For anyone who catches a report on Geocaching that resembles the two the San Antonio news did here:
http://www.austinexplorer.com/Geocaching/SatTV/
don't add geocachers to your neighborhood crime watch list just yet.
Maybe it's some left over fascination with the west as a place of outlaws and buried treasures, but the way they spin this report is ridiculous and really shows their lack of knowledge on the subject. To hear this report you'd think Jesse James was walking through your back yard.
And while the potential for negative effects is definately there if tons of people run off with wild abandon and no environmental concern while hunting cahces, the spirit of geocaching is environmental conservation and involvement. While fun to hunt for, these little "goals" are merely vehicles to get people out into and connected with their environments. Through this greater connectedness and involvement with our surrondings the net effect is likely to be much greater conservation rather than the degredation that they suggest from people going off trail.
For the straight dope on geocahing visit the official website:
www.geocaching.com 
