A geocache of bad publicity March 13, 2011

The Nevada Department of Transportation, citing highway safety concerns, removed an estimated 1,000 geocache locations along the Extraterrestrial Highway about two weeks ago, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Adrienne Packer.

The agency’s action has irked geocache fans and the small Nevada towns, hotels and restaurants who depended on their business during the tourism off-season. The geocachers vow to snub Nevada and explore Route 66 instead.

First, an explanation of geocaching, from the folks at Geocaching.com:

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

Packer wondered whether the loss of the geocache locations in that region of Nevada made a financial impact. Apparently it has:

Well, last winter Connie West, co-owner of Little A’Le’Inn in Rachel, was preparing to shutter her 10-room motel and RV park when convoys of geocachers showed up week after week. She decided not to lay off her housekeeper and hold on to the entire kitchen staff.

“They don’t come in bunches of one. They come in bunches. Bunches,” West said. “They came from Australia, Austria, England because the highway is considered a ‘power cache.’ ” [...]

As of March 1, more than 7,000 geocachers had logged their names on the sheet marking the first treasure site along the highway. [...]

The impact of the transportation agency’s recent decision to remove the caches has been devastating.

“For the first time in the history of our business, our rooms were booked all winter long,” West said. “Since they removed the caches, we have had every single one of them cancel. They’re not going to come here anymore. All that revenue is going to California.”

NDOT says safety hazards are the reason it removed the geocaches.

Michelle Booth, spokeswoman for the agency, said the caches are hidden right off the shoulder of the highway or even on top of road signs or guard rails.

“People are parking where there isn’t a shoulder,” Booth said. “They’re going 2 mph on a 70 mph highway.” [...]

“They’re plowing snow, they can’t see and all of the sudden there is a car parked,” Booth said. “It creates a safety hazard.”

There had to be a better way for NDOT to handle it than this public-relations disaster. Perhaps the agency could have contacted the geocachers and asked them to move the caches to a safer location. Perhaps they could have urged cache hunters to be more considerate and cautious to other motorists.

But this unilateral action by the agency angers many and pleases few.

According to Geocaching.com, the number of geocaches with “Route 66″ in their name totals almost 1,000. Many, many more are hidden along the Mother Road. Let Nevada’s case be a cautionary tale to states in Route 66 of being penny-wise in safety and pound-foolish in hospitality.