Cave
Conservationist
The
Newsletter of Cave Conservation and Management
Volume
15 | No. 1 |
Published
by the
Endangered
Bats, Lechuguilla, Cave Access, Cave Inventory, NOLS Caving Program,
The Cave
Conservationist is the official publication of the Conservation and
Management Section of the National Speleological Society. Distribution is free
to members of the Section. Section membership costs $5 annually and should be
mailed to the Secretary. (A membership form for your convenience is included on
page 17.) Additional complimentary copies are distributed on a temporary basis
at the discretion of the Section to
POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to Evelyn Bradshaw,
SUBMISSIONS: Articles and
other Cave Conservationist correspondence should be sent to the Editor.
Submissions on computer disks should be made with 3.5"
Copyright 1997
Printed
by members of the D.C. Grotto and the Potomac Speleological Society.
Cover illustration is by
Paul Griffiths, of the Quatsino Resurgence on
Visit our World Wide Web
site on the Internet at http://www.halcyon.com/samara/nssccms/.
|
NATIONAL
SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY |
|
Chairman
and Publisher: Rob Stitt |
|
Editor
and Vice-Chairman: Jay R. Jorden, |
|
Secretary-Treasurer:
Evelyn Bradshaw, |
|
Directors
at Large: Mel Park |
Table of Contents
Notes from the President
THE ENDANGERED INDIANA BAT (Myotis
sodalis) PART II-STATE-BY STATE TRENDS
WESTERN REGION GRANT
CAVE ACCESS CONUNDRUM
WHAT'S IN A CAVE INVENTORY?
MANAGEMENT OF THE FUTURE
NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP POLICIES
THE NOLS CAVING PROGRAM
PROPOSED SALVAGE
Text of Letter to Chairman of House
Appropriations Committee
MENDING SPELEOTHEMS FOLLOWING MOVIE
FILMING
SPELEOJUNKESIS
Wanna Rent a Cave?
NEWS OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY (Virginia
Chapter)
DAN YR OGOF (
Well, its
been a busy Spring. Several conservation issues have been resolved, others have
risen their heads, and I have gotten behind on a lot
of things. Jay Jorden has recently moved, and is doing a Speleo-Digest,
so he hasn't sent me much stuff. Thankfully Evelyn Bradshaw has been gleaning
newsletters. I have a bunch of stuff from the Internet, also.
Issues have been
developing rapidly-too rapidly to be resolved within the time framework of this
publication. I haven't even been able to keep the Web Page updated enough to
keep on top of things. Fortunately Dave Jagnow,
The
Rob Stitt
THE ENDANGERED
PART II-STATE-BY STATE TRENDS
John R. Marquart, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920
In this article I will
give data concerning the populations of endangered
The 1960s and 1970s saw
huge losses with populations starting in the hundreds of thousands, dropping to
near extinction. For example, Mari Murphy wrote in an article "
In this article, I will
be less concerned with these catastrophic losses of 20 to 30 years ago, but
rather only with where are we now and where are we going in the near future.
In 1994, I wrote
"PART-I-THE PROBLEM"2 of this series in which I summarized many of
the physical and social characteristics of the
Cover Photo: On
Most of the hillside was
logged in the sixties so the re-growth is approaching thirty years in age. The
successful re-growth above the contact is in a shallower gradient zone
(probably thicker soil cover). The bare patches above the contact are much
steeper slopes.
The area was broadcast
burned for silvicultural purposes. You can make out the charred stumps in the
bare zones.
The old-growth volume in
this area was greater than 600 m3 per hectare. The current volume in
the deforested bare zones is obviously a small fraction of that.
The creek to the right is
"Snow Bowl Creek". There is very little slash in the photo...there's
lots of debris further upstream!
Bats are very much in the
news these days and the public is being made aware that these mammals make
important contributions to our human welfare on earth by being the primary
natural controllers of insect populations and also by being the main
pollinators of important plants in many parts of the world. People, like myself and my neighbors, are paying our respects to these
friends-of-man by hanging bat houses in our yards. These are modest efforts at
good will, but the major problems that endanger bats, unfortunately, still
exist. In 1993, Merlin Tuttle, founder and executive director of Bat
Conservation International (BCI) stated in an article titled "Crisis for
Many things endanger
bats: natural flooding and collapse of caves and mines, poisoning by pesticides
and pollutants, loss of habitat by human land development, etc. The major
threat to the
Now for
the statistics.
Federal bat population data is usually given by state, county, and cave or mine
name. However, I do not wish to go into this amount of detail for two reasons.
First, the amount of data entered would be cumbersome and second, such data
tends to give specifics about locations at which the vulnerable bats reside.
That much information is not necessary to view the data for general trends. For
these reasons, I have chosen to divide each state into nine sectors. Each is
divided horizontally into three regions: north (N), central (C), and south (S)
and into three regions vertically: east (E), central (C), and west (W). A given
sector is then labeled by the two delineators, such as NE for north-east, SC
for south-central, and simply C for central-central. I attempted to classify
each county as lying within a given sector. The more rectangular states, like
In the following table, I
am tabulating by state and sector, the number of hibernacula studied, the most
recent population counts of the Indiana bat (with years when the counts where
made), earlier counts before the most recent ones when populations seems to
maximize (with years when the counts where made), and my best estimate of how
populations are changing as of 1995. Of these data, the recent count is the
most reliable indication of where the population stands as of now (although
some count data are not very current). The column "EARLIER PEAK" is
intended to show some trend as to growth or loss from then to now, but must be
taken with a gain of salt. It simply adds maximum counts at different locations
often taken during different years. The
TABLE OF
|
STATE |
SECTOR # |
RECENT
SITES |
PEAK1995
(YEARS(YEARS) |
EARLIER
COUNT |
ESTIMATED
ANNUAL CHANGES |
|
|
NE |
1 |
300(1977) |
NA |
NA |
|
|
STATE |
1 |
300 |
NA |
NA |
|
AR |
NC |
7 |
920('93-'95) |
1710('84-'90) |
-11 |
|
AR |
NW |
5 |
2850('92-'95) |
12600('84-'90) |
-586 |
|
AR |
STATE |
12 |
3770 |
14310 |
-596 |
|
IL |
NC |
1 |
532(1995) |
655(1993) |
30 |
|
IL |
SE |
3 |
610(1992) |
NA |
NA |
|
IL |
SW |
2 |
3910('91-'92) |
400(1987) |
-55 |
|
IL |
STATE |
6 |
5052 |
? |
-25 |
|
IN |
SC |
20 |
134954('89-'90) |
166794('75-93) |
8094 |
|
IN |
SW |
4 |
41607('93-'95) |
42329('89-'93) |
-1759 |
|
IN |
STATE |
24 |
176561 |
209123 |
6335 |
|
KY |
NE |
1 |
31400(1995) |
140000('62-'75) |
-430 |
|
KY |
NC |
2 |
865('86-'87) |
3680(1963) |
NA |
|
KY |
NW |
1 |
30(1990) |
180(1988) |
0 |
|
KY |
CE |
17 |
10090('88-'94) |
12940('79-"91) |
-350 |
|
KY |
C |
7 |
9180('87-"95) |
28940('60-'89) |
-1194 |
|
KY |
SE |
4 |
3900('87-'94) |
10870('87-'90) |
-259 |
|
KY |
SC |
1 |
20(1990) |
100(1987) |
0 |
|
KY |
SW |
1 |
310(1990) |
400(1981) |
-10 |
|
KY |
STATE |
34 |
55795 |
297110 |
-1813 |
|
MO |
CE |
2 |
330(1995) |
18840('75-'79) |
-330 |
|
MO |
C |
2 |
400(1995) |
350('92-'93) |
NA |
|
MO |
SE |
7 |
157986('75-'91) |
205160('59-91) |
-4857 |
|
MO |
SC |
11 |
9831('85-'95) |
170530('62-"87) |
-6510 |
|
MO |
SW |
3 |
1180('85-'95) |
1900('78-'93) |
-31 |
|
MO |
STATE |
25 |
169727 |
396780 |
-11728 |
|
NY |
NE |
1 |
3040(1990) |
2180(1989) |
860 |
|
NY |
NC |
2 |
4820(1990) |
5090('84-'87) |
199 |
|
NY |
CE |
1 |
290(1989) |
170(1988) |
120 |
|
NY |
SE |
1 |
5930(1990) |
5630(1989) |
300 |
|
NY |
? |
1 |
100(1991) |
90(1989) |
5 |
|
NY |
STATE |
6 |
14180 |
18700 |
1484 |
|
STATE |
SECTOR # |
RECENT
SITES |
PEAK1995
(YEARS(YEARS) |
EARLIER
COUNT |
ESTIMATED
ANNUAL CHANGES |
|
PA |
C |
1 |
270(1987) |
NA |
NA |
|
PA |
STATE |
1 |
270 |
NA |
NA |
|
TN |
NE |
6 |
7810('85-'86) |
NA |
NA |
|
TN |
NC |
1 |
1190(1986) |
NA |
NA |
|
TN |
NW |
1 |
460(1991) |
280(1990) |
180 |
|
TN |
CE |
2 |
7110('85-'86) |
NA |
NA |
|
TN |
C |
1 |
10(1991) |
3000(1983) |
0 |
|
TN |
STATE |
11 |
16580 |
NA |
NA |
|
VA |
SE |
2 |
1350(1987) |
720(1982) |
74 |
|
VA |
SW |
1 |
270(1985) |
650(1984) |
0 |
|
VA |
? |
2 |
220(1990) |
4090('86-87) |
0 |
|
VA |
STATE |
5 |
1840 |
5460 |
74 |
|
WV |
NE |
2 |
200(1991) |
220('83-'89) |
-21 |
|
WV |
CE |
1 |
5470(1991) |
5140(1989) |
165 |
|
WV |
SE |
1 |
130(1990) |
80(1980) |
2 |
|
WV |
STATE |
4 |
5800 |
5440 |
144 |
|
NATIONAL |
129 |
449875 |
942438 |
-6126 |
|
* References used are "Recovery Plan
for the Indiana Bat"3,7,8, "Lockout for Bats"5, "1993
Indiana Bat Census Results" (in Indiana)9, "The Biological Resources
of Illinois Caves and Other Subterranean Environments"10, and person
communications11.
TRENDS BY STATE:
Alabama-Small population of 399
with status uncertain. Last count (1977) is dated and needs reexamination.
Arkansas-Small population of
3,700 appears to be losing about 597 per year or 16% per year. Colonies need
protection and continual monitoring.
Illinois-Small population of
5,052 with relative stability. Protection projects are underway.
Indiana-Significant population
of 176,561 showing large gains of 6,335/year. Well documented biennial
reports from 1981[9]. Protection projects need to continue.
Kentucky-Significant population
of 55,795 showing losses of 1,813/year. This state suffered catastrophic losses
in 1960s and 1970s and seems to still have severe losses. Needs
continual monitoring and continued effort toward protection, some of which are
underway.
Missouri-Significant population
of 169,727 with severe losses of 11,728/year. A major hibernaculum
(Pilot Knob Mine in SE) with 140,000
New
York-Moderate
population of 14,180 with significant gain of 1,484/year. Earlier reports had
stated that the
Pennsylvania-Small population of 270
with uncertain status. Needs reexamination.
Tennessee-Moderate population of
16,580 with uncertain status. No counts were found before 1983. More frequent
counts are needed.
Virginia-Small population of
1,840 with current small gain of 74/year. However, the population seems stable only
in the SE. Other sectors suffered major losses in the 1980s.
West
Virginia-Small
population of 1,840 with a gain of 144/year mostly in the CE and SE sectors. Most recent data was for
1991. More recent data is needed statewide.
Nationally-Overall population of
449,875 with serious loss of more than 6000/year (1.5% of the total
population).
More data are needed and more action needs to be taken.
Once again, these
conclusions are those of this author only and are based solely upon the limited
data sets of population counts that are available me at the time of its
writing. It was necessary to perform extrapolations of data to attempt to
arrive at the conclusions of trends. With better data, these trends would be
better clarified. It is not my intention to berate the efforts currently
underway or planned in any local. I only wish to show what I consider to be a
serious problem which needs our continued attention. Your comments are welcome
by mail or e-mail
(MARQUART@UIUC.EDU).
[1] Murphy, Mari 1993. "Restoring
[2] Marquart, J.R. 1994. "The
Endangered Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) - Part I - The Problem", in
Cave Conservationist, Vol. 13, No. 5,
Note, I will gladly send reprints of Part I to those
wishing it either by mail or by email. My address is above and my e-mail
address is MARQUART@UIUC.EDU.
[3]
[4] Tuttle, M.D. 1993. "Crisis for
[5] Selbert, Pamela. 1994. "Lockout
for Bats" in
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9] Dunlap, K. 1993. "1993
[10] Webb, D.W.,
[11] Glass, W. D., Natural Heritage
Biologist for Illinois Department of Resources. 1995. personal
communications.
[12] Thorne, Janet. 1988. "Conservation
Dispatches" in
From the Cavers Digest
via John Lyles
Date:
This message is from
David Jagnow,
Cavers:
I just received the
following news brief from the
The Bureau of Land
Management (
According to the
settlement agreement, the federal government will pay $2.2 million to Yates
Energy Corporation, establish a no-surface occupancy restriction for two-thirds
of lease NM-62161 (the area within the Cave Protection Zone), and allow
drilling from the two locations identified in the Dark Canyon EIS as 1G and 2G.
Any well drilled from these locations, must be below the cave-bearing Guadalupe
Reef Complex (approximately 3,000 feet deep) before directional drilling will
be allowed. A "closed mud" system will be required in addition to
some other requirements to protect visual resources. One of the conditions of
approval specifies that a
The settlement resolves
controversy of drilling for oil and gas in
Since the drilling
locations are outside the Cave Protection Zone,
The Western Region has
grant money available for scientific research or conservation projects. Past
grants have been awarded to Mike Sims for his study of ice deposits in northern
Writing in the Feb. 1996 Birmingham
Grotto Newsletter, Dave Howell in the "News & Notes" column
says: "I did want to discuss a disturbing rumor I heard. It seems that the
newly discovered fourth big room in Camp's Gulf can be reached either by a
two-hour 'conventional' route or a 10-minute 'shortcut.' In talking with some
... cavers we met, we heard that plans are being made by members of their
grotto to blast this shortcut closed. The reasons given varied from 'keeping
the riffraff out' to 'minimizing traffic to the nicely decorated fourth room.'
"Can this be true?
These reasons as well as any others I can imagine, seem highly questionable.
Are we really at the point where we must preserve caves by dynamiting passages?
If so, we the caving community--and particularly those of us with explosives in
our hands--need to step back and take a hard look at the direction caving is
going. Surely there's a better way." (Comments are invited. Send them to Birmingham
Grotto Newsletter,
Members of the Glacier
Grotto (
* This cave is safe
enough for directed access although its environs contain numerous hazards
including deep pits and the need to travel through a highly karsted clear-cut.
Therefore access should be limited to those capable of dealing with these
hazards.
* The location of this
cave should not be shared with the public because of the rich paleontological
and archaeological resources. This cave should be excavated and studied further
by specialists. The area has an outstanding pristine outdoor setting.
* We recommend that this
cave be classified as limited access. The speleothem are fragile, but since
they are located in the upper level of the cave, a careful spelunker could make
a trip through this cave with little negative impact. At this point there will
be no surface management activities in the near future that will impact this
cave.
Editorial by John Chenger
There has been much
uproar among some cavers over the recent gating of several
There was a time when
people crawled thousands of feet into Laurel Caverns and left a carboned
signature, an
More and more people are
becoming aware of "high adventure" or "exotic" sports such
as caving and climbing. Many serious climbers will tell you about
"no-bolt" routes, "no-chalk" routes, and most frown upon
modifying the cliff face by removing loose rocks.
Although there are more
people in caving than ever before, there are also more conservation groups
attempting to deal with the growing popularity. Frankly, everyone cannot and
will not go caving. Secrecy is only a short term fix, and does not protect
already well known caves. Fortunately, all caves offer an easy way to protect
themselves. No matter how extensive a cave system, if the entrance is
controlled, the entire resource can be protected. [ed.-Not
so easy with a cave system that has several entrances and improved techniques
for creating artificial entrances.]
Small clubs like the
Loyalhanna Grotto do not have money, power, or say over anything large
conservation groups do with their land. The Nature Conservancy, Pennsylvania
Game Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the
West Virginia Department of Natural Resources all have experts who are quite
capable of designing animal-friendly gates and even creating habitat where
there was once none. We should feel proud that there is a natural resource so
close to our homes which is significant enough to
warrant thousands of dollars for protection.
More and more caves will
be donated to or bought by the
(Source: Loyalhanna
Troglodyte, Summer 1995
NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP
POLICIES
In an article titled
"Caving for Conservation," John Gookin, Curriculum Manager for the
Warren Anderson's letter
(Rocky Mountain Caving, Autumn 1994) regarding
"caving for pay" points out valid issues such as safety,
conservation, and access that are of vital importance to all cavers. However,
his assertions of federal land management agencies corrupted by unscrupulous
outfitters and other wild claims does a disservice to the issues at hand and to
caving in general. The intention of this article is to correct the
misrepresentation of the
I appreciate
We have never caved in
groups of 30. NOLS' caving courses currently have an average of 11 students and
three instructors.
Schools like NOLS can
contribute more to the caving community than just our field course program. As
a non-profit educational institution, we feel a responsibility to assist land
managers in reaching others. As a partner in the national "Leave No
Trace" program, we developing a public domain
"Caving Skills and Ethics" booklet and a training curriculum for
federal land managers. The upcoming Bureau of Land Management national cave
brochure displays the important work that can come from NOLS, the
We hope the caving
community takes a hard look at the many important "cave-for-pay"
issues and continues to examine safety, conservation. and
access. Viewing any issue this varied as black and white will never be
fruitful. Short-sighted condemnation of one group of users by another will only
distract us from the real issues and alienate people. The big issues on the
horizon are larger than any one faction of wildland users can handle and we
will work best if we work together.
Hunt, Jasper Ph.D. The
Ethics of Risk, Proceedings of the 1994 Wilderness Risk Managers' Conference,
pp. 82-89.
Gentile, James M.D. ,et al. Annals of Emergency Medicine 21.7 July 1992,
pp. 110-188.
Mike Bailey, NOLS Caving
Coordinator
The National Outdoor
Leadership School (NOS) has been teaching responsible caving skills and ethics
for 25 years, as an optional part of our semester program. Students first
successfully complete a month-long mountain section (hiking, not caving) where
they practice the intricacies of low impact camping and environmental ethics.
After the mountain section they move on to three to four other skills areas,
which may include caving.
Our two-week caving
progression begins with a number of above ground classes and extensive practice
to prepare the students to enter caves with a sense of body awareness,
familiarity with their equipment, safety alertness, and knowledge of the
fragile cave environment. Obstacle courses emphasize careful movement more than
tight squeezes: we often use teetering eggs as "formations." Initial
caving trips are short, allowing students to remain alert enough to focus on
careful technique. As student abilities improve, the trips increase in length
accordingly. Our staff incorporates daily conservation and safety messages as
awareness and mobility increase. Students are supervised and are only on trips
that match their abilities; a student is never forced to go caving for the sake
of caving. The student to instructor ratio is less than 4:1.
NOLS consciously selects
the caves we use with the desire to keep beginning students in more durable and
impacted areas, before visiting more sensitive areas of a cave. In certain
caves we limit ourselves from ever entering pristine or delicate areas.
The caves we use must
have typical risks encountered by cavers so we can help students develop
judgment. Judgment is "a comparative evaluation based on prior
experiences," so we do not depend on student judgment until their
experience base and proper habits are demonstrated. We are currently trying to
slowly shift to more durable caves, specifically trying to use more active
vadose caves with seasonal flushing.
During caving courses,
NOLS routinely teaches classes on speleogenesis, karst hydrology, speleothems,
cave biology, caving hazards, first aid, cave search and rescue, cave
photography, cave conservation organizations, land management, and surveying.
In areas with vertical caves, we include above-ground training in ascending and
descending techniques before applying these skills underground. Additional
classes are taught covering vertical self rescue techniques,
Cave managers often visit courses and talk about cave management concerns.
Managers frequently take advantage of the manpower to perform many types of
service work, including clean-up and photo-monitoring. Important themes on any
NOLS course are safety of the individual, care of the environment, and
expedition self-sufficiency. NOLS founder Paul Petzoldt says it is criminal to
teach wilderness skills without the associated safety and ethics; we still
teach by this maxim.
NOLS students are offered
a comprehensive education in caving. Sometimes they continue caving after their
course, and involve themselves in the protection of cave resources. After any
NOLS course, we expect our students to go home with the knowledge, skills, and
habits to effectively supervise the safety and ethics of their peers; that is
what outdoor leadership is. More importantly, our semester students go home
with the teaching strategies to others in a positive manner, so those people
might pass the ethics on again. In this manner, the constituency for wildland
conservation grows.
(Source, Rocky
Mountain Caving, Winter 1995
PROPOSED SALVAGE
In February 1996, Marcel
LaPerriere, President of the Glacier Grotto, wrote to the Thorne Bay Ranger
District of
1. High
Vulnerability karsted lands, and adjacent lands must be protected. The
1988 Cave Resources Protection Act clearly mandates the USDA/
2. If any cutting does
take place it must be monitored during, and after to make sure that no harm
comes to any caves, or high vulnerability karsted lands.
3. A minimum number of
roads should be built. Again the road building needs to be monitored to make
sure there is no impact to caves.
4. If any cutting does
take place, the results of that cutting must be studied. The
5. We feel that the poor
regeneration on karsted lands needs to be studied. Numerous times our members
have observed the poor regeneration on karsted lands on Heceta, and throughout
the Tongass.
6. We feel the question
of wildlife must also be addressed in regards to karst and caves. What impact
to fish and wildlife does cutting on karst have? Is further cutting in the
Several of our members
also feel that the
Please consider our
points when planning this salvage cut. Also please remember, "Do no
further harm." [end quote]
[This was reprinted in
the Alaskan Caver, February 1996, newsletter of the Glacier Grotto.
Text of Letter to
Chairman of House Appropriations Committee
CENTER FOR MARINE
CONSERVATION
DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
ENVIRONMENTALDEFENSE FUND
ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING
GROUP
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH
MINERALPOLICY CENTER-MT.
GRAHAM COALITION
NATIONAL PARKS
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE
COUNCIL
NATIONAL WILDLIFE
FEDERATION
PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION
OF FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATIONS
PACIFICRIVERS COUNCIL
SIERRA CLUB
SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DEFENSE
FUND
SOUTHEASTALASKA
CONSERVATION COUNCIL
TROUT UNLIMITED
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
U.S. PUBLIC INTEREST
RESEARCH GROUP
WESTERN ANCIENT
The Honorable Bob
Livingston, Chair
House Appropriations Committee
H-218, Capitol
Dear Chairman Livingston:
We are writing in
response to your challenge to demonstrate that H.R. 3019, the Omnibus
Appropriations bill, no longer contains provisions harmful to the environment.
Contrary to your charges
of "environmental fear mongering" and claims in your press release of
April 17 that concerns about the bill have been addressed, the controversial
policy riders have not been altered in any substantial way. As we have stated
on numerous occasions in the past year, these legislative provisions are
comprehensive changes that suspend numerous environmental laws and inflict
irreparable damage upon our water, parks, forests, wildlife, public health, and
economy. They have no place in an appropriations bill.
We commend President
Clinton for his strong and courageous stance opposing these riders and remind
you that the American public stands strongly behind the President on this
issue.
Riders addressed in your
press release:
Endangered Species: A supposedly
"temporary" moratorium on final listing of species and designation of
critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (
Clearcut/Logging Without Laws Rider: Nothing less than full repeal of this
disastrous legislation, added to last year's Rescissions bill, is acceptable.
The Hatfield-Gorton proposal, contained in section 325 of H.R.3019, is a bogus
fix. It extends suspension of environmental laws for logging old growth forests
and maximizes cost to the taxpayer. The proposal does nothing to rescind the
exemption from environmental law which the timber industry now enjoys for
logging old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide for any
timber sale classified as a so-called "salvage" sale. In fact, it
actually extends the period of lawlessness for logging the old-growth sales (P.
L. 104-19 Section 2001 (k)) for a minimum of two and a half more years-and
possibly longer. Under the Logging without Laws Rider contained in the 1995
Rescissions bill, those sales subject to 2001(k) had to be completed by the end
of FY 1996. Section 325strikes this requirement. Furthermore, Section 325 does
not give the government more flexibility in dealing with these 2001 (k) sales.
On the contrary, it actually limits the government's ability to exercise its
rights contained in the very timbers ale contracts under which these sales are
being logged. The current contracts provide the government the authority to
terminate these sales over environmental concerns and also establish specific
compensation requirements for such cancellations -- intended to limit
liability. Section 325 overrides this authority and sets up a mechanism to
maximize the timber industry's leverage to obtain substitute volume exempt from
all environmental law -- or to maximize the cost to the taxpayer of buying out
these sales by overriding the very fiscal limitations agreed to by the
purchasers in their original contract.
Wetlands Rider: This provision bars EPA
from exercising its authority under the Clean Water Act to protect wetlands.
Senator Bond (R-MO) has asserted that this rider would reduce unnecessary
duplication between the Corps of Engineers and the EPA. Although both agencies
do address wetlands issues, there is little duplication. The EPA does not build
dams or canals like the Corps, and the Corps does not have a mission and a
history of protecting wetlands, like EPA. The Corps itself has made the same
point and gone on record in opposition to this rider. Moreover, the EPA's
existing authority is essential to ensure that the Corps follows the
environmental standards set forth in the Clean Water Act. For example, without
this authority the EPA could not have protected part of the Florida Everglades
or the
Tap Water Standard for
Radon:
EPA is prevented from issuing new standards to protect the public from
contamination of tap water with radon. EPA does not currently have a radon
standard in place, although it is under a court order to issue such a standard.
EPA studies have concluded that radon in tap water kills over 180 people every
year. As reported to Congress in 1994,EPA stated that
"the cancer risk from radon in water is higher than the cancer risk
estimated to result from any other drinking water contaminant.
Hazardous Waste Sites: This rider prohibits the
addition of new hazardous waste sites to the Superfund list for clean-up unless
requested by a governor. As a result, serious health threats may remain unmitigated because no provisions are made for cleanup. We
believe we have met your challenge to demonstrate the irreversible harm these
riders will inflict upon our precious natural heritage and, in turn, issue a
counter challenge. If the Appropriations Committee really wants to prevent H.R.
3019 from damaging the environment, the Committee will cease its sham fixes and
eliminate these riders from the bill completely. We join Vice President Gore in
urging you to honor the wishes of the American people and the welfare of future
generations by removing these provisions today, Earth Day 1996, without any
further delay.
Sincerely,
Susan Iudicello, Vice
President for Program, Center for Marine Conservation
James K. Wyerman, Vice
President for Program, Defenders of Wildlife
William J. Roberts,
Legislative Director, Environmental Defense Fund
Kenneth A. Cook, President,
Environmental Working Group
Gawain Kripke, Director,
Appropriations Project Friends of the Earth
James S. Lyon, Vice
President,
John
William J. Chandler, Vice
President for Conservation Policy ,National Parks
& Conservation Association
Mary Marra, Vice
President, Resources Conservation, National Wildlife Federation
Greg Wetstone,
Legislative Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
Glen Spain, Northwest
Regional Director,
Judy Noritake, National
Policy Director, Pacific Rivers Council
Debbie Sease, Legislative
Director, Sierra Club
Marty Hayden, Senior
Policy Analyst, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund
Dave Katz,
Rindy O'Brien, Vice
President, Public Policy, The Wilderness Society
Steve Moyer, Director of
Government Affairs, Trout Unlimited
Carolyn Hartmann,
Environmental Program Director, U. S. Public Interest Research Group
Jim Jontz, Director,
NPCA Asks You To Act !
Right Away! Contact your
members of Congress. Call or e-mail them and ask them to oppose the
anti-environmental riders in H.R. 3019, the Omnibus Appropriations bill for
Fiscal 1996. If you send e-mail be sure to mention
that you are a voter in their district as your e-mail address will not give any
indication of your geographic location. Telephone Numbers:
Senate:
House of Representatives:
White House:
Copyright
1996, National Parks and Conservation Association.
From the Internet: URL:
http://www.npca.org/
Created:
The first annual Crystal
Cave Restoration Field Camp, held in late September 1995, was a great success.
Volunteers from across the state worked on four major projects.
The first involved moving
blast rubble from the Fault Room area. Various combinations of hand carrying,
wheel barrows, a Tyrolean traverse, and dragging buckets up old pipes were used
to move an estimated 13 tons of rubble out of the cave.
Cavers also removed an
old (and very solid!) wall near Fat Man's Misery and installed a hand rail
along the trail to replace it.
The volunteers also
installed handrails in two other locations, just inside the entrance and in
front of the Organ formation in the Organ Room.
The final project was
hose cleaning along the tour route. This met with mixed success. Some areas
cleaned up nicely while other areas remain imperfect. One challenge for those
wielding the hose was to avoid "cleaning" natural soil deposits in
pockets in the cave walls. Special care will have to be taken in the future to
observe and avoid these small areas.
Continuing a project
begun by Sequoia Natural History Association employees, volunteers also built
small walls along the tourist trail. These walls will keep visitors' feet from
wandering into fragile areas, redirect muddy water flow, and generally
encourage formation growth.
The second Crystal Cave
Restoration Field Camp will be held
(Source: San
Francisco Bay Chapter Newsletter, April 1996)
MENDING SPELEOTHEMS
FOLLOWING MOVIE FILMING
John French and Paul Meyer
found themselves faced with the challenge of repairing a heavy stalactite in
Cathedral Caverns which had been broken during filming of the "Tom
Sawyer" movie. This is Paul's account of their experience.
Work has been ongoing at
We had three epoxies at
our disposal: a dental fixative which is quite obnoxious to the sinus passages,
PowerPoxy, and E-6000. The dental glue was never used in cave, as it about
knocked John and me over and gave us tremendous headaches just working near it
in a well ventilated area. Above ground tests were performed by John and Van
with the E-6000 adhesive. They heated sample cave formations to see if the
epoxy would properly cure. It cured, but did not seem to do very well. An
in-cave test was conducted with the E-6000. After one week, we returned and
found that while the stalactite was holding we were not confident that the
epoxy had cured. We were able to dislodge the formation easily with light
pressure.
But we were prepared. We
had with us a propane torch, support sticks, and a candle. Tests were conducted
on two formations. Surface preparation was done by a thorough cleansing with
water and scrub brush followed by drying and warming with the propane torch.
Then epoxy was applied to both exposed surfaces and the formation wedged into
place with supports. One formation had an aluminum foil shroud formed about the
seam, and a candle placed several inches below. Temperature measurements
indicated that the shroud area was reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The second
formation was wedged into place with no additional heat applied. The test was
to determine whether or not it was necessary to maintain room temperature
during the curing process. We returned one week later to examine the results.
The second formation held and John was unable to pull the formation loose with
upper body strength. Success. The first formation
(candle heated) broke off with application of side pressure. Oh No! Ah, but our
glue joint held. It was another crack in the formation that broke. But we had
our answer. We did not need to maintain an elevated temperature to allow the
glue to cure. We determined that it was necessary only to dry the formations
thoroughly and to ensure that they were warm before applying epoxy.
To date, we have
identified and are conducting repair to five distinct stalactites (eight
fragments) within Crossings. Two of these formations have multiple fractures.
Each stalactite presents an interesting engineering problem. How do we support
the formation with sufficient pressure and, more importantly, is there a way to
support it along its vertical axis? Two methods are used at present. The first
method is to support the formation in place with two 1x2" boards clamped
with C clamps. The other method is to use a screw type jack (such as furnished
for leveling a recreational vehicle) to gradually apply pressure. The refined
gluing techniques are now used for stalagmites as well as stalactites. We
believe on the order of 150 stalagmite sections have been repaired (we lost
count). We are looking forward to our Cathedral Caverns trip to repair the
broken formation.
Source
By Diane H. Peapus (from
Cleve-O-Grotto News, July 1995
As some of you know, I've
started my own science. Speleojunkesis. It's the study
of junk in caves. My particular interest is determining how junk gets into
caves in the first place, with the hope of developing methods for preventing
future junk accumulation. Speleojunkesis is not one of those stuffy sciences.
You don't even need to be a scientist to participate. All you need is an
official speleojunkesis sample-collection bag in your cave pack. This is
basically a large plastic resealable bag with the words "Spelunk
Junk" written on it. Prototype spelunk junk bags were distributed at the
February Cleveland Grotto meeting, and reasonable facsimiles can easily be made
at home.
I have collected spelunk
junk from three caves--Bear, Sharps, and
Bear Cave,
Bob Danielson was the
first to embrace the spelunk junk sample collection devices, bringing enormous
resealable plastic bags to the
Cleveland Grotto's annual
April Fool's
J4 Cave,
Spelunk junk consisting
of inappropriate light sources and empty food wrappers was collected in J4 by
Mickey Skowronsky and Paul Drennan and is reported in Cleve-O-Grotto News
(May 1995, vol. 41(5), p. 34). The main difference between 14 spelunk junk and
that of Bear is that the absence of the 55-gallon garbage drum made it
necessary for J4 spelunk junk to accumulate in the only collection device found
there, namely, the cave register tube. These samples were submitted for
analysis at the May Grotto meeting.
Hidden
Several bags of spelunk
junk were collected at the Grotto's third or fourth Somewhat Annual Hidden River
Work Day. This cave has a history of foul spelunk junk from commercial runoff,
inefficient sewage treatment, and chemical spills. All these are already
documented by the EPA and considered far too serious topics for the fledgling
science of speleojunkesis at this time. (Refer to American
Cave Adventures, published by the American Cave Conservation Association,
Fall, 1994.) Sample collection was limited to items which could be
contained in a spelunk junk bag.
After collecting a bag of
spelunk junk, it was noticed that the samples consisted of a small number of
repeating offenders. Wanting a second opinion, the first official
speleojunkesis, Melissa Kennedy, was enlisted to take time from weed patrol and
collect a bag of spelunk junk. She confirmed that the spelunk junk contained
only a few recurring items: broken glass, cigarette filters, snack food
wrappers, and plastic straws. The most notable exception to these items was a
pink plastic water pistol found by Bob Danielson, and theorized to be historic
spelunk junk, possible used by the Kentucky Militia during the Civil War.
Our clean up efforts at
killed cave microbes at the
bottom of the troglodyte food chain; and the consequent loss of sightless cave
fish, once abundant in the cave. As he described the removal of thousands of
dollars in pennies from the Wishing Well, monitoring the slow reappearance of
natural cave bacteria, and an unsuccessful attempt to reintroduce cave fish, I
observed several dollars in new coins in a pool nearby. Throughout the tour I
also detected a considerable amount of chewing gum on the cave floor and
formations. No spelunk junk was collected at this time, however. Chris assured
us that the gum and coins are now removed on a regular basis.
While in the show cave,
it was noted that its spelunk junk was of a different nature than samples
previously collected in
Coins and gum found in
Mammoth-Onyx are classified as commercial spelunk junk. They are likely
to have been carried in by paying customers and deposited carelessly, as with
the gum, or intentionally, as with the coins. Providing a gum receptacle and
artificial wishing well at the entrance to a commercial cave may prevent
further accumulation.
As
Spelunk junk of the type
found in Bear and J4 can be referred to as "caver" generated.
Encouraging "cavers" to join grottos and participate in safe,
cave-friendly caving may eliminate these samples. Cavers carrying spelunk junk
bags, grotto-run clean ups, and grotto maintenance trash receptacles also seem
to be effective.
Carbide dumps found in
Sharps fall into the most disturbing class of spelunk junk termed caver
generated. This is not to be confused with the "caver"
generated category found in Bear and J4. A carbide dump bag similar to the
spelunk junk sample collection bags can be made also using resealable plastic
bags, but printing the words "Spent Carbide" on it. The fine line
between caver generated and "caver" generated
classifications needs further studies.
Continued collection of
spelunk junk samples is always welcome.
Developer plans Spielberg-type park in world-famous
Mexican caves
Publishers Note: You've may think you've
seen this article before-and you are right! It's come to me in many different
versions and been reprinted multiple times. The version published in the last
issue was slightly different than this one, so I'm running it again.
Imagine the
That's what is shaping up
for the world-famous Cacahuamilpa caverns, which a Canadian developer plans to
turn into an enormous backdrop for a high-tech Magic Mountain gone
wild--complete with exploding volcanoes and life-size robotic dinosaurs
identical to those in Jurassic Park.
Desperate for money
because of its economic crisis,
The developer who
designed attractions for
Outside Sendel plans an
insectarium filled with 50,000 varieties of bugs, a planetarium, museum, hotel,
and restaurant.
But environmentalists
won't be first in line to see the show. "Would you do this at
Sendel has managed the
caves since April 18 and has agreed to pay the Mexican government more than
$500,000 a year for fifty years. While he is still seeking approval to build
the theme park inside the two explored miles of the caves, Mexican officials
say the project could be approved by September.
The vast caverns, of which
Nineteenth Century writer Frances Calderon de la Barca said, "No being but
He who inhabits eternity could have created," are made up of more than
twenty giant rooms. The largest is more than forty-five stories tall. Filled
with gigantic stalagmites and stalactites, the mysterious natural sculptures
produced by millions of years of trickling water, the caverns are made famous
for the 1940 discovery of rare blind fish in their immense rivers. The caverns
remain largely unexplored.
Mexican authorities say they
have no choice but to allow the development in order to save the caves, which
are littered with garbage and in disrepair after years of government neglect.
There are no medical services and no security inside the caverns. Dozens of
vendors sell everything from tacos to replicas of the caves and operate in a
free-for-all marketplace inside.
Officials say they are
seeking investors for other Mexican national parks, which extend over five
percent of the country's land, and include vast canyons, forests, coastline,
and deserts. For years the largely unpatrolled parks have run wild with crime
and marijuana fields. With the government millions of dollars in debt since the
December devaluation of the peso, there is no money for improvements.
"I see their intentions
are healthy," sad Pedro Alvarez-Icaza, general director of environmental
regulation at Mexico's National Ecological Institute, the government agency in
charge of national parks. 'The caverns can't remain as they are; we need an
alternative. This could become a sort of vast educational space for our
children that we don't have." Alvarez-Izaca said that it is unlikely
Mexican authorities will allow the dinosaur portion of the exhibit inside the
cave, but that they have no reservations about permitting their placement
outside.
The government has few
reservations about the other effects Sendel plans, including installing fake
floors and rock bases over a portion of the cave, pumping in smoke and
water-based gas to simulate erupting volcanoes, and wiring the cavern for light
and sound.
Sendel makes no apologies
for his plans. He says he intends to restore the beauty of the caves while
attracting more visitors than ever. "Being an environmentalist, I don't
want to see the caves destroyed any more than they have been, and they've been
allowed to go downhill for years," he said. "We're going to get them
in shape and create the Eighth Wonder of the world, something that's never been
seen before. It's the most fantastic theater for a show about the creation of
the world ever conceived."
Sendel and Creative
Presentations International, a
By using laser beam
technology and projecting sound effects to visitor headsets, they say damage to
the caverns from sound and light waves will be virtually eliminated.
Environmentalists say
developing Cacahuamilpa is a travesty. "The caves are a cathedral to
nature. If you change them, if you make them a backdrop for technological
wizardry, it is an assassination of the caverns themselves," said Romero
Aridjis, a Mexican poet who heads The Group of 100, the country's most
prominent ecological organization.
(From the Daily Mail
(a Knight-Ridder Newspaper),
Source: Dead Dog
Dispatch (Tri-State Grotto), August 1995
Fourteen caves are for
rent in the Spanish
(Ft. Wayne Journal
Gazette, date not given)
NEWS OF THE NATURE
CONSERVANCY (Virginia Chapter)
The future of the South
River Preserve (which a map of TNC projects places in
The seller of the land, a
The newsletter also
reviews a book by Laurie Garrett, The Coming Plague. Garrett discusses how
habitat destruction promotes the spread of deadly viruses and microbes that now
besiege humans on all continents. One chapter discusses at length how natural
systems under stress from habitat alterations give rise to microbial emergence.
"If an ecology had been devastated, and its
eventual replacement species were of inadequate diversity to ensure a proper
balance among flora, fauna, and microbes, a new disease phenomenon might
emerge," asserts Garrett. Such was the case in the town of
Researcher Andy Spieman
of Harvard tried to unravel the sudden emergence of the new disease. His study
implicated habitat destruction, the loss of original
biodiversity in the Northeast favored aggressive plant species, and led to
dramatic increases in deer, rodents, and ticks unchallenged by natural
predators."
The Virginia TNC is also
planning to host a roundtable on remining of abandoned mine lands. These are a
critical threat to water quality in the Clinch and
On a lighter note, the
Clinch Valley Bioreserve TNC office in Abingdon had a curious guest in October
when an unidentified bat decided to take up residence inside. Apparently AWOL
from its local cave, the bat hung out for a few days above the entrance door. A
staffer called in a helpful neighbor, who gently nudged the bat with a broom.
But the stubborn mammal held its ground, hissing at the human intruders.
Eventually, however, the little visitor clung to the broomstick and the two
humans carried it outside and left it safely on a fencepost.
(Source:
Virginia Chapter News, Fall/Winter 1995.)
DAN YR OGOF (
Source: Dan yr
Whether sporting cavers,
divers, or researchers, we will all agree that Dan yr Ogof is a particularly
fine cave with features of interest to everybody.
The owners have the wish
to conserve the cave so that it can be enjoyed by future generations of cavers.
We must all applaud this. The fact that the cave and its catchment fall within
the
Underground, however, it
is we, the practicing caving community, who must bear the responsibility for
maintaining the cave in the best possible condition. It is all too sadly
evident that unrestricted access can lead to denudation and degradation of the
underground environment. Consequently SWCC, who have for 30 years protected Dan
yr Ogof by access rules, deserve all our thanks. Their access controls have
worked well, in that we have all enjoyed reasonable access to the cave and it
has remained in good condition.
Now it is time for the
"new" system to come into use. The name has changed but the aims
remain the same . . . to provide for access 365 days a year (subject only to
the weather) while working together to maintain the cave in the best possible
condition.
Proposed access system for Dan yr Ogof
Application forms will be
required to be completed by potential leaders.
These will be required to
be returned to the secretary along with two passport-type photographs for use
on their "leader permits" which will be used for as long as they
survive or as long as the leader remains "active" and an
administrative fee for making these up and the associated paperwork of 2
British pounds at present costs.
One "leader
permit" will remain at Dan yr Ogof where parties will be asked to check in
during the "open" season. The second will be returned to the leader
to retain along with:
(a) A copy of advice to
leaders which includes the rules governing access and suggestions of the conservation
exercises they may like to offer to do or be asked to do.
(b) Report forms they
will be required to fill in after each trip and to return to the secretary by
post or through a box left for that purpose at the cave. These will be
essential as they will furnish the basis of the record of usage and the
condition of the cave.
During the
"closed" season the key will be available from the Secretary or, if
she is not available, from Dudley Thorpe at the shop in Aberraf, or from other
Committee Members who are willing to act in that role. Clearly it will be
advisable to arrange for the key to be available in advance by a quick
telephone call. Any key borrowed in that way must be returned to the normal key
holder straight after the trip.
Leader-permits will be
renewable every three years but should not require the production of a new set
of photographs, only a new form with fresh details.
If you are not already a
member of the Conservation and Management Section of the National Speleological
Society, you are invited to join. Dues are $5.00 a year, payable to the
|
Yes, I would
like to join the Conservation/Management Section. Here are my dues in the
amount of $________ (dues of $5/year may be prepaid for up to three years). |
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Name______________________________________ |
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Address_______________________________________________ |
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City_____________________________ |
State_____________ |
ZIP_________________ |
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Please send
this form with check/money order to the Secretary-Treasurer: |
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Dick Garnick
There are those times
when one comes in contact with a government office or bureaucrat. Fortunately
they are not all like the Internal Revenue Service or some elected
representative of the people. In some government offices, bureaucrats and
government employees do work for the good of the service they are trusted with.
The
Several years ago my son
Mark, my girl friend Sally, and I were on our way to check out some limestone
in the
The next weekend Mark,
Rob and Mike Lewis, Larry McTigue, and I returned to find out the extent of our
find. After rigging the pit with a one-hundred-foot rope, I rappelled to the
bottom of a room nearly 60 feet high, 15 feet wide,
and extending 30 feet under the road. There is an upper passage near the
beginning of the rappel that goes up under the road (with the ceiling to road
surface being about 3 to 8 feet thick). We continued down another 20 vertical
feet to another 25-foot blind pit. This is where most of the road fill found a
temporary place to stop.
The summer of 1993 there
was a sudden gating of the road into the area. This could lead only to one
thing: logging and heavy equipment. I contacted Phil Whitfield in
I eventually came into
contact with Ruben Medeiros, acting recreation officer for the
This contact with the
Ministry of Forest Office in
Unlike on
Ruben, the Recreation
officer, is now in the process of learning how to deal with the karst, caves,
and cavers. We have the opportunity to help guide and shape the knowledge and
management of the karst and caves of the
A new working relationships is being pushed forward by the new discovery
of the Iron Curtain Cave by Rob Wall. This cave is a unique cave for the area
in size and formations. The cave is in the process of being gated so as to
protect it and the cavers who enter.
There is the potential of
rock falls, high water, and damage to the formations that has presented the
need for one of those disgusting but necessary gates. Materials are being
provided by the
Because of the working
relationship between the Chilliwack Ministry of Forest Office and the cavers of
the area, this will be one cave that will be protected and managed by a plan.
Some government offices and officials do work for good. Thanks, Ruben!
(Source: Cascade
Caver (January 1996).
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