The news release about the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge new High-tech Natural Treasure Hunt had not even hit the papers and we had our first treasure hunter walk through the doors Monday, March 19.   John Banicki of Winona said, “I was looking at your website, scanning for information on the Trapping Plan and I saw the link to Virtual Geocaching.  I just got a GPS unit and I thought I should try this out.”  John and his wife Rita put 103 miles on their vehicle on Saturday driving to the 10 different sites on the Refuge. 

For those not familiar with Geocaching, it’s pronounced (JEE-oh-CASh-ing).  It is a high-tech treasure hunt using a hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) unit to find a treasure or cache. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little monetary value.  However, hiding a treasure on a Refuge is illegal.

Mary Stefanski, District Manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge said, “Geocaching is such a popular activity we had to think outside the box to see if there was a venue that would allow this activity on the Refuge.” 

Refuge Ranger, Cindy Samples discovered that there was a twist to Geocaching called Virtual Geocaching.  Virtual Geocaching still allows the participant to experience the thrill of the hunt but doesn’t involve leaving a cache on-site, it uses landmarks and features already on the Refuge. 

Rory Ballard, a recreation student at Winona State University needed to fulfill a 60 hour practicum so he was tasked with creating the Refuge’s first Virtual Geocaching Series.

Once Ballard had marked the waypoints, photographed the sites, and created the clue worksheet a local high school class was enlisted to test the activity.  Jamie Harper of Riverway Learning Community remarked, “This was a great activity for our students.  They were outside on the ground learning exactly how GPS units function.”

Refuge Manager, Don Hultman commented, “This is kind of neat and is a way to link young people, their love of technology, and the refuge to get them out and connected to the refuge.  The clues lead them to interpretive signs and overlooks already open to the public, and no actual caching is allowed, thus the “virtual” part. Stefanski commented, “Who would have thought one of our trappers would be the first person to try this activity!”

Virtual Geocaching checklist:

1.  GPS  Unit ($100-$500) – GPS Coordinates are in NAD 83

2.  Transportation – you have to drive to 10 different locations on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.  The route will take you from Winona to Wabasha and on both the Minnesota and Wisconsin sides of the river.

3. Clues - Printed from http://www.fws.gov/midwest/UpperMississippiRiver/vg.html

Clues help you discover a landmark, feature, or refuge sign. You will need to write down the answer to the questions provided on the clue sheet. Once you have completed all 10 questions you can turn in your Clue Sheet to the Winona District Office, 51 E. 4th Street, Room 203, Winona, MN and receive a reward.

4. Pencil or pen to record your answers.

5. For fun, take pictures of yourself at the landmark - we'll put you on the website.