texascavers Digest 17 Jan 2010 18:17:57 -0000 Issue 948
Topics (messages 13308 through 13315):
Re: Feds step in to protect Texas endangered cave species :
13308 by: Corky
13311 by: Fritz Holt
Before and After satellite overlays of Haiti
13309 by: Gill Edigar
Edwards Aquifer Authority next Distinguished Lecturer is Steve Worthington on
Friday, March 19
13310 by: Geary Schindel
Re: Caver's Knot quiz updated
13312 by: Gill Edigar
book review: Cave Biology
13313 by: Mixon Bill
Re: TCMA Welcomes New Board Members and Officers
13314 by: Jules Jenkins
Cave Shields
13315 by: Tone G
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--- Begin Message ---
Wow,
Intuitive and educated response. I really feel no need to expound
further. My case stands.
Corky the Rusticated Rube Hick Farmer/Rancher/Landowner
Mike Gross wrote:
Hey, Corky,
Get a job.
Mike Gross
At 06:14 PM 1/14/2010 -0600, you wrote:
rus·ti·cate
/v./ *rus·ti·cat·ed*, *rus·ti·cat·ing*, *rus·ti·cates*
/v.//intr./
To go to or live in the country.
I assume the reference is to the property owners. Those who feel it
is their right to do as they please with what they own. Such as
making a living, drilling for and drinking the water under their
feet, and even letting high minded city folk onto their property to
go caving. Maybe even letting some of their water flow downstream
where the (un)educated city dwellers build their zero lot housing in
an area that hasn't enough water to serve their needs.
So in steps the Feds and strips the "rusticated" of their rights. To
save the bugs. More to save the city from it's inability to govern
itself and curb the growth to something the water supply and the bugs
can handle.
The whole problem would go away if the "rusticated" and bugs stayed
and the city and all of it's demanding citizens moved to California.
(Sorry, no water there either, but you would like the political
climate. I hear the weather is also nice.)
Unashamedly,
Corky the Rusticated Land Owner (and proud of it)
[email protected] wrote:
None of yez watched DEADWOOD?
Hicks, rubes, the rusticated will suffice.
T.
Jan 14, 2010 01:22:29 AM, [email protected] wrote:
What are "hoopleheads"?
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
Sent: Jan 13, 2010 5:45 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Feds step in to protect Texas
endangered cave species :
That ought to infuriate the hoopleheads.
Jan 13, 2010 01:53:32 AM, [email protected] wrote:
*Feds step in to protect endangered species*
*By Chris Cobb*
<http://herald-zeitung.com/contact.lasso?ewcd=6f6cf874d6a84ef1b95e37e9f79195568af7d827721a528e94756ad7a6117f2b&-session=HeraldZeitung:CDBC74CC02c2e03AD3nXx22D6620>
The Herald-Zeitung
Published January 12, 2010
The federal government is reconsidering how much land it
sets aside to protect insects and other endangered species
in Comal and Bexar counties.
In response to a lawsuit from environmental groups,
including a group from New Braunfels, a U.S. district
court ruled in December that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service should re-evaluate how much protected critical
habitat it designates for 12 endangered species in the two
counties.
The species include three Comal County natives � the
Peck’s Cave Amphipod, the Comal Springs Dryopid Beetle and
the Comal Springs Riffle Beetle � as well as nine types of
cave-dwelling spiders and beetles in Bexar County.
“These 12 rare and unique species need increased critical
habitat protections if they are going to have any chance
at survival,� said Noah Greenwald of the Tucson-based
Center for Biological Diversity in a written statement.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the critical
habitat area for the Bexar County animals in 2003, and for
the three endangered Comal species in 2007.
Animal advocates argued that the amount of habitat set
aside by the government was dramatically smaller than what
scientists and researchers had recommended, shrinking the
prescribed habitat in Bexar County from more than 9,500
acres to just more than 1,000.
In Comal County, environmental groups complained that the
protected habitat only included 30 to 40 acres around the
springs, not any portion of the Edwards Aquifer that feeds
them.
In response, the Center for Biological Diversity, Aquifer
Guardians in Urban Areas and New Braunfels-based Citizens
Alliance for Smart Expansion jointly filed a federal
lawsuit in January 2009 to have the government consider
giving the species a larger protected area.
“These species are the canary in the coal mine for our
area,� said CASE Director Sharon Lavett. “We need to
protect their environment and our aquifer, not only for
them, but for everybody.�
A settlement between the groups and the federal government
was reached on Dec. 21, giving federal entities a
three-year window in which to re-designate the animals’
habitat. Under the settlement, the USFWS is mandated to
have a new habitat designation in place for the Bexar
County species by 2012, and for the three Comal Springs
species by 2013.
“We trust that the Obama administration will give science
its due and dramatically increase the area of protected
critical habitat for these species,� Greenwald said.
http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=5ca49eee68386b51
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--- Begin Message ---
Dear Rusticated,
I like the way you think and am in agreement with your position. I have aspired
to be in your situation for over forty years. Were I a land owner (again), I
would nurture and protect it and the only way a developer would own it would be
from my heirs when I'm gone and only then if I couldn't legally prevent it.
Which reminds me, I always thought that those rusticated "hicks" who put their
land in a conservation easement, such as Bamberger and Storm, were doing what
was best for all of us. Guess I'm wrong.
Fritz (A prisoner of the big city who wishes he weren't).
-----Original Message-----
From: Corky [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:58 PM
To: Linda Palit
Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Feds step in to protect Texas endangered cave
species :
I believe I inferred people choosing to live in an area with limited
water should either learn to cope or move away. Where is the city,
county and state governments on this issue? Why the Feds? And if the
land owners we are referring to are developers,. why would they be
referred to as "rusticated"? Money grubbing morons who don't care how
they make money would be more appropriate. And they are getting away
with this behavior by lining the pockets of local politicians to look
the other way. And where do they get this money? We are back to the
(un)educated citizens who buy zero lot houses in an area with limited
water. So once again, the Federal government will step in, get rid of
the money grubbers, and still take away the rights of the rustics left
there. Who by the way, would never poison their own well, or yours.
And I do agree I reacted. I am sick of the communist attitude toward
land ownership taking over in this country. If you would like to have a
say in how I run my land, then help pay the taxes, feed the cows, bail
some hay, mend some fences, and pull some weeds.
I feel personally affronted by the hick reference. So would any other
land owner reading Texas Cavers. We are hard working, highly educated
people who take care of what we own, and in turn take care of those
around us.. And we do not need anyone telling us how to do that, or
worse, forcing their view or needs upon us by legislation.
Corky the Rusticated Landowner
Linda Palit wrote:
> Well, just for the record, there are only 3 counties in Texas with endangered
> cave species, and they are very urban -- threatened by intense development
> and impermeable ground cover, not by rustic property owners doing what they
> please. And the ones who benefit if these protections don't exist are the
> developers; there are some good ones, but some developers don't really care
> about the long term effects of what they do or don't believe there could be
> any effects.
>
> I don't really believe anybody has the right to pollute water, because there
> is no way to just pollute "your" water.
>
> Stereotypes go back and forth between all segments of the population, but the
> truth is unfortunately complex.
> And some people just like to poke a bit to see what reacts.
>
> Cavingly,
> Linda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Corky [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:15 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Feds step in to protect Texas endangered cave
> species :
>
> rus*ti*cate
> /v./ *rus*ti*cat*ed*, *rus*ti*cat*ing*, *rus*ti*cates*
> /v.//intr./
> To go to or live in the country.
>
> I assume the reference is to the property owners. Those who feel it is
> their right to do as they please with what they own. Such as making a
> living, drilling for and drinking the water under their feet, and even
> letting high minded city folk onto their property to go caving. Maybe
> even letting some of their water flow downstream where the (un)educated
> city dwellers build their zero lot housing in an area that hasn't enough
> water to serve their needs.
> So in steps the Feds and strips the "rusticated" of their rights. To
> save the bugs. More to save the city from it's inability to govern
> itself and curb the growth to something the water supply and the bugs
> can handle.
> The whole problem would go away if the "rusticated" and bugs stayed and
> the city and all of it's demanding citizens moved to California. (Sorry,
> no water there either, but you would like the political climate. I hear
> the weather is also nice.)
>
> Unashamedly,
>
> Corky the Rusticated Land Owner (and proud of it)
>
>
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>> None of yez watched DEADWOOD?
>>
>> Hicks, rubes, the rusticated will suffice.
>>
>> T.
>>
>>
>> Jan 14, 2010 01:22:29 AM, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>> What are "hoopleheads"?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [email protected]
>> Sent: Jan 13, 2010 5:45 AM
>> To: [email protected]
>> Cc: [email protected]
>> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Feds step in to protect Texas
>> endangered cave species :
>>
>>
>> That ought to infuriate the hoopleheads.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jan 13, 2010 01:53:32 AM, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>> *Feds step in to protect endangered species*
>>
>> *By Chris Cobb*
>>
>> <http://herald-zeitung.com/contact.lasso?ewcd=6f6cf874d6a84ef1b95e37e9f79195568af7d827721a528e94756ad7a6117f2b&-session=HeraldZeitung:CDBC74CC02c2e03AD3nXx22D6620>
>>
>> The Herald-Zeitung
>>
>> Published January 12, 2010
>>
>> The federal government is reconsidering how much land it
>> sets aside to protect insects and other endangered species
>> in Comal and Bexar counties.
>>
>> In response to a lawsuit from environmental groups,
>> including a group from New Braunfels, a U.S. district
>> court ruled in December that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
>> Service should re-evaluate how much protected critical
>> habitat it designates for 12 endangered species in the two
>> counties.
>>
>> The species include three Comal County natives - the
>> Peck's Cave Amphipod, the Comal Springs Dryopid Beetle and
>> the Comal Springs Riffle Beetle - as well as nine types of
>> cave-dwelling spiders and beetles in Bexar County.
>>
>> "These 12 rare and unique species need increased critical
>> habitat protections if they are going to have any chance
>> at survival," said Noah Greenwald of the Tucson-based
>> Center for Biological Diversity in a written statement.
>>
>> The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the critical
>> habitat area for the Bexar County animals in 2003, and for
>> the three endangered Comal species in 2007.
>>
>> Animal advocates argued that the amount of habitat set
>> aside by the government was dramatically smaller than what
>> scientists and researchers had recommended, shrinking the
>> prescribed habitat in Bexar County from more than 9,500
>> acres to just more than 1,000.
>>
>> In Comal County, environmental groups complained that the
>> protected habitat only included 30 to 40 acres around the
>> springs, not any portion of the Edwards Aquifer that feeds
>> them.
>>
>> In response, the Center for Biological Diversity, Aquifer
>> Guardians in Urban Areas and New Braunfels-based Citizens
>> Alliance for Smart Expansion jointly filed a federal
>> lawsuit in January 2009 to have the government consider
>> giving the species a larger protected area.
>>
>> "These species are the canary in the coal mine for our
>> area," said CASE Director Sharon Lavett. "We need to
>> protect their environment and our aquifer, not only for
>> them, but for everybody."
>>
>> A settlement between the groups and the federal government
>> was reached on Dec. 21, giving federal entities a
>> three-year window in which to re-designate the animals'
>> habitat. Under the settlement, the USFWS is mandated to
>> have a new habitat designation in place for the Bexar
>> County species by 2012, and for the three Comal Springs
>> species by 2013.
>>
>> "We trust that the Obama administration will give science
>> its due and dramatically increase the area of protected
>> critical habitat for these species," Greenwald said.
>> http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=5ca49eee68386b51
>>
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>> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe,
>> e-mail: [email protected] For additional
>> commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>>
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>> [email protected] For additional commands,
>> e-mail: [email protected]
>>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>
>
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--- Begin Message ---
A few OT very interesting aerial photos
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/14/world/20100114-haiti-imagery.html
Move the map to the east of the city to see mind-blowing destruction in the
suburbs.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Subject: Edwards Aquifer Authority next Distinguished Lecturer is Steve
Worthington on Friday, March 19
Folks,
I'm pleased to announce that Dr. Steve Worthington will be the Edwards Aquifer
Authority's 8th Distinguished Lecturer. Dr. Worthington will make his
presentation on Friday, March 19, 2010. His talks will focus on the exciting
studies of the last ten years that have helped to integrate the largely
independent fields of research using wells on the one hand and using tracer
tests, springs and caves on the other hand.
Discussions will focus on:
* the differences between carbonate aquifers and simpler fractured-rock aquifers
* the use of tracer test and spring studies to understand large channels and
caves
* well testing to understand matrix, fracture and channel flow
* insights from recent numerical modeling of karst aquifer development
* how environmental and injected tracers give complementary data on the age
distribution of groundwater
* environmental problems including contaminants in groundwater and quarry
applications
* illustrated overviews of some of the great karst areas from around the world
Steve Worthington obtained a Dual Honours degree in Geology and Geography at
the University of Sheffield, England in 1970. He then worked as a geologist in
the oil industry in Scotland, Germany and Egypt. He moved to Hamilton, Ontario
in 1982 to study carbonate aquifers at McMaster University, and researched
karst geomorphology and hydrogeology in West Virginia (M.Sc., 1984) and karst
hydrogeology in the Canadian Rocky Mountains (Ph.D., 1991). He has carried out
research on carbonate aquifers in Canada, USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala,,
Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, Germany, Jamaica, UK, Ireland,
France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey,
China, Morocco, Ethiopia, Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. For
the last 17 years he has specialized in characterizing carbonate aquifers by
using both well methods as well as traditional karst techniques such as tracer
tests and spring monitoring. His consulting work has included water supply,
water rights, wellhead protection, groundwater contamination, bedrock
stability, and feasibility projects on landfills, quarries, and residential
developments. He is a fellow of the National Speleological Society and was
awarded the Tratman Prize in 1981 by the British Cave Research Association BCRA
for the best publication on karst research. He was an instructor for National
Ground Water Association on course on "Hydrogeology of karst aquifers" in 2006
and 2008 and has published more than 70 papers on carbonate aquifers.
I will be sending out information in the near future on registration details.
Thank you,
Geary M. Schindel, P.G.
Chief Technical Officer
Edwards Aquifer Authority
1615 N. St. Mary's Street
San Antonio, Texas 78215
210.222.2204
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/ford_germany_do_knot_forget?size=_original<http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/ford_germany_do_knot_forget?size=_origi>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
"Cave Biology: Life in Darkness," by Aldemaro Romero, with photographs
by Danté Fenolio. Cambridge University Press (Ecology, Biodiversity
and Conservation Series), New York; 2009. 6 by 9 inches, 291 pp. plus
12 pp. color plates, softbound. $60.
Cave biology seems to be suddenly popular with British university
presses. This book was published almost simultaneously with Culver and
Pipan's The Biology of Caves and other Subterranean Habitats, Oxford
University Press, with the same list price of $60. Romero's book is
somewhat unusual. One nice feature is the first chapter, a lengthy and
interesting history of biospeleology and evolutionary theories. This
is followed by an unusually wide-ranging survey of cave life,
including things like the flora and fauna of sea caves, which are not
(reasonably enough) generally considered the subject of biospeleology.
The last major chapter is a survey of threats to caves and their
ecology, pretty conventional although no doubt valuable to someone who
has not already well-read on the subject.
Unfortunately, the main thrust of the middle of the book, on evolution
and ecology, seems to be to attack other work in the field as too
narrowly based. This becomes tiresome, as it consists largely of
wantonly misinterpreting things. Nobody ever claimed that the
principles that seem to govern evolution and ecology of troglobites in
Kentucky and Virginia also apply to bat caves in the tropics. When
authors write about the stability of the cave environment, they mean
from day to day and season to season, not over evolutionary or
geological time scales. Certainly cave biology looks a lot different
when one considers all the life that has ever been seen in caves.
That's why such life has traditionally been divided into troglobites
and others, with the troglobites getting the most research attention
for obvious reasons. That there are a lot of cave animals that don't
show troglomorphic traits is hardly surprising when one includes
everything. Romero does have a favorite cave-life-origin theory of his
own, that of phenotypic plasticity, although I didn't get a clear
notion of just how that relates to the genetic changes that define new
species. On first reading, it smells like Lamarckism.
The color plates in Romero's book don't add much, as they are just
color versions of photographs that appear in black and white elsewhere
in the book.
I recommend Culver and Pipan as a more main-stream survey of
biospeleology. Borrow a copy of Romero's book to read the historical
chapter.--Bill Mixon
----------------------------------------
Chastity: The most unnatural perversion.
----------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Linda,
Thank you so much for the email.
This is also a terrific cavetex moment to thank the many, many nameless TCMA
volunteers, past officers and board members for all of their help, caring, and
undeniable support of the Texas Cave Management Association over the past
decades.
Having managed Whirlpool Cave and Lost Oasis Caves in Austin for over 10 yrs
now, I can say I/we couldn't do it without the help of TCMA volunteers. I'm
sure I speak for all the TCMA preserve managers when I say there are too many
volunteers to name individually but, YOU ALL know who you are- THANKS for your
support and help.
jules
--- On Mon, 1/11/10, Linda Palit <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Linda Palit <[email protected]>
Subject: [Texascavers] TCMA Welcomes New Board Members and Officers
To: [email protected]
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010, 4:26 PM
TCMA would like to welcome new board members, Jerry
Atkinson, Michelle Bryant, Matt Turner, and Arron Wertheim. Help us
congratulate
them and give them your ideas about the future of TCMA. Continuing board
members include Don Arburn, Allan Cobb, Jon Cradit, Geary Schindel, Jim
Kennedy, Joe Mitchell, Joe Ranzau, Linda Palit, William Russell. These
board members represent you in TCMA; let them know your ideas, concerns, and
where you are willing to help with the organization.
We would also like to thank outgoing board members Aimee
Beveridge, Sue Schindel and Kevin McGowan. Many hours and much hard work
contributed by these board members helped TCMA and continue to do so. These
members will continue to be involved in TCMA, and we appreciate all they do.
New officers for TCMA are:
William
Russell, president
Aaron
Wertheim, vice president
Michelle
Bryant, treasurer
Joe
Mitchell, secretary
Many thanks to these officers for being willing to serve!
Having worked several years as TCMA president, I welcome the chance to serve as
a member now, and pass the officiating on. All our officers have worked
very hard, and served well.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I recall some years ago—I think in a show cave called Colossal Cave in
Arizona—a tour guide mentioned that "cave shields" are somewhat rare.
Since then, I seem to see them frequently enough.
I am wondering if anyone has empirical data, or even an educated guess, that
considers the rarity or abundance of cave shields.
\Tone
--- End Message ---
