he said, "it can't hurt to =
stop in at the ranger station and let them know what you're doing." And =
he reiterated that caches do not belong in designated wilderness areas.
About the Mesa Ranger District confiscations and the reports that all =
caches in the ranger district would be confiscated: Scott told me and =
some of the other attendees that he "chased that all the way to =
Washington." There is nothing coming out of the USFS that prohibits =
Geocaching on Forest Service land in general. He is going to have a talk =
with the staff at the Mesa RD office and make sure that they are only =
removing caches in the Wilderness.=20
We had an enjoyable and educational day. Scott is amenable to doing =
this again if the interest is there.
Steve
Team Tierra Buena
------=_NextPart_000_0034_01C2CC5A.A8AE18A0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Message</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1126" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3D"Book Antiqua">He =
recognizes the=20
values of Geocaching and feels it's an ideal activity for National =
Forests. He=20
doesn't think formal permission is required to place caches in Tonto, =
but as he=20
said, "it can't hurt to stop in at the ranger station and let them know =
what=20
you're doing." And he reiterated that caches do not belong in designated =
wilderness areas.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3D"Book Antiqua"></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial =
color=3D#0000ff>Is it=20
possible that someone official could log on the Main website and Request =
an=20
Archive of those Physical Caches?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial =
color=3D#0000ff>as after=20
logging a find on Scorpions2003 was emailed by the owner with this=20
question:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial =
color=3D#0000ff>Why would the=20
rangers go out looking for it?</FONT></SPAN></DIV><SPAN=20
class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial =
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
size=3D2></FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></FONT><SPAN =
class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>and if =
you read my=20
log and wonder what my note said it was simply Forest Ranger dude login =
to the=20
website and join us on the legal caches</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=3Dltr=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV=20
style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
<A title=3Dteamtierrabuena@earthlink.net=20
href=3D"mailto:teamtierrabuena@earthlink.net">Team Tierra Buena</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=3Dlistserv@azgeocaching.com=20
=
href=3D"mailto:listserv@azgeocaching.com">listserv@azgeocaching.com</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 03, 2003 =
7:42=20
PM</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Az-Geocaching] Our =
Day in=20
Tonto</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3D"Book Antiqua">J. =
Scott Wood,=20
Forest Archaeologist and Heritage Program Manager for Tonto National =
Forest=20
today took a group of Geocachers on a tour of some of the =
archaeological sites=20
within the Cave Creek Ranger District along the Seven Springs Road =
(FR24). He=20
described methods of identifying sites, site etiquette, and the =
problems and=20
challenges of managing such sites on public lands. He worked his way =
from the=20
more obvious to some very subtle indicators of where sites are =
located. If=20
this sounds familiar to those of you who have had site steward =
training, it's=20
because we were given the same tour, and the same topics, although =
perhaps not=20
to the level of depth that the stewards get.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3D"Book Antiqua"></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3D"Book Antiqua">We =
had a sunny=20
but very windy day. It was chilly by comparison to some of our recent =
weather,=20
but it was still a great day to be out in Tonto. Scott also prepared a =
special=20
"virtual" cache for us. He gave us the coordinates for an =
archaeological=20
site and challenged us to find it. Just to make things interesting, he =
gave us=20
the coordinates as they use them in the Forest Service: UTM and NAD27! =
(<EM>Note to Garmin owners: If you ever have to change format and =
datum in=20
your GPSr, make sure you change the format first and then change the =
datum.=20
You can ask just about any Garmin owner who was there why you need to =
remember=20
that.</EM>)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3D"Book Antiqua"></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3D"Book Antiqua">The =
Arizona=20
Geocaching community is very fortunate to have someone like Scott =
at the=20
Forest Service. Scott believes that the public owns the land and it's =
the=20
Forest Service's job to manage it on behalf of the public. He =
recognizes the=20
values of Geocaching and feels it's an ideal activity for National =
Forests. He=20
doesn't think formal permission is required to place caches in Tonto, =
but as=20
he said, "it can't hurt to stop in at the ranger station and let them =
know=20
what you're doing." And he reiterated that caches do not belong in =
designated=20
wilderness areas.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3D"Book Antiqua"></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3D"Book =
Antiqua">About the Mesa=20
Ranger District confiscations and the reports that all caches in the =
ranger=20
district would be confiscated: Scott told me and some of the other =
attendees=20
that he "chased that all the way to Washington." There is nothing =
coming out=20
of the USFS that prohibits Geocaching on Forest Service land in =
general. He is=20
going to have a talk with the staff at the Mesa RD office and make =
sure that=20
they are only removing caches in the Wilderness. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3D"Book Antiqua"></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3D"Book Antiqua">We =
had an=20
enjoyable and educational day. Scott is amenable to doing this again =
if the=20
interest is there.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3D"Book Antiqua"></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT=20
face=3D"Book Antiqua">Steve</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D993440302-03022003><FONT face=3D"Book Antiqua">Team =
Tierra=20
Buena</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
------=_NextPart_000_0034_01C2CC5A.A8AE18A0--