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Vision for the NSS Conservation
Division
by Jim C. Werker and Val Hildreth-Werker
Getting the conservation message
out among the public and down in the cave passages depends on all of us.
As we enter the Third Millennium, our NSS vision is based on strengthening
awareness of the benefits gained by protecting caves and karst.
Our collective NSS efforts
are vital-for educating the general populace, for working cooperatively
with land owners and land managers, and for generating increased conservation
awareness among cavers. Individual, grotto, regional, and national efforts
are essential in the campaign for cave and karst conservation.
As the new Conservation Division
Chiefs, we look forward to this era of NSS conservation outreach. Our
mission is to inject the general knowledge base with new information and
conscious concern for cave and karst protection. This prescription demands
that we coordinate conservation efforts among internal NSS organizations,
through external conservation and cave-related organizations, and with
federal, state, and local agencies. In some parts of the country, greater
awareness of karst hydrology is vital to the health of groundwater. In
other regions, continuation of long-term caving activities will be dependent
on programs that disseminate conservation management information. Now
is the time-especially with the March 2001 release of the MacGillivray
Freeman IMAX film, Journey into Amazing Caves. It is time for the NSS
to lead a major movement in encouraging protection of cave and karst landforms.
With support, input, and teamwork
from NSS members, the Conservation Division will target a greater diversity
of audiences and heighten awareness of the importance of cave and karst
conservation. We encourage your participation.
Listed here are specific conservation
goals for 2001. The paragraphs below describe programs we have initiated
to meet these outreach goals. Please contact us if you'd like to help
with any of these projects.
- Develop programs to increase
public awareness of the benefits of cave and karst conservation.
- Work with agencies, conservancies,
and land managers to provide conservation management programs that describe
updates and current best practice. Schedule presentations for landowners,
land managing agencies, commercial cave personnel, conservancies, and
cavers.
- Strengthen and extend conservation
knowledge among cavers.
NSS Conservation Team:
During the next four months, we will be looking for cavers who are willing
to participate in an important task. We are recruiting NSS Conservation
Team members from across America. Since it is time to give serious thought
to materials for educating the public about the benefits of karst and
cave protection, we are developing information packets and initiating
programs that will enhance public awareness. Conservation Team members
will use the materials to make presentation about the benefits of protecting,
conserving, and preserving karst landforms-about taking care of the great
variety of caves on our planet. Information modules will be used to increase
general understanding of the diversity of cave resources. Modules will
detail how cave environments can provide natural archival vaults for the
preservation of fragile, irreplaceable resources. From protecting endangered
species to preserving precious archaeologic, paleontologic, and historic
resources-from geologic observations of the earth's interior to scientific
research-programs need to include new conservation information and current
speleologic studies. Team members will agree to interact with regional
and local organizations and volunteer to present seminars for them. To
apply for one of these slots, please send a resume and cover letter describing
your interest to Jim Werker and Val Hildreth-Werker, NSS Conservation
Division Co-Chairs, PO Box 1018, Tijeras, NM 87059 phone: 505.286.0148
werks@zianet.com
New Book:
Cave Conservation & Restoration More than thirty contributors have submitted
material for this new book about cave conservation. It is being edited
by Val Hildreth-Werker and Jim Werker. Content includes restoration techniques,
formation repair, minimum-impact ethics, and information from most of
the scientific disciplines in speleology. Organized in easy-to-identify
sections and designed as a field manual, this publication will provide
guidelines for conservation decisions, encourage leave-no-trace ethics,
and offer techniques that any caver can use to better protect, understand,
and conserve cave environments. Cave Conservation & Restoration will be
published by the NSS and is scheduled to be available at the NSS Convention
in 2001.
NSS Brochures and Museum
Quality Display:
The NSS Conservation Division and the Education Division are collaborating
to design materials about the NSS and the benefits of protecting karst
and cave landforms. The new traveling display panels will present an overview
of the purpose and activities of the NSS-accomplishments, size, programs/projects,
cave preserves, conservation initiatives, etc. Developing brochures to
accompany the exhibit is being considered. If you have professional skills
in graphic arts/communications and would like to work on these projects,
please send your resume and cover letter to Jim Werker and Val Hildreth-Werker,
NSS Conservation Division Co-Chairs, PO Box 1018, Tijeras, NM 87059 phone:
505.286.0148 werks@zianet.com
Reprinted from March 2001 NSS
News
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