Dear ILAdmin;

Please don’t misunderstand my frustrations.  I completely understand that you are a Volunteer Reviewer (which in itself is admirable), and you are merely enforcing the rules as they exist.  My frustration stems from the short sightedness of the ruling bodies, i.e. the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.  As I posted in my response on the Geocaching.com Forum Page, I sent that letter to you hoping that I wasn’t alone in my frustration and that you might be able to present to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County our views and position regarding some of these regulations.  I can understand having someone check out the newly placed caches… I thought that was part of your job.  It seems redundant to have you and a ranger “approve” a cache.  It would seem that there are bigger concerns in the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County than Geocachers.  I have thought about maybe having a “Certification” class conducted by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Official Inspector (or whatever the official title is) either monthly or quarterly, depending on demand.  Once a Geocacher is “Certified” or “Approved” he/she would be able to place a cache with having to coordinate a meeting with the Ranger each and every time.  This would save time for both Geocacher and Ranger.  I am sure that the Ranger has more critical tasks than placing caches.  

I also understand the need for cache maintenance.  However, I think that “Every 30 Days” is a bit excessive.  Perhaps the Geocache.com logs could act as documentation of a caches well being.  If after notification via the logs that the cache needs attention, it would be necessary for the Owner to respond within a set period of time to either repair, replace or archive the cache.  

Maybe you could give me some idea of the current posture of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County regarding Geocaching.  Are they warming up to the idea?  Would they be more amenable to Geocaching/Geocachers voicing their concerns or issues with the current regulations?  

Maybe we could organize scheduled CITO events specifically for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County properties as a gesture of good will. 

Thank you again for taking the time to respond, and for your input.  Please feel free to contact me regarding this matter.

Regards,

PhntmArcher