I'm moving this question to a new thread, as it was off topic for the thread I originally posted it in.

We have a new PFA (Public Fishing Area) and noticed that it requires a WMA stamp to fish, so I assume that it is on WMA land. Are there any regulation regarding caching on WMA land that I should be aware of?

(RainbowCache - to answer your question, this one is in Laurens County, not Dodge. It is very near the Johnson County line)

BTW, I did a search for "WMA" in both this forum and on the GC forum and surprisingly go no results.

In GA I think you are OK on WMA's. In some states you are not.

Up to July this I thought I knew the answer. I thought in Georgia all National Forest areas except the areas designated, as "Wilderness" were open for Geocaches. Back in 2001, I called the man in charge of the Chattooga district of the Chattahoochee National Forest and asked about placing geocaches in the WMA of his district. I thought he gave it. However this past July I placed Lake Russell Historic Decisions and thought nothing about permission since I “already” had it. However the local ranger found out about it, and told me that he had to give permission. To this day he hasn’t given or denied permission, or even met with me. Every time I email him he promises to get back in touch with me. So the cache remains in limbo.

Just so we're all on the same page here, WMA stands for Wildlife Management Area. This is much different than a Wilderness Area. They allow hunting and fishing on WMAs during season as long as you have the proper stamps.

So, I guessing that caching on a WMA will be ok, but I need to check in with the park ranger?

I have been trying the call the *ranger" at the Public Fishing Area in Dodge county all morning. But all I get is a answering machine, (2 messages left). If i get to talk to him, I will let you know what he said. Maybe a yes answer to caching in the area will set a good precedent for future placements in other fishing areas.

Bob ~
Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese...
Isn't the best way to save face to keep the lower part shut?...Stephen Wright

I started to call the Hugh M Gillis PFA office but decided it would probably be better to pay them a visit. I figue if I show them what the box looks like and what is inside and give them a personal presentation of what geocaching is all about, they might get a better understanding and hopefully will be more receptive to the idea.

I know that they have plans to put hiking trails and other amenaties around the 109 acre lake in the future and maybe I can use the angle of attracting people to the PFA to assist in getting the cache approved by the ranger.

I just did a quick check and there are at least 92 Wildlife Management Areas in Georgia that comprise somewhere near 1 million acres! If it turns out they are ok with caches, this will be great.

Well... the guy was real nice and seemed very interested in the sport. He is actually one of those guys that combs the beach with a metal detector AND he goes to N GA about one a month to hike! (you knew this was coming) BUT, he has to run it by his boss who is out of town and won't be back until next week!

Oh well. I guess no answer is better than a "no" answer.

We will keep our fingers crossed of course.

Great work!!!

Well, nearly two weeks have gone by since I met with Mr. Park Ranger. I've called four times since then and left messages each time for him to call me back. Still no return call...

I'll give him a couple of more days and try to call him again...

Movement!

Jimmy Miller, the park ranger, finally called me back this morning. He apologized for not getting back to me sooner and said that he ran the cache idea by his supervisor. Jimmy said the supervisor didn't want to make a decision for fear of making a committment, so he was going to ask the regional manager.

Let me say that Jimmy has been a great guy to talk with. He understands that the people involved in this sport are generally an environmentally conscious group and he totally likes the idea of getting families out from under the TV and back into nature. I think he'll be a good advocate for us.

On a side note, I've been trying very hard to get an article about geocaching into our local paper to generate some local interest. RainbowCache and I live about 40 miles apart and we seem to be the only two cachers between Macon and Savannah. Anyway, I submitted an article via email about three weeks ago. Followed up with a phone call to the editor the next day and she said it looked good and didn't see a reason why she wouldn't run it. I've called by three times since then and left her voice messages, but gotten no return call.

Well, it turns out that Jimmy Miller's wife, Stephanie Miller, is a reporter for the paper. He told me to give her a call directly. So maybe I'll be making some progress here very soon.

BTW, as I have a rather unusual last name, Mr. Miller figured out that his son works for my dad. I guess that could be either good or bad, but generally, most people like my dad.

I'll keep everyone posted on my progress on both fronts in this thread.

Have you had any luck with the ranger in your area?

Mr. Miller just called, said he spoke with a Burt in Waycross. "Burt" said that he was pleased that I had asked before placing it and said he did not have a problem with us putting a cache there!

RC, looks like I'll have another cache placed soon so you can get another FTF.

Btouch!

Attaway to go! No, I haven't made contact with the ranger at Dodge County. I have gave up on talking to him during the week and plan to make a short drive to the area tomorrow. Figuring Saturday as a more active time at the Fishing Area!

Taking a print out of this thread so he can read it.

Bob ~
Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese...
Isn't the best way to save face to keep the lower part shut?...Stephen Wright

quote:

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Originally posted by Btouch:
Well, nearly two weeks have gone by since I met with Mr. Park Ranger. I've called four times since then and left messages each time for him to call me back. Still no return call...

I'll give him a couple of more days and try to call him again...

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RC - If you take a print-out of this thread, you may want to edit out the above... it sounds like I was peeved (which, of course, I was).

Not a problem! I'm sure the two *rangers* not only know each other, but most likely have the same *boss*. So if you can get your foot into the door in one, the other should be easy for me! Thanks BT...for setting a precedent in the PFA!

BTW, 1st coat of yellow, green, orange and blue on wood is drying!

Bob ~
Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese...
Isn't the best way to save face to keep the lower part shut?...Stephen Wright

I'm going to try to find time to get one placed and approved at the PFA in time for those travelling down to Savannah to have another "diversion" along the way. I'll post here if I get it placed in time.