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ATC Stewardship Council DRAFT Geocaching Policy
Draft ATC Policy for Geocaching along the A.T.
Issue: Growth in Geocaching along the A.T.
Background: Geocaching, described as “equal parts sport, culture, and treasure hunt,” involves participants hiding a cache (a stash of goods) in a remote location and recording its exact position using a hand-held global positioning system (GPS) unit. The coordinates, along with a few helpful hints, are then posted on the World Wide Web (<http://www.geocaching.com> is the most popular site) for other GPS-wielding geocachers to look up. Then, armed with a GPS unit, enthusiasts seek a route to the site to search for the hidden cache.
Geocaching emerged after the government brought an end to “selective availability,” a process by which the U.S. military regularly degraded location signals from its satellites that GPS needed to work. Before, only military units would work accurately, and GPS users could expect their units to be accurate only to about 100 meters. Now, recreational GPS units can guide you to within meters of your destination. This newfound accuracy spawned geocaching, a modern hide-and-seek game for those pursuing a new use for their techno-gadgets.
Current Situation: As of April 2008, 558,643 (compared with 340,000 in December, 2006), geocaches are active worldwide, with the number of sites and participants growing weekly. Because route finding is part of the attraction of the activity, with the excitement multiplied through the power of the World Wide Web, impacts such as visitor-created trails and damage to specific cultural and natural resources— Revolutionary or Civil War encampment walls and stone piles as well as rare and endangered species—is growing.
Geocaching has raised a debate among land managers across the country who question both the appropriateness and legality of placing caches on federal, state or local park and forest lands. Overzealous geocachers, in their mission to hide or find secret stashes, may disrupt sensitive resources, such as natural- or cultural-heritage sites. Some states, such as Maryland, have adopted interim rules allowing this activity with prior permits; others are still evaluating their options or ignoring the issue. Because federal regulations prohibit abandonment of property, disturbance of damage of natural features, and, in some national parks, off-trail hiking, most NPS sites do not permit geocaching. The Office of NPS Policy is now providing guidance to parks for their consideration of permitting for such activities. Both the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management are also providing varying levels of policy and/or guidance for managing geocaching.
Proposed Policy
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy seeks to preserve and protect the scenic, cultural, and natural resources of the Appalachian Trail and the Appalachian Trail experience, as defined by the National Trails System Act and ATC policy. To this end, ATC seeks to cooperatively address geocaching with its agency partners, trail maintaining clubs and other interested groups.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recognizes that geocaching offers a unique and social approach to exploring the outdoors that may appeal to a growing segment of outdoor enthusiasts.

At the same time, the Conservancy also recognizes the potential drawbacks of practicing this activity, which may include resource degradation, infringement of property rights, and/or conflicts with trail use ethics. Therefore, to mitigate these concerns, the Conservancy acknowledges that geocaching and similar activities along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail may be appropriate, but only under the following conditions:
1. Where written permission has been obtained in advance from the appropriate land manager or land owner, providing a specific timeframe and location for the activity, and
2. Where proper care is taken to avoid damage caused by digging or trampling to vegetation, archeological, cultural or historic resources, trail tread or other fragile resources in the area.
Additionally, any geocaching activities occurring within the A.T. corridor must conform to other ATC and agency policies. ATC strongly supports agency prohibitions where needed to protect Trail resources and the visitor experience. ATC believes that all geocaches that do not meet the above criteria should be removed from Appalachian Trail lands.
Action Plan: The Conservancy’s effort to manage geocaching along the A.T. will include the following elements:
• Working with appropriate land management partners to ensure protection of Trail resources from the potential impacts of geocaching.
• Education and outreach for those engaging in geocaching along the A.T. including contact information for ATC Regional Offices.
• Providing guidance to trail maintaining clubs for dealing with geocaches and geocaching impacts.
• Monitoring and cataloging existing caches along the A.T. as well as newly placed caches.

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Hi from GA,

I recently read the proposed draft on Geocaching along the AT, and would
like to comment.

I have found all of the current caches along the AT in Georgia. Since these
are essentially in the Chattahoochee National Forest, they conform to the
park service's requirements. The following points are worthwhile:

1) These caches involve significant travel and physical exertion (hiking) to
reach. As a result they attract only dedicated and experienced cachers, who
will be sensitive to the environment.

2) The same applies to those who place them.

3) Caches on the AT typically receive only a handful of finds per year, so
that the overall impact onm the trail and its environment is miniscule.
With the recent increase in fuel costs, getting to remoter caches becomes
more expensive, and I expect the number of finds to decrease even further.

4) Hiking caches are almost always "easy to find", not requiring digging or
other disruptive activity. Typical hiding places are dead tree stumps,
under deadfalls covered with leaves, or in rock formations. The normal
container is an ammo box, which is waterproof and resistant to animals.

All of the above comments apply equally to caches along the Benton Mackaye
and Pinhoti trails.

Best regards,
Kirk Benson

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Appalachian Trail Conservancy

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Originally posted by ~erik~:
My main gripe as a cache reviewer is not having a clear definition of the width of the AT Corridor. In places it's 100 yards wide, in others ½ mile, in some 20 feet.