Denver, Colorado, August 1, 2012 – A new closure order of public caves in the Rocky Mountain Region by the Regional Forester of the U.S. Forest Service signed today in Golden, Colorado will allow exemptions for members of two private cave organizations. Although members of the general public continue to be excluded from entering any [...]
Cavers attending the 2011 National Speleological Society Convention in Glenwood Springs, Colorado may have the opportunity to visit caves in the White River National Forest after all. Although a region-wide closure of caves and non-active mines will remain in effect during the July 18-22, 2011 convention, foresters from the White River National Forest and USFS [...]
Mindful of past inaction that may have resulted in the unintended spread of the White Nose Syndrome fungus to additional caves and inactive mines on federal property in the eastern United States, Deputy Regional Forester Tony Dixon’s bold July 27 order to immediately close entry to thousands of caves and mines in the five state [...]
President Abraham Lincoln, in his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, appealed to a country facing an impassable division that would ultimately result in Civil War. He plead to his countrymen for reason and caution and to not allow passions of the day to rule: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not [...]
Although US Forest Service officials seem all but certain to issue a blanket cave closure order for all caves and inactive mines on Forest lands in the Rocky Mountain region owing to concerns about the spread of the White Nose Syndrome fungus, Colorado’s three commercially-operated caves will remain open for business. Cave of the Winds [...]
Colorado cavers have been notified that all Colorado, South Dakota and most Wyoming caves with the US Forest Service will be closed the week of July 12, 2010 owing to the presence of the White Nose Syndrome fungus in a state-owned cave in west-central Oklahoma. Here is the official Colorado Cave Survey notification from chair [...]
Throughout the eastern United States, federal and state land owners have adapted the dramatic step of closing all public caves to visitation in a determined effort to slow the spread of the fungus that leads to White Nose Syndrome among bats. Since first identified in February 2006, the WNS pathogen has spread from New York [...]
The news today that the Center for Biological Diversity has decided to sue the federal Department of the Interior over its lack of response to providing a plan to protect America’s bats from White Nose Syndrome is hardly surprising. The Center’s June 23 announcement about their pending lawsuit is clear that their January 2010 Endangered [...]
Colorado cavers learned May 20 that the owners of the Orient Mine in the San Luis Valley of south central Colorado have decided to close the Orient Mine and caves owing to concerns regarding the spread of White Nose Syndrome. The mine and cave will be closed for public visitation during all of 2009. The historic Orient [...]
Cavers in the eastern United States are facing an interesting dilemma. In many eastern states, cavers are deciding if they should respect wide cave closure orders from the federal government put in place to protect bats from the possible spread of the White Nose Syndrome, or if they should go caving and face a stiff [...]