[Az-Geocaching] Coconino National Forest - New Information

[Team Tierra Buena]

> Interesting. There is currently 'no policy related to geocaching' yet 
> right below that statement there are 'rules' posted on the Coconino 
> National Forest site!

It does seem like a contradiction, doesn't it? From their point of view it
isn't. The "policy", if it ever gets developed, will come from the
USDA/USFS. Coconino NF won't create the policy, nor will any individual
national forest. So until and unless a policy is handed down from
Washington, none exists. Which doesn't prevent the land managers at the
facility itself from creating rules to address specific concerns about the
lands under their jurisdiction.

Unlike the Forest Service, the National Park Service has it easy. Their
mandate is "preservation", so it's easy for them to create a policy that
says placement of physical geocaches is contrary to the NPS mandate.

But the Forest Service's mandate is "multi-use", which is why they have to
give consideration to everyone from geocachers to OHV users to hunters to
commercial logging interests. It is simply more difficult for the Forest
Service to develop a national policy for any one group of users. Still, the
absence of a policy isn't going to prevent Coconino NF from saying you're
prohibited from hiding a cache on top of an "archaeological resource" or
where it would create a "disturbance of sensitive soils".
 
>>Caches should be removed after one year regardless of site activity 
>>and moved to a new location or removed from the national forest.

> I totally do NOT agree with the second statement that caches should be 
> removed after one year regardless of activity. 

That rule may only reflect the reality of working in a severely underfunded
agency. If they post that rule, then it becomes much easier to find caches
that aren't being maintained at all. If the owner moves it once a year, they
at least know the owner is looking after it. From my point of view, that
beats them saying, "If it's out there overnight it's litter".

Steve
Team Tierra Buena