GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Geocaching Australia governance issues

Should GCA STOP listing new caches in banned zones?

Yes
158
64%
No
89
36%
 
Total votes: 247

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CraigRat
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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by CraigRat » 23 December 09 10:17 pm

Also make not of the words 'may' and 'could'

I provided those exact well placed words to basically warn that a cache placed in that region *could* feel the wrath of a BCC staff member.
It was only ever set up as a warning zone.

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by grahamf72 » 24 December 09 12:21 am

That warning looks to me like a good idea, and it highlighted another drama if you do decide to refuse to host caches inside restricted zones, and that is the issue of resolution.

If you do decide to block listing of caches in banned areas, will it be an automatic decision by the server, or will it go through a review process similar to GC's reviewers? If the former, I have concerns about how accurate the zone data is. A cache placed near the boundary of a restricted area may be rejected because the resolution of the zone isn't sufficient to differentiate between 2 sides of a fence. If there is a review process it would overcome issues like that to some extent (it would rely on the honesty of the placer to say "it is on the non-NP side of the fence"), but then it would create additional work for someone.

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CraigRat
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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by CraigRat » 24 December 09 12:31 am

we'll worry about that if and when it happens.

A simple email to us via the support system wil probably be all that is required.

Nothing has ben decided yet

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by GammaPiSigma » 24 December 09 8:00 am

Excellent work. Thank you again for your and Craigrat's efforts in developing such a great site.

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by wing6rider » 27 December 09 6:56 pm

I think there is a need work with DECC/NPWS in NSW to develop a policy that allows sensible caching. This has been done overseas in Canada where guidelines have been agreed. However, this will take time....

From a purist perspective I can see why there is opposition, but I think there are some benefits to Park use that could come from having well set caches. There will always be people who go about their activities in the wrong way but this is not restricted to cachers. Should Rangers find a cache is causing wear or disruption, they can remove it and have it archived, if they are working well with the caching community.

For my money, finding a sensible, well articulated and understood way of being able to enjoy caching in Parks is worth the time and effort it will take. This means educating park managers and policy makers about geocaching.

I am also glad there are some grandfathered caches.

For example, in Kosciuszko NP, there are a number of resort areas such as Perisher and Thredbo which are really urban villages in the park. Caches in these areas are highly unlikely to cause any concern.

Being able to place virtual caches is a good option for 'litter free' caching.

YMMV

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by Big_Red » 28 December 09 6:03 pm

is it possible to do a photocache in the national parks ...

ie: hider takes a photo at certain co-ordinates and cacher has to take a photo from the same spot to log it.
obviously there will be some differences in focal length of the different cameras used but it should not be too hard to see it was taken from the same spot

can GCA host the photo's?
would it be better to host the photo's elsewhere

could you do a "recommend photocache at this spot" when someone posts the cache up?

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CraigRat
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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by CraigRat » 28 December 09 7:03 pm

Big_Red wrote:is it possible to do a photocache in the national parks ...

ie: hider takes a photo at certain co-ordinates and cacher has to take a photo from the same spot to log it.
obviously there will be some differences in focal length of the different cameras used but it should not be too hard to see it was taken from the same spot

can GCA host the photo's?
would it be better to host the photo's elsewhere

could you do a "recommend photocache at this spot" when someone posts the cache up?
Thats woupld fall under the 'virtual' category that we already have..

Scouts GPSGames site (http://gpsgames.org/) has a thing called Shutterspots which is *exactly* what you describe. Shutterspots found on his site can be imported to here to add to your finds.

GCA can host photos for virtuals etc with no worries.

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by The Spindoctors » 31 December 09 4:23 pm

wing6rider wrote:I think there is a need work with DECC/NPWS in NSW to develop a policy that allows sensible caching. This has been done overseas in Canada where guidelines have been agreed. However, this will take time....
Geocaching NSW has been working with NPWS for the past two years on this very issue. There is a review underway and we hope that a conclusion will be reached in the first half of 2010.

You can find more information about our work to date here: http://geocachingnsw.asn.au/index.php/g ... g/natparks

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tronador
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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by tronador » 10 January 10 6:11 pm

I'm not sure who is in charge of making zones but I know of one that needs to have the boundaries changed.

I just completed Grumpy GA0020 and on the cache page it is listed as being in Lane Cove NP. This side of the river is not part of the NP it is part of Mowbray Park and maintained by Willoughby Council not NPWS. All the walking signs and maps say so. I double checked in the latest street directory and it is also listed as Mowbray Park. The signs were made by the council and the riverside trail and the others through the park make absolutely no reference to NPWS.
Can this zone be fixed? And most importantly can this warning be removed from the cache page. Same as for the cache called The Bogle Chandler Mystery. GC865F

http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Igniti ... n%20A4.PDF
Last edited by tronador on 10 January 10 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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CraigRat
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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by CraigRat » 10 January 10 6:17 pm

That zone was added by Spindoc Bob, not too sure if it he added it by using google Earth or what, but it appears to differ from the NPWS dataset.
I've disabled his version and I'll review.

[EDIT: Reviewed, and you are 100% correct.]

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by The Spindoctors » 10 January 10 6:21 pm

I recall that was when we were messing around with zones in the early days. It was one of two(?) I manually created using Google Earth. I thought the NPWS data had replaced it. Best to delete and replace with the correct data.

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tronador
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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by tronador » 10 January 10 6:27 pm

I've just added a link to walking trails in the Willoughby council area. Hope this helps

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by ROBTAS » 10 January 10 10:44 pm

There are plenty of people out there who are opposed to just about anything. We should not put caches in places that could be contentious, there is no shortage of good places around.
Don't give the buggers ammunition.
We don't need to draw unwanted attention to ourselves.

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by imagecatcher » 11 January 10 10:03 am

Caches placed well and truely in a banned zone fair enough. My concern is that caches placed on the literal boundaries of theses zones will get banned by GC admin purely looking at a google map image shaded area. Eg Crown land/public v NPWS fence post or hwy parking areas that pass through NP but happen to be excellent trip rest spots etc.
With more and more NP and diminishing State forests, urban caches are the increasing option...caching in and around public places looks like terrorist activity these days. 8-[
I feel Geocaching is a great way to lift kids eyes up from the DS/Playstation and look at nature so I am disappointed we cannot let them interact with it via treasure hunting and using their brains.

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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Post by The Spindoctors » 11 January 10 10:14 am

In the case of NSW National Parks, the Groundspeak reviewers use - and the GCA zones are based on - data from the NSW government.

Geocaching NSW has a up-to-date kml version at http://geocachingnsw.asn.au/index.php/g ... earth-npws

It is very large and very detailed.

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