TPWD policy may certainly set some guidance to TCMA and other entities, but has little or no jurisdiction. I already require new or fully deconned clothing and gear for all Punkin Cave survey trips. BCI has a similar policy for Bracken Bat Cave. Right now we are all (including TPWD) looking toward the USFWS for guidance. We'll likely see some management changes in the future as WNS moves closer to Texas and we learn more about it. For those on the list who may be interested in more WNS info, the three best websites are the USFWS (http://www.fws.gov/whitenosesyndrome), the NSS (http://www.caves.org/WNS), and of course, BCI (http://www.batcon.org/index.php/what-we-do/white-nose-syndrome.html).
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, June 11, 2010 10:57 AM To: Jim Kennedy; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: TPWD WNS policy <snip> How much will the TPWD position impact the policies of privately owned or non-profit managed caves, i.e., Punkin Cave, which the TCMA owns and manages and has a large population of bats? Will this effectively make it off limits and what is the TCMA's position? Being a TCMA member, I think it should follow whatever the NSS and TPWD recommends. I'd also be curious to see how the BCI responds to this and the caves that they own/manage.
