David, et al.,
I'm not sure why the EO "010-005" is not yet posted on the TPWD website,
because #s 001 to 007 are (except 005).
Please understand that the biologists and other folks involved in the
decision making process at TPWD are consulting with other experts, and
are not considering issuing some kind of blanket order closing all TPWD
caves. In fact, the Park Managers at Colorado Bend (Cory Evans),
Government Canyon (Deirdre Hisler), Kickapoo Cavern (Mike Knezek), and
Devil's Sinkhole (Mark Garrett) have been very vocal in their support of
all the tremendous volunteer work that cavers have donated over
decades. The Managers' input in the process of deciding which caves to
close (or not) definitely carries weight. As does the input from a
certain professional bat biologist named Jim who also happens to be a
very active TSA caver.
Keep in mind that the significant bat caves on TPWD properties have had
restricted access for years, e.g. Government Canyon Bat Cave, Stuart Bat
Cave, and Devil's Sinkhole. By far most of the work and/or recreational
caving done on the TSA projects does not involve bat caves. As I said
in my previous post, Gorman Cave is the only cave that has been closed
so far, and that is because the bats have begun using the areas close to
the entrance(s), and because guided tours were going into the cave. I
personally trust all of the people mentioned above to make reasonable
decisions based on all available information. I hope all of you are
willing to give them a chance to do their job, and please refrain from
wild speculations (which are of course exceedingly rare on this list). O:-)
WNS is a complicated, expanding, and little-understood disease, so let's
hope we all make the "right" decisions, even though we're not sure what
they are.
For me the bottom line is: Imagine Texas without bats.
Sincerely,
Logan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Ochel wrote:
Hmm...
It's missing from the list of executive orders on their website at
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/executive_orders/ - I wonder
where on the TPWD site they intend to post the list of closed caves
that's mentioned in the order?
Cheers,
David
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
