A couple of days ago, I wrote about the imminent archiving of about 300 geocaches in Gatineau Park. Based on the information being provided by one of the geocache reviewers based in/near Quebec City who is responsible for caches in western Quebec, it appeared that the NCC had requested the removal of all geocaches in Gatineau Park before the end of June. The reviewer in question sent an email to all owners of geocaches in Gatineau Park that contained the following:

The National Capital Commission (NCC) wishes to control Geocaching in the Gatineau Park.  Therefore, it is currently setting a procedure for caches within its territory, and is asking geocachers to archive all caches in the park.  They are requesting the cooperation of concerned geocachers to pick up all the containers.

Since then it has been determined that the National Capital Commission has contacted neither Groundspeak (the company that runs geocaching.com) nor the reviewer in question. Rather, the reviewer apparently took it upon himself to issue the email, without actually reading the Gatineau Park Ecosystem Conservation Plan.

The local geocache community is, to say the least, extremely unimpressed. The actions of the reviewer have seriously undermined the confidence some cachers have in the reviewer system in general, and in the reviewer in question specifically. Especially in the reviewer.

There have been some calls to have Gatineau Park removed from the area of responsibility of the reviewer in question and given to a reviewer who lives closer to the national capital region. Personally, I think there’s merit to this suggestion and hope that this is what happens. There two or three reviewers who are closer to the national capital region who would be good fits, though one is active in the local geocaching community so they might be too close. But either of the other two would be good choices.

I’m glad that the NCC isn’t the culprit in all this. Regardless, they’ve probably taken some flack that they don’t deserve. I tried to be fairly restrained in my previous blog entry about this topic, but I still pointed the finger at them and for that I apologize.

There are still some geocaches that are going to have to be removed because they’re in integral compensation zone (ICZ), but the number of affected geocaches is around 40, and nowhere near 300.

Hopefully, the local geocaching community and the NCC can work together with respect to geocaching in Gatineau Park. I know that I, for one, am interested in this and I’m almost certain that other members of the geocaching community are, too.

As things like pesticides are being legislated out of existence, landscaping becoming an increasingly important part of construction projects and sustainability being on the minds of planners everywhere, all of which lead to an increased demand for horticulture technicians, one can be forgiven for wondering why Algonquin College is looking to cancel their horticulture technician program.

Obviously, Algonquin probably feels the need to cut their budget and identified the horticulture program as a low-profile program. Who cares? They’re just gardeners, right?

Wrong.

(more…)

A couple of days ago a number of geocachers who own caches that are in Gatineau Park received the following message:

You are receiving this message because one of your caches is located within the territory of Gatineau Park.

The National Capital Commission (NCC) wishes to control Geocaching in the Gatineau Park.  Therefore, it is currently setting a procedure for caches within its territory, and is asking geocachers to archive all caches in the park.  They are requesting the cooperation of concerned geocachers to pick up all the containers.

We are asking for your cooperation in collecting your cache and in archiving the listing. Note that on June 20, 2010, all remaining caches within the territory of the park will be archived.

All new requests for publication at this location will be denied until permission of the NCC and the new procedure are received. We apologize for this inconvenience, which is beyond our control, and solicit the patience and cooperation of all geocachers.

Thank you

The Quebec Reviewers

About 300 geocaches are affected by this mass archiving. Needless to say, the local geocaching community is not impressed.

(more…)

Charles over at Gatineau Park News has posted a transcript of Eric Grenier’s update on the future of climbing on the Eardley Escarpment under the Gatineau Park Ecosystem Conservation Plan. He has also posted the audio from Eric’s update along with the full audio from the meeting.

A tip o’ the hat to Charles for putting it together.

The Ottawa-Gatineau Climbers’ Access Coalition information session on the implications of the Gatineau Park Ecosystem Conservation Plan (GPECP) took place Monday evening. At least 100 people attended the meeting, which was held at the Ottawa Mountain Equipment Co-op store.

Eric Grenier, chair of the Coalition, summarized the current state of affairs and said the immediate problem is getting the National Capital Commission’s attention and convincing them that the dialogue hasn’t finished yet – if anything it’s just starting:

“How do we engage them in that process? I think that the way we have to go about doing that is by employing public influence.” – Eric Grenier

(more…)

The Gatineau Park News blog mentioned that the Gatineau Park Protection Committee released the following “press release” (of which I’m only quoting the English version after the jump) concerning their “review” of the full version of the Gatineau Park Ecosystem Conservation Plan document, which they “leaked” on their website:

(more…)

Mountain Equipment Co-op’s French blogue has a piece that talks about the climbing restrictions that are going to be the result of the Gatineau Park Ecosystem Conservation Plan (GPECP) that I’ve written about recently. People are encouraged to sign the climber petition and join the Ottawa-Gatineau Climbers’ Access Coalition.

Also, people should come out to the meeting being hosted by the Coalition at the MEC store in Westboro this Monday at 7:15pm.

A tip o’ the hat to Gatineau Park News for blogging about the MEC blogue article.