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THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST December 2007 Volume 26, Issue 3 The Cave Conservation and Management Section of the NSS FWS and Texas Collaborate on Water Quality Practices for Protection of Cave Invertebrates Excerpts from Sept. 6, 2007 press release by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have added new voluntary measures and best management practices for development projects in parts of Bexar, Travis, and Williamson counties. The suggestions are aimed at maintaining water quality and protecting the rare bugs that live in caves above the aquifer -- while complying with TCEQ's Edwards Aquifer rules and the Endangered Species Act. The Service and TCEQ's responsibilities for natural resources overlap in cases of water quality and endangered species protection. In 2005, to streamline permitting processes, the two agencies collaborated on voluntary optional water quality measures that protected several federally endangered and threatened species, such as the Barton Springs salamander. Today's addendum expands the advice to include 17 invertebrate species that reside underground in caves above the aquifer. "These new measures reflect a partnership between the two agencies," said TCEQ Chairman Buddy Garcia. "These voluntary authorizations include enhanced water quality measures and best practices. They will meet requirements from the State of Texas to protect water quality in the Edwards Aquifer, while also addressing habitat preservation issues for these endangered species." Invertebrates are animals with no backbone or internal skeleton. Many of them have adapted to life underground. The 17 invertebrate species live only in caves and other underground (karst) spaces, and many of them are along the pathway between rainfall and people's drinking water. All are small, have reduced eyes or are eyeless species, and include harvestmen (daddy long legs) pseudoscorpions, spiders, meshweavers (spider-like species), and beetles. All are non- aquatic species that live in high humidity underground environments and depend on surface runoff to maintain that humidity. "These species exist above the aquifer from which some people in the counties draw their drinking water. Protecting water quality that enters their habitat helps to maintain high quality drinking water for people," said Benjamin N. Tuggle, Ph.D. Southwest Regional Director for the Service. "They simply can't survive in habitat receiving contaminated runoff. We all have a vested interest in the present and future quality of the water in the Edwards Aquifer." These optional measures are designed to enhance the protection of the species covered under this document by providing for a higher level of water quality protection and can be used by those who wish to avoid harming listed karst dwelling invertebrate species from water quality impacts. To learn more about the enhanced voluntary measures, go to http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/compliance/field_ops /eapp/program.html

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Page 1: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST December 2007 Volume 26, Issue 3

The Cave Conservation and Management Section of the NSS

FWS and Texas Collaborate on Water Quality Practices for Protection of Cave Invertebrates

Excerpts from Sept. 6, 2007 press release by

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have added new voluntary measures and best management practices for development projects in parts of Bexar, Travis, and Williamson counties. The suggestions are aimed at maintaining water quality and protecting the rare bugs that live in caves above the aquifer -- while complying with TCEQ's Edwards Aquifer rules and the Endangered Species Act.

The Service and TCEQ's responsibilities for natural resources overlap in cases of water quality and endangered species protection. In 2005, to streamline permitting processes, the two agencies collaborated on voluntary optional water quality measures that protected several federally endangered and threatened species, such as the Barton Springs salamander. Today's addendum expands the advice to include 17 invertebrate species that reside underground in caves above the aquifer.

"These new measures reflect a partnership between the two agencies," said TCEQ Chairman Buddy Garcia. "These voluntary authorizations include enhanced water quality measures and best practices. They will meet requirements from the State of Texas to protect water quality in the Edwards Aquifer, while also addressing habitat preservation issues for these endangered species." Invertebrates are animals with no backbone or

internal skeleton. Many of them have adapted to life underground. The 17 invertebrate species live only in caves and other underground (karst) spaces, and many of them are along the pathway between rainfall and people's drinking water. All are small, have reduced eyes or are eyeless species, and include harvestmen (daddy long legs) pseudoscorpions, spiders, meshweavers (spider-like species), and beetles. All are non-aquatic species that live in high humidity underground environments and depend on surface runoff to maintain that humidity.

"These species exist above the aquifer from which some people in the counties draw their drinking water. Protecting water quality that enters their habitat helps to maintain high quality drinking water for people," said Benjamin N. Tuggle, Ph.D. Southwest Regional Director for the Service. "They simply can't survive in habitat receiving contaminated runoff. We all have a vested interest in the present and future quality of the water in the Edwards Aquifer."

These optional measures are designed to enhance the protection of the species covered under this document by providing for a higher level of water quality protection and can be used by those who wish to avoid harming listed karst dwelling invertebrate species from water quality impacts.

To learn more about the enhanced voluntary measures, go to http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/compliance/field_ops/eapp/program.html

Page 2: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

Page 2The Cave Conservationist

Cave Conservation and Management

Section of the National

Speleological Society

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Please contribute to The Cave Conservationist. You

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Photos: USDA bat research

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INSIDE PAGE FWS and Texas Collaborate on Protection of Cave Invertebrates Abstracts from CCMS Session at NSS 2007 Short Scoops

1 3-5 6

NSS CONSERVATION DIVISION CO-CHAIRS Val Hildreth-Werker & Jim Werker P.O. Box 207 Hillsboro, NM 88042 PH: 505-895-5050 E-Mail: [email protected] DIRECTORS AT LARGE John Hoffelt 208 Cheatham Avenue Smyrna, TN 37167 PH: 615-351-3742 E-Mail: [email protected] Brian Roebuck 94 Magnolia Lane Normandy, TN 37360 PH: 931-455-8658 E-Mail: [email protected] Jessica Snider 3833 Montgomery NE # 534 Albuquerque, NM 87109 PH: 505-550-5388 E-Mail: [email protected] James Wilbanks PO Box 34 Rising Fawn, GA 30738 PH: 706-462-2316 E-Mail: [email protected] J. Judson Wynne 2255 North Gemini Drive Flagstaff, AZ 86001 PH: 928-556-7466, x238 E-Mail: [email protected]

CHAIRMAN Rod Horrocks 2201 Wilson Avenue Hot Springs, SD 57747 PH: 605-745-4933 E-Mail: [email protected] VICE CHAIRMAN John M. Wilson 9504 Lakewater Court Richmond, VA 23299 PH: 804-740-0339 E-Mail: [email protected] SECRETARY Jo Schaper 46 Cedar Drive Pacific MO 63069-3414 PH: 636-271-8380 E-Mail: [email protected] TREASURER Eugene Vale 46 Cedar Drive Pacific MO 63069-3414 PH: 636-271-8380 E-Mail: [email protected] THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST EDITOR Jim O’Neill 411 W Ontario St. # 507 Chicago, IL 60610 PH: 312-654-8685 E-Mail: [email protected] HONORARY CHAIRMAN Robert R. Stitt 4823 Panther Lake Rd Snohomish, WA 98290 PH: 360-563-9767 E-Mail: [email protected]

Cave Conservation and Management Section Contacts

Page 3: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

Page 3 The Cave Conservationist

Abstracts from CCMS Session, NSS 2007

Human Dimensions Research and the Karst Information Portal

Page 3

literature. The data has been used to designstrategies to aggregate and evaluate the representation of information within KIP. One finding was that a large amount of cave and karst scientific and technical information resides in gray literature, much of which is currently not readily available to researchers, decision makers, and the public.

KIP has the potential to facilitate communication of scientific and technical research and findings between cave and karst land stewards, policy makers, community planners, social scientists, and funding agencies. The resulting collaborations have the potential for generating innovative solutions to the critical challenges of karst and cave ecosystem stewardship.

Patricia E Seiser Cave and Karst Stewardship National Cave and Karst Research Institute Carlsbad, NM [email protected] Todd A. Chavez Library Administration University of South Florida Tampa, Florida [email protected]

In the natural resources disciplines, human dimensions research aims to understand the role of human interactions in the various biological, physical, and social components of ecosystems. Successfully applying this knowledge to decisions affecting environmental processes and their societal outcomes depends on collaborations among interrelated disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences, humanities, communication sciences, and related interdisciplinary studies. Success is also based on access to reliable sources of scientific and technical information. Some of the difficulties in stewardship of karst and cave ecosystems arise from the limited availability of information concerning human-karst relationships.

The Karst Information Portal (KIP) is an evolving international Community of scientists, information specialists, and other researchers seeking to promote information sharing and access to published and unpublished research in order to advance karst, cave, and aquifer research and stewardship via the Internet and information-related technologies.

Researchers at University of South Florida conducted a study to map the domain of karst

John Sagandorf

Emily Davis Northeastern Cave Conservancy

Howe Caverns, Inc.

In the late 1980s the staff of the National Speleological Society Fiftieth Anniversary Convention approached Howe Caverns to see if the convention Howdy Party could be held on the property. Upon visiting the cave we found that the staff did not see the cave as the cavers did. The local civets and volunteers who were working on the NSS Convention visited Howe several nights between that first visit and the very successful Howdy Party on July 1, 1991. This activity initiated a relationship that has developed and flourished to this day. The partnership between the management of Howe Caverns and the cavers of the Northeastern U.S. has benefited both groups.

Conservancies and Show Caves in Partnership: A Case Study of the Evolution of a Relationship

Page 4: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

Page 4The Cave Conservationist

Abstracts from NSS 2007, Continued

Cave and Karst Protection Initiatives for Moderate and Low Income Landowners

Page 3

Michael Sutton Annapolis, Missouri [email protected] Scott House Cape Girardeau, Missouri [email protected]

A project that began in 1990 with a specific, short-term management need within the Eleven Point District of the Mark Twain National Forest continues to this day, having expanded to cover the entire Mark Twain National Forest with its 550+ caves. The poster shows some highlights and examples from the wealth of cartographic and biological data collected over the 17-year time span of this very successful cost-share program. The cost-share relationship between the Cave Research Foundation and the USDA Forest Service has become an excellent model for other organizations involved in cooperative projects.

Cave Research Foundation on the Mark Twain National Forest: 17 Years of Mapping and Biological Survey

voluntary Natural Area Dedication, Natural Area Management Agreements, or Natural Area Registration through the Department of Conservation and Recreation Natural Heritage Program.

Landowner donations of conservation easements can serve to protect cave and karst resources. Conservation easement donations may generate significant federal tax deductions. In Virginia, conservation easement donors may realize substantial cash income through the sale of the resulting Virginia State Income Tax Credit.

Joey Fagan and Wil Orndorff

Virginia Dept.of Conservation and Recreation Radford, Virginia [email protected]@dcr.virginia.gov

Numerous private, state, and federal programs can assist landowners to protect karst features and caves. Programs such as EQIP, CFEP, and Agricultural Best Management Practices help fund projects on a cost-share basis. Sinkhole cleanouts, livestock exclusion, and establishing vegetative buffers around karst features are eligible projects. These programs require some level of financial commitment by the landowner. Landowners typically bear the initial cost of constructing conservation practices; government programs reimburse a portion, usually 50% to 75% upon installation.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Karst Program has negotiated with Division of Soil and Water Conservation staff to count donated volunteer labor value toward landowner share of project cost. The Karst Program is working with nonprofit land trusts and civic conservancies to establish a revolving loan fund to defer upfront landowner expenses. Many otherwise enthusiastic owners forego government sponsored conservation programs due to a lack of personal financial resources.

Private and government grants occasionally fund cave gating projects and cave management initiatives on private lands at little or no cost to the landowner. Landowners in Virginia may elect to protect biologically significant cave and karst resources through

Page 5: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

Page 5 The Cave Conservationist

Abstracts from NSS 2007, p. 3 of 3 Current Cave Management

Projects at Jewel Cave National Monument

direction, speed, and temperature at the entrance to Jewel Cave and at constrictions more than a mile from the entrance. He has also taken measurements at other nearby caves and blowholes, including Wind Cave, Jasper Cave, and S&G Cave. Although the study is ongoing, the preliminary results show some unusual patterns, and present more questions for future research. The results begin to define the degree to which impacts from visitors and cave lighting can affect adjacent cave passages. Study results also refine estimates of the ultimate extent of Jewel and how it relates to other caves in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota.

Rene Ohms

Physical Science Technician Jewel Cave National Monument Custer, SD [email protected]

Jewel Cave National Monument conducts a wide variety of research, management, restoration, and monitoring projects to aid in the understanding and protection of Jewel Cave. Jewel Cave is undeniably spectacular, with 139 miles of passages and a unique assemblage of speleothems and biologic resources. Recent projects include bat surveys, geologic mapping, data management, lint and algae mitigation, formation repair, rescue stash installment, radon monitoring, water quality monitoring, exploration, microbe sampling, airflow research, and the completion of the park's Cave and Karst Management Plan.

Coloring the Truth: The Role of Dye Tracing in the TMDL Process

Josh Rubinstein

Karst Conservation Specialist Division of Natural Heritage, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation [email protected] Wil Orndorff Karst Protection Coordinator Division of Natural Heritage, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation [email protected]

Under the Clean Water Act, streams exceeding state-established Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) of contaminants are considered impaired, and states must develop strategies to reduce impairments. TMDLs and the strategy are determined by the stream’s watershed.

While regulatory agencies may accept that, in karst, the area feeding the stream may not correspond to the topographic watershed, they are reluctant to surrender their topographic models. Dye tracing by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Karst Program illustrates the importance of karst-based models in determining TMDLs.

Airflow Research at Jewel Cave National Monument

Dr. Andreas Pflitsch Ruhr-University Bochum Department of Geography NA4/171 Cave and Subway Climatology 44780 Bochum / Germany [email protected] Rene Ohms Jewel Cave National Monument Custer, SD [email protected] Since 2003, German climatologist Dr. Andreas Pflitsch has been conducting airflow studies in the barometric caves of the Black Hills of South Dakota. Using sensitive ultrasonic anemometers, Dr. Pflitsch has measured airflow

Page 6: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

Page 6The Cave Conservationist

Short Scoops . . .

Plans to install steel gates at the two main entrances to Natural Bridge Cave in Kentucky have drawn strong objections from cavers, according to the September 26 Louisville Courier-Journal. Parks officials say the gating is designed to protect the endangered Virginia big-eared bat and to combat a growing vandalism problem. Critics object to the lack of any public hearing, and dispute the need to gate the cave. They argue that the Virginia big-eared bat has thrived in the case for at least 50 years, and that any vandalism has been minor compared to the blasting that opened the cave’s second main entrance decades ago. The Parks Commissioner says the cave still will be open by appointment during the summer months to those who obtain permits. Opponents of the gating respond that many of their trips are unplanned, and express concern that the gating could be a step toward permanent closure. Construction of the long-planned Interstate 69 between Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana would not jeopardize the continued existence of threatened species, such as the Indiana bat or the bald eagle, according to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the highway. The October 23, 2007 EvansvilleCourier & Press said that the FEIS supports a 142-mile route designated “Alternative 3C” for the highway. A September 21 news release by NASA announced the discovery of entrances to seven possible caves on the slopes of a volcano on Mars, courtesy of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Satellite photography had revealed some very dark, nearly circular features on the planet, hundreds of feet in diameter. Using infrared cameras, researchers discovered that the circular areas were cooler than the surrounding areas during the day and warmer at night. NASA scientists concluded that they had found holes into the Martian underground. It remains to be seen whether the holes are just deep vertical shafts of perhaps openings into spacious caverns.

The October 1 Northwest Arkansas Timesreported that the cities of Tontitown and Elm Springs have been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to identify and clean up dump sites in order to protect groundwater and endangered species. A three-square mile area in the vicinity of the two towns has been delineated as a “recharge zone,” where surface water becomes groundwater. The recharge zone is one of only four sites that harbor the Blind Benton Cave Crawfish, an endangered species. Dye testing has shown that water from two streams flows into the recharge zone and then reappears in other area springs. Federal and local officials hope to locate area dumpsites with the help of landowners, and then formulate cleanup plans. A Huntsville, Alabama group, the Flint River Conservation Association, recently bestowed its new “River Guardian” award on three developers, according to the December 22 Huntsville Times. One of the award winners was honored for maintaining silt fences that are designed to keep runoff from a new subdivision out of Muddy Cave, one of the few remaining habitats for the endangered Alabama cave shrimp. In an October 27 article, the Whidbey (Washington) News Times wrote that authorities had made a cave on Pass Island inaccessible by installing grating at its entrance. After a 13 year old boy fell 150 feet to his death from the rock face near the cave, the original reaction was that the cave should be sealed. However, the Department of Fish and Wildlife and other local experts determined that the cave was home to Townsend’s big-eared bats, which hibernate in the cave during the winter. Rare raptors also have been known to use the cave. The cave’s 8 by 10 foot opening led into a natural cave that had been expanded in the early twentieth century for mining. Work on the grating was complicated by the lack of any good remaining place to stand or sit comfortably outside the cave entrance.

Page 7: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

Page 7 The Cave Conservationist

The Cave Conservationist The Cave Conservationist © 2008 is the official publication of the Cave Conservation and Management Section of

the National Speleological Society. The contents of the newsletter rely on contributions made by section membersand others who are interested in cave conservation, cave restoration and cave management. Newslettercontributions should be submitted to the Editor, Jim O’Neill [email protected] as E-Mail attachments formatted to MS Word. Please pitch in by passing along interesting links, pictures, stories, etc., as well. The Editorreserves the right to edit any and all submissions for length, clarity, style and/ or content. Digital photo contributionsfor the newsletter may be emailed as attachments to the Editor. Articles and unsigned materials may be attributedto the Editor. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Cave Conservation and ManagementSection, NSS or the Editor. Permission is granted to NSS publications to reprint articles published in The CaveConservationist providing credit is given to the Author and Editor, The Cave Conservationist except where a copyright accompanies a specific item. Others who want to reprint material should contact the Editor.

Membership in the Conservation and Management Section

The Conservation and Management Section is open to all members of the National Speleological Society as wellas those interested in cave conservation and management. Members receive the newsletter The Cave Conservationist and are entitled to vote at the annual meeting. Annual membership dues: $5.00/ year to receive The Cave Conservationist electronically and $10.00/year to receive The Cave Conservationist by regular mail. A section membership application can be found in select issues or on our website http://www.caves.org/section/ccmsMembership dues may be sent to the Treasurer, Eugene Vale [email protected] Newsletter printing or postal distribution information may be obtained from Robert Hoke [email protected] The Section presents two annual awards to an NSS Grotto and an NSS Group that have made significant contributions towards conservation or management of cave or karst resources. For more information concerning The Cave Conservation and Management Section of the NSS please visit our website. http://www.caves.org/section/ccms

Cave Conservation and Management Section

of the National Speleological Society Membership Form

Check one: I wish to receive the Cave Conservationist electronically via email -- $ 5.00 dues.

I wish to receive the Cave Conservationist on paper via regular mail -- $ 10.00 dues.

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Checks should be made payable to Cave Conservation and ManagementSection and sent with this form to: Eugene Vale46 Cedar DrivePacific, Missouri 63069-3414

Page 8: THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST

THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST – DEC 2007 – VOL 26 – 3 THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT SECTION OF THE NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY C/O Treasurer, Eugene Vale 46 Cedar Drive Pacific MO 63069-3414

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THE CAVE CONSERVATIONIST