MnGCA

King Boreas · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 3:25 pm Post subject: The bad news is in this post ...

I asked about annual park pass reciprocity. This was added to the response from:

Jon (edited)

Just a reminder that no cache is to be placed in any Anoka County park for the purposes of geocaching. While we realize that most people coule responsibly handle this activity, the county is unwilling to stray from our park ordinance that prohibits leaving anything in the parks, straying off designated trails and park use areas, and disturbing the natural resources in any way. There is a risk that someone will place inappropriate or dangerous materials in a cache for the next unsuspecting visitor.

Thanks for your cooperation on this matter. Without cooperation we will have to remove caches ourselves.

towlebooth · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 3:29 pm Post subject:

Can I ask for sanity and calm? Believe me, the board will get right on this. No need for you to freak out. We want to handle all issues in the same manner - with friendly and helpful discourse. Getting mad and flaming (in person or from afar) can't help matters.

kb - Centris or myself will follow up with you as soon as we know anything.

Centris · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 5:01 pm Post subject:

Anoka County is my responsibility. I will get on this ASAP.

I have tried contacting Anoka county time and time again with no response whatsoever. They have not responded in the past to snail mail or email. I have visited with a lady at Bunker Hills before with good results when we were planning the original picnic.
This is a new and entirely surprising development.

Exclamation

I am sure this has a lot to do with the work we are doing with the other counties now that geocaching is recieveing more attention they are finally sitting up and noticing. Exclamation

Everybody calm down (please). I'm sure Ian is *kidding*. Right?
Give me some time to see what is really happening there. I may want KB's help with this since you and I have the most caches in this area.

EelSid · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 8:47 pm Post subject:

Huh?! I thought Anoka County was supposed to be a shining example of tolerance and understanding? What ever happened to "We won't bother you as long as you don't bother us."??????

Centris · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:45 pm Post subject:

True... that WAS the policy clear back from July 2002, or we never could have had our geo-picnic in Bunker Hills park. I had spoken to several people in that office at the time and was given a green light for our activities.

Right after the board was formed and we divided up the counties between ourselves I contacted them again for a meeting and they were not interested. I really think the other counties who are establishing policies with us are finally awakening Anoka parks to our activities. This could be a good thing.

I am preparing some documents and some information to present once we finally get in the door this time. Maybe now that they realize exactly what it is and that it is not going away they are reacting.

Working with the parks is accomplished by education and by making them realize that geo-caching brings in both $$ and people. Everybody just leave their Anoka county caches where they are for now until we can have some meetings and see where this is going. Since there are less caches in the Anoka parks than the main metro parks and ours are visited way less often, I expect the policy to be less stringent. They have been extremely tolerant so far.

I will be presenting printed cache logs to them and Anoka county will eventually be monitoring the caches in their parks. If you need to edit any of your posts or caches stating you picked up garbage or bought a park pass or saw something wonderful, or anything else that would be helpful, please do so now. Smile

Thanks.

15Tango · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2003 4:08 am Post subject:

Just a reminder that no cache is to be placed in any Anoka County park for the purposes of geocaching.

Is there some other purposes for placing caches that we don't know about?????!!!!!!!!! Does that mean that weapons caches, drug caches, etc. are OK? Wink

Of course, I'm just kidding big time--it's 4am, I can't sleep, and I'm really bored (I've had enough of hearing about Geraldo and Peter Arnett).
_________________
There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

towlebooth · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2003 7:03 am Post subject:

Thanks for the help on this Centris! Keep up the good work!

Centris · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2003 7:25 am Post subject:

I have heard back this morning -- do not contact the email address in the first post.
He only works in Bunker Hills.
The man we will be dealing with is someone else. Thanks guys!

Moe the Sleaze · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2003 6:51 am Post subject:

Is any progress being made with Anoka County?
_________________
"Hi, I'm Moe, or as the women know me - Hey! You in the bushes."
-Moe, The Simpsons

Centris · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:01 am Post subject:

Once again they will not meet with us. We tried really hard to get an approval in June/July 2002 and they didn't want to meet, but gave me the impression that it was OK. We held out first picnic in an Bunker Hills Park (which we really cleaned up afterward). Ian sent out the gate receipts to them to show how much $$ geocachers can bring into their parks. We really tried to get a policy done then.

Somehow the pot got stirred recently and they had to fuss a bit, this was the first negative thing ever received from Anoka County, and this man was the first contact to ever respond anti-geocaching. The rest of the people I have contacted seem to not want to be bothered with this and things are back to the way they were, which upsets me, because I really want a policy enacted here.
The only Anoka Co park that seems to be anti-geocaching is Bunker Hills.

However, do not even think that I have given up on this. Education and information is the key -- getting in to give them that information is another matter. Never fear, I will be working on this all summer. We will get a policy.

In the mean time, visit the Anoka County parks, pay the gate fee (write GEOCACHER on your envelope or check), find the caches, (just don't place any new ones). Don't bushwhack, be friendly and polite, take trash out and let somebody know about it. They need to know that geocaching brings in positive things.