Ministry of Transportation Bans Geocaches in British Columbia

British Columbia Highway Sign
British Columbia Ministry of Transportation asks for new caches near roads to not be published.

I have been reading lately about more areas banning geocache placements.

British Columbia Ministry of Transportation has sent a request to Ground Speak to NOT ban caches along it”s highways but to NOT PUBLISH any new caches. But in the mean time it seems that Ground Speak reviewers have taken it to start disabling caches along the road ways.

 

The forums at Groundspeak have some chatter about this.
Geocaching in B.C. Dramatically curtailed

British Columbia Geocachers Association”s forum originally posted August 18th. Roadside Cache Ban

Ontario Geocaching Association has a post. BC Ministry of Transportation Bans Geocaching

As a result of a complaint lodged by the Ministry of Transporation, Groundspeak (Geocaching.com’s ™ parent company) has asked that no roadside geocaches be published until further notice in BC. This means no caches by a highway, road, lane, pullout, intersection, traffic circle, median, highway rest stop, boulevard or any land or equipment that may be remotely considered owned or maintained by the Ministry of Transportation, unless you are able to provide written/emailed proof of permission from the BC MOT or other agency (local highway department, public works department, etc.) who may have jurisdiction over the location of your cache.

As per “The Wiz” at “The Blog from the Bog”

This will be an interesting follow to see if other provinces follow suit or wait for the possibility of something happening before they take actions. I know of a series near London, Ontario that has others wondering what the MTO may take upon themselves.

In my opinion on this topic, I can truly say that maybe geocaching isn”t for everyone. It seems to me that the concern isn’t for placement of caches or the caches themselves. I believe that after the cache is placed it is the following “crowd” of cachers that don’t seem to care about where they are or who they are disturbing. Putting themselves in harms way isn’t what I am worried about, it is whom the cachers put into harms way. The person that placed the cache is not always at fault. It is the respect of the cachers looking for the caches.

As we see this sport becoming more popular we are going to see more and more of this. It is too bad in a way that a few can ruin a great sport for the many.

So remember, if you are caching, respect where you are, respect those around you, keep safe but by all means remember the safety of everyone (other cachers AND non-cachers). If you park on the side of the road, park safely off the traveled path. Park off the road, where it is safe and use your four way flashers if needed. If you are putting others in harm way, forget the cache and move on.