Washington State
Geocaching Association. Founded September 8, 2002 by members of the
wageocaching mailing list (now
geocachingwa). As of May 2003, has over 100 members, mostly concentrated in the
Puget Sound and
Yakima areas.
WSGA has sponsored a number of geocaching events, including a snowshoe outing and two Cache In Trash Out park cleanup events, as well as club social events.
WSGA's founding was prompted largely by two separate occasions where geocaches placed in Washington State were removed or destroyed by state workers. The first was in March 2002, when a cache placed near Interstate 5 prompted an out-of-state visitor to call the bomb squad. The cache was X-rayed and removed by the state police.
The second was in August 2002 when a park ranger in Illahee State Park tracked down and removed all caches there, and posted a note on geocaching.com claiming that geocaches pose a potential public hazard and result in damage to the park.
As a result, one of WSGA's aims is to represent the sport of geocaching in the state, and meet with state agencies to explain and advocate it.
The community brought together by WSGA has also generated a number of unofficial group events including three "Cache Machines" and one camping trip.
After nearly every WSGA meeting, and non-caching event, you'll see a bunch of attendees flocked together, heading off on yet another cache hunt.
There are about 1,900 active geocaches in Washington, putting it third in the US behind California and Oregon, according to geocaching.com.