Appalachian Cave Conservancy

July 15, 2006 Board of Directors meeting minutes

This meeting of the ACC Board convened at the Perkins Cave Preserve field house at 10:40am. Board members present were Joel Stevenson, Bill James, Gary Fielden, Terri Brown, Don Feathers, TM, John Wilson, and Tony McGee. Robbie Spiegel joined us later. Emily Lachniet had assigned her proxy to Robbie.

The board approved the minutes of the last meeting and waived the reading. 

Committee Reports

Executive Committee Report

John updated the board on the status of the Keller Bend caves (near Knoxville) contact. The owners had originally moved into their new property and discovered that locals were using a cave as a party place and leaving trash. John contacted, among others, Jack Thomison, the Co-Chair of the Tennessee Cave Survey, to investigate. The caves have been cleaned up, the intervention has been a success, and ACC involvement has come to an end.

Cave Management General

Daniel Boone Caverns

Bill reported that owner Milton Starnes has not finished grading the drive to the cave. Gary and Tony have blasted some rock and Milton has hired a road builder to complete the job, but the builder has failed to show.

Bill proposed a cleanup of Daniel Boone to remove the electric cable once installed in hopes of commercializing the cave. The cable has been in place eight to ten years. Bill suggested we wait until the road is improved before scheduling a cleanup.

Milton has enlisted Bill to help with a family trip to the cave. Milton had sent John a collection of slides for placement on the web site.

Scott County Blowing Hole

Bill presented an agreement signed by Jack Smith and Billy Don Smith, the owners of SCBH, to assign stewardship responsibilities for the cave to ACC. They had added their own stipulation that the cave not be gated.

Gary reported that he had taken Marion Smith and Alan Cressler to SCBH the day after a Corkscrew trip. Alan had found and photographed a whole human tooth and several nearby fragments of mussel shells.

John proposed that ACC conduct an evaluation trip to SCBH, to determine our objects and responsibilities, date will be 9 September 2006.

Terri mentioned the charcoal deposits in the cave and suggested we bring in an expert such as archaeologist Jay Franklin of ETSU to help evaluate.

Funnel Cave, Winding Stair Cave, Dungeon Cave (Brickey Pit)

Bill presented an agreement signed by the John Brickeys, Jr. and Sr., assigning stewardship responsibilities for the cave to ACC.

John requested a motion to provide stewardship services to the Brickey caves. Joel so moved and Tony seconded. The motion passed with no dissenting votes.

John then requested the same motion, applied to SCBH. The motion was made and seconded and passed with no dissenting votes.

Lane Cave

Bill reported he had talked to the owners about ACC involvement the previous week. Owner Lindy Pitchell was interested but her husband was not.

Bill suggested that John send the owners a letter detailing why ACC want to manage their cave.

Lane Cave has a potentially dangerous vertical entrance which is usually descended with a ladder supplied by the owners. The cave is the owners’ water supply. A (dead) ground sloth was found in the cave decades ago.

Bill and Don discussed a property near Fort Blackmore with four caves. Because of the sensitive nature of the details, Bill and John requested the secretary to withhold that information from the minutes.

Finance Report

TM reported that the current treasury balance is $1,341.65.

Membership Report

Terri suggested a membership renewal drive, offering ACC tee-shirts to members who renew.

John reported that he and Robbie had investigated several membership management programs and found them wanting. Robbie had found an Access template provided by Microsoft that John is currently evaluating. Robbie agreed to help.

Fundraising Report

John will contact Blue Ridge Grotto, appealing for their membership and participation.

Gary will contact Jim West of Pine Mountain Grotto.

Terri will talk to Smoky Mountain Grotto. SMG did the Keller Bend cleanup..

Joel suggested sending a newsletter to grottos and cavers, followed up by a solicitation for funds.

John asked Terri to produce drafts of such a newsletter and fund appeal.

John said that improving the bathroom facilities on the property would help encourage surveyors to come.

Fall VAR, to be held in Giles County, will be an opportunity to give a talk about ACC to VAR.

Virginia Highlands Festival, Abingdon: Terri to give a talk on karst management on Wednesday; will make a pitch for ACC membership. A trip to Thomas Cave No. 1 will follow on Saturday.

Old / Unfinished Business

John said there are openings still for directors serving to 2008 and 2009. In the absence of likely candidates, elections were deferred once again.

Tony suggested setting the meeting schedule well in advance to minimize conflicts.

 New Business

Conservancy Insurance

John: Rane Curl of NSS is trying to get the Land Trust Alliance program to offer liability insurance to cave conservancies. This is not directors’ insurance. Chubb will offer insurance if ten conservancies agree to buy. Rane wants us merely to be listed as part of a group of interested conservancies. Being listed will not obligate the board to anything.

John said he sees no downside to going along.

Joel, Terri, and Tony recommended we go on list so as to get more information. Joel moved that we agree to let Rane put us on list. Tony seconded. The motion passed with no dissenting votes.

A discussion ensued about the value of this type of insurance. John said that the insurance would not cover liability for cave trips, as conservancies do not lead trips; grottos and individuals do, and in so doing undertake all liability for the trip.

ACC server space allocated to advertise Goochland property for sale

John requested permission to use ACC server space to advertise the Wilsons’ Goochland property for sale.

Terri mentioned she had found a conservancy link to cave properties for sale.

Joel and Tony spoke in favor of allowing John the server space. The board agreed to the proposal with no dissent.

NSS Convention: TM will be ACC’s official representative at the Thursday night conservancy roundtable.

The second National Cave and Karst Conservancies Forum will be held September 20, 21, 22 in Lewisburg, West Virginia. This may coincide with the Fall VAR. TM may attend, but will not present. The opportunity remains for ACC members to attend, to make an initial presentation on ACC, and to participate in conservation related workshops and seminars.

TM reported on a Nature Conservancy trip that she took to Cox Fissures on Clinch Mountain. A lawyer told her that a hunt club has management responsibility for the Fissures area. The Nature Conservancy can help get government assistance.

The board meeting adjourned at 12:07am.

Perkins Cave Management Committee Meeting

The meeting convened at 12:07am.

Tony showed two types of plastic booties which may help cut down on the mud dispersion problem.

Perkins Cave mapping

Survey leader Paul Gaskins was not present to report.

Entrance area modifications

Bill suggested expanding the parking area near the cave, cutting down the fence, and making the barn into a changing area. John agreed to leave it to Bill’s discretion.

Entrance climb ladder report and cave gate improvement report

Tony said that tree-stand ladders are more cave-friendly than what we already have. John said we should take a look at this. Tony said he will bring one next trip.

Tony said he has the hinges for bottom mounting the gate. Today he will make the measurements for the drill holes.

Possible Modifications to the Traverse

John said that the Traverse could be made safer with hand and foot holds or that a ladder could be placed to climb to the end of the traverse from the bottom of the canyon.

Conservation marking report

John reported that the nylon cord used in the marking project is holding up well. At one place the cord has been chewed apart. The Forest Trail and an area near Second Discovery still needs to be marked.

Toothpaste Crawl modification report

Don said the crawl is substantially taller and wider after recent work trips to lower the floor of the crawl.

Bill brought some thick plastic to place on the floor of the crawl to minimize mud transfer.

Tony says he has some mining cloth which can be tried for the same purpose.

John said that the objective is to be able to go all the way to Ghost Town without getting muddy. He proposed placing stepping stones across the pools near First Discovery. Cavers are currently putting their muddy gloves on the walls to keep their balance while crossing the pools.

Cave activities today

Gary, Terri, and Robbie will survey toward the DOM section. Bill, Don, and John will try to mat the floor of the Toothpaste Crawl, try out Tony’s plastic booties, and make stepping stone walks across the pools beyond the crawl.

Tony will work on the gate and entrance area projects.

The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm.