Keeping cavers involved is good policy. Here in Virginia
the initial reaction to WNS was to close all caves on public lands
and encourage cavers to stop caving, period. That changed, however,
after the powers that be realized that most of the good information
they were getting on WNS was in fact coming from cavers. We were the
eyes and ears on the ground detecting WNS and monitoring its
spread. Policy changed to allowing caving (although still not on
public lands) as long as people followed decontamination protocols
and used dedicated sets of gear in specific areas. Now that has been
further relaxed because WNS is essentially endemic. My guess is that
soon most all restrictions on caving will be rescinded as long as
decon is practiced and gear from contaminated areas is not taken to
areas that are still free of WNS.
Mark Minton
At 10:41 AM 6/11/2010, Andy Gluesenkamp wrote:
Yes, and the few caves on WMAs are closed to public access as
well. We are trying to strike a balance between doing nothing,
doing something just to show that we are doing something, and doing
something that will make a positive difference. The catchy refrain
that I have been humming through all discussions on the topic is
that responsible cavers are our best line of defense. Not only can
we serve as an early detection network, but we can play amajor role
in getting the word out to the public, using our skills and
knowledge to aid research, and making sure that this issue is
considered a high priority by resource agencies.
AGG
Andrew G. Gluesenkamp, Ph.D.
700 Billie Brooks Drive
Driftwood, Texas 78619
(512) 799-1095
[email protected]
--- On Fri, 6/11/10, Jim Kennedy <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Jim Kennedy <[email protected]>
Subject: [Texascavers] RE: TPWD WNS policy
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Date: Friday, June 11, 2010, 9:31 AM
Mark,
Caves that have bats are not necessarily "bat caves." And caves lacking
bats are not necessarily NOT "bat caves." I can explain the differences
later if anyone is interested, but it will probably be a long and boring
explanation. But in this case, based on our meeting with TPWD a couple
of weeks ago, we are talking specifically about entry into Gorman Cave,
Devils Sinkhole, Stuart Bat Cave, Fawcetts Cave, and one or two others.
Caves with a random tri-colored bat or two are (so far) not on this
list.
-- Jim
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