Quote Originally Posted by attroll View Post
Some have suggested closing the forums to donating members only. I think this is a bad idea. If this were ever to happen the web site would literally die. The reason web sites are successful are because they are usually free to use. If a web site is free then you are going to have a lot more using coming to it and participating on it. If we are trying to increase membership and encourage Geocaching then limiting the site would only defeat that goal.

Someone mentioned closing the gallery and if we did that it would save some bandwidth and we could get the price down on the server. Here is my opinion on that. It is just like the web site. The more photos people see then the more they see that Geocaching is fun sport and it encourages people to get out and try it. I like the galleries and like seeing where people have been and done while Geocaching.
I fully agree.

Aside from being a general chat board, the forums have answered countless numbers of geocaching questions - probably many that have kept a person caching rather than giving up.

And I've also said many times that the pictures in the galleries are great. I've lived all over the world, and lament the fact that I didn't take more pictures when I was there. So I really appreciate the fact that members are documenting their caching adventures and posting the pictures here for the rest of us to enjoy. (Jake's great trip pictures are a recent example.)