Signal Gothic

I was looking at my American Gothic virtual cache page just now and doing some cleanup of logs posted without the required photo, when I came across this photo that I hadn't previously noticed. Thanks, bumanfam, for the great photo! And thanks, Signal, for stopping by after MOGA.

Iowa DNR's geocaching rules

In past blog posts I have linked to the geocaching page on Iowa's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website. But because they change their website every once in awhile, now is a good time to update everyone. As you may know, the DNR requires permits for geocaches placed on DNR-managed properties. If you have submitted a geocache to Geocaching.com in the past you have probably received this reviewer note from me:

The Iowa DNR has requested that all geocaches placed on DNR-managed land first be approved by the local DNR manager. See: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/CampingFacilityRentals/RulesRegulations/Geocaching.aspx  Once you have been granted a permit, please edit your cache page to state that you have the required permit and then re-enable the cache listing so it reappears in my review queue. If you choose not to seek the permit, please archive this listing and remove the container. Thanks.

Are you receiving your emails from Geocaching.com?

When I review newly submitted geocaches (which is an every day occurrence), I sometimes have to temporarily disable the cache page so I can gather more information or request a change from the cache owner. For example, the cache may be too close (less than 528 feet) from an existing geocache or it may be on property where a geocaching permit is required (such as land managed by the DNR). In those cases I post a reviewer note on the cache page before I disable it. This automatically sends an email to the cache owner. At least it's supposed to. It seems like more and more cache owners -- especially relatively new geocachers -- are either not receiving these emails or they are ignoring them. Over the past few months I have repeatedly posted notes to several different cache owners and then temporarily disabled their cache pages, only to have them reactivate the cache page without responding to my request or questions and without making any change to the coordinates. I'm not sure what the reason is for this. Could it be that more people have tighter spam filters and they don't realize that their cache owner emails from Geocaching.com are being blocked or sent to a junk mail folder? My advice: Check the settings in your email program and make sure you are accepting emails from the domain name geocaching.com.