Team Nine Lives reported on the list that Continental airlines is now allowing the use of GPS onboard airplanes above 10,000 feet.

Cachers are trying to organize a CITO event for the following:

WHO: Volunteers Needed
What: Town Lake Volunteer Green-up Clean-up Day
When: Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Where: Indian Bend Wash Habitat, SE corner of Curry & Miller Roads

SIGN-UP: Call (480) 350-8625

In coordination with Earth Day the Tempe Town Lake team is planning a Clean-up Day for Saturday, April 26, 2008. This is an annual event where we ask volunteers to help us spruce up a special area around the lake. We need volunteers to help pick-up litter, weed, sweep, rake, and generally spruce up Indian Bend Wash Habitat on the north east end of the lake habitat.

After you sign-up, meet us at the Indian Bend Wash Habitat on April 26th where you will be given a specific area assignment. All equipment needed to clean the habitat will be provided to participants but we ask you to please bring a pair of garden gloves, sunscreen, and water.

A bar-b-que hotdog lunch will be served after the clean-up with a raffle for fun prizes. For questions about the event call Diane at (480) 858-2188.

April 22 is Cache In Trash Out Day! So... let’s celebrate with another CITO event! Saturday, April 22nd is the date; 8:30am – 10:45am is the time. Plan on joining your fellow geocachers to pitch in and clean up the Beeline! The more people we have attend the more we will get done so come on out!

I am sure you have seen this from the Geocaching website...

(Every April, geocachers around the world get together and clean up their local parks. It's just one way we can contribute to the maintenance of our outdoor spaces and to say "thanks" to the land managers that help to make our parks a great place for geocaching. Learn about how you can start your own CITO event, or just how you and your family can CITO every time you go geocaching. Visit CacheInTrashOut.org for more information.)

let’s have this briefing right at the coordinates like last time (N 33° 29.750 W 111° 48.280) The briefing will begin at 8:30am to get instructions, vests, and bags, snap a group photo, sign forms/log book, etc. We will then get started and work till about 10:45 am or so.

Join us in helping to make Tucson a cleaner and more beautiful location. Geocachers are adopting the Alamo Wash, at least a portion of it, and we plan to make it the cleanest wash in town.

Anyone who has been in the Tucson area to geocache knows the name of one of our lovely locals. The Woodcutter has spent many hours designing beautiful carvings that geocachers have gathered and collected over time.

A few of us remember when she first started bringing us to the Alamo wash with her caches and we have grown very fond of our dear friend. What better way to say thank you for all she has done for us then to adopt her favorite wash?

Tucson Clean and Beautiful is a nonprofit organization, conducts environmental volunteer programs in waste reduction and recycling, land stewardship, urban forestry, and beautification. As of this week, Geocachers have joined the force of the movement and we ask your help in keeping our city clean.

Our first cleanup day will be March 25th, 2006 and we ask for all the help we can get.

This CITO event will begin at 8am meeting at the parking lot on the SouthEast corner of Grant and Craycroft along the wash. N 32 15.018, W 110 52.352

We have some safety guidelines which will be covered at the meeting, so please try to arrive early so we can get started on time.

Tonto National Forest (mostly) reopened Monday, 8/1: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/news/080105a.shtml. The areas burned by the Cave Creek Complex and Edge fires remain closed.

The Public Lands Information Center (PLIC), run by the Bureau of Land Management, has invited us to participate in this year’s National Public Lands Day, Saturday September 24. The event will be held at the Phoenix North Mountain Visitor Center, North 7th Street, south of Thunderbird Road at approximately N 33° 36.034’ W 112° 03.938’ (though there are events all over the state – see: http://www.npld.com/ ) .

The day will consist of two parts: A “Trail Beautification Project” from 7 to 9 AM and a Recreation Fair from 9 AM to 2 PM. Volunteers for the Trail Project will receive breakfast, souvenir T-shirt, water, snacks, and lunch. During the Recreation Fair, we will be manning one of about 50 tables open to the public to talk about Geocaching. We’ve been asked to “…introduce folks to your hobby and educate them on the proper etiquette as far as minimum impact and ‘Leave no trace’ ”. Last year they had an estimated 5,000 attendees during the Recreation Fair and anticipate a similar number this year.

What we’ll need will be volunteers for the Trail Project, and volunteers to staff the table. My thought is two or more people at the table for two-hour shifts, depending on how many volunteers we have. You’ll be able to do both the Trail Project and the table if you’d like. I’m hoping we’ll have enough participation that no one will have to do more than two hours at the table unless they really want to.

The text of the email I received, a Microsoft Word file about the event from Phoenix Parks and Recreation (who are co-sponsors locally), and two one-page PDF documents about the day may be found at http://tinyurl.com/7s89g.

I think it is important that we do this as a community. If you want to participate, let me know either by contacting me on the azgeocaching listserver or emailing me through my geocaching.com profile. Thank you.

Steve
Team Tierra Buena

Well, time has gone by way too fast, and it wasn't until a few days ago that I realized the Adopt-A-Highway Program was never officially adopted, and along with it CITO Always. I don't remember who had expressed interest in adopting it, so I'd like to toss the question back out to the masses. It's coming up on 3 months since my final AZ cleanup, and should be adopted soon so that a cleanup can be scheduled in order to maintain a clean highway.

Remember, we have two signs up, so if the cleaning is done regularly enough, it should look great and be a shining example of what Geocachers are about. Please let me know as soon as possible (on or off listserv) so that I can get the permit transferred and you can schedule another CITO event.

Thank you in advance to whoever takes this on! It may sound like a lot of work, but it's really no more complicated than making a pb&j sandwich and then explaining how you made it. :)

Brian
Team A.I.

Brian of Team A.I. will be leaving us soon, and has decided to throw an impromptu event cache. It will be held on June 22 from 7pm to 9pm. This could be the last time to say goodbye in person to one of our more active cachers before he heads north to the land where the white stuff attacks every year. Plus I hear it will really be worth your time...

Contributed by Regan Smith

Closures are going into effect today (05/20/2004) in the Tonto National Forest, due to the extreme fire danger. They will take place around the communities of Pine and Strawberry, north of the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park to the Mogollon Rim. The Pinal Mountains south of Globe are also closed. Visitors are urged to follow fire safety standards, to prevent human-caused wildfires.

This was origionally posted to the mailing list, but everyone isn't on the mailing list....

The Geocaching community was represented by Marc and Julie (Tamo's Clan'Destiny), Brian (Team Snaptek and azgeocaching.com), Christy and Joe (Pet Posse), Mark (Highway Havoc), Bob Renner ( Bob Renner ), and me. (Did I forget anyone? My apologies if I did. Lately my memory cells seem to be flaking off faster than my dandruff.) The land management agencies represented included the State Historic Preservation Office (which sponsors the Site Steward program), City of Phoenix , City of Scottsdale , Maricopa County , Bureau of Land Management, Tonto National Forest , and the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge outside of Yuma .