With Halloween around the corner, there are gorgeous fall days ahead. What better way to enjoy the crisp air, beautiful foliage, and learn more about Wisconsin’s only National Forest than with our new autumn event? Join us on a geocaching adventure October 12-31 to find prizes, uncover haikus, celebrate Halloween and learn more about the Four Mile Logging Project.
Geocaches will be hidden in select parks in Dane, Milwaukee and Kenosha counties. Club members of all ages can traverse our wild woods and discover what makes them great (as well as some caches with goodies inside!).
What is Geocaching?
Geocaching is like a scavenger hunt. We’ve created several maps, and explorers (that’s you!) use maps and clues (or a GPS and coordinates) to find hidden caches.
These caches are like treasure chests! Our caches will contain Halloween goodies, Sierra Club merchandise, information about land conservation and forest protection, and more!
How will this event work?
- Sign up. On October 12 (and periodically after) we’ll send you name of the park(s) where caches are located for your county of choice, maps to general locations of the caches, and GPS coordinates for the caches.
- Explore! Pick a date and time that works for you between October 12 and 31 and visit the park(s) the caches are in. Enjoy being outside and spend some time seeking the caches.
- Gather goodies! When you find a cache, open it up to take your prize(s).
Note: each cache will contain hand sanitizer. Please use but do not take the hand sanitizer.
Afterwards, you can share your adventure with us! Let us know how it went and send us pictures of your geocaching crew (especially if you go all out in Halloween spirit and wear costumes!).
Fun meets Advocacy
Additionally, a cache in each park will include ways to take action to protect Wisconsin’s lands and forests.
For example, we have a petition about the Four Mile Logging Project, which would log the Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest in northern Wisconsin. Chequamegon-Nicolet is the only National Forest in Wisconsin, and we believe that the decision to allow logging should not be made without a full and comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement. A petition inside the geocaching containers advocates for a full Environmental Impact Statement to be conducted, along with additional resources to learn more about this decision and why the Sierra Club opposes it.
Wisconsin only has one National Forest, and the Forest Service is allowing 12,000 acres to be logged. Those acres are home to species like the pine marten and the wood turtle, both of which are endangered. The ramifications of this habitat removal needs to be considered before approval should be granted, and we feel that without a full Environmental Impact Statement, this decision is hasty and detrimental to the well-being of our lands.
But you can help us ensure that logging doesn’t destroy our National Forest! By signing our petition and demanding an Environmental Impact Statement, we can begin to reverse the Forest Service’s approval of logging in Chequamegon-Nicolet and protect our native ecosystems.
Advocacy can be fun! Register for Halloween Geocaching today!
Written by Zoey Colglazier.