Closing Caves to the Public?

[skip]

I know many of you have no interest in dry caving, but some of you do. Here's a copy of a recent email I received that may be of concern.

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A national organization, the Center for Biological Diversity, has filed emergency petitions that would radically affect access to caves in the continental United States, and more. In the press release are links to their formal petitions. Please take the time to fully read the petitions, especially the first, which deals most directly with cave access.

In brief, they have petitioned the federal government to close all caves and mines on federal lands within the continental U.S., designating all caves and mines on federal land within the continental United States as "significant," to promulgate a new rule defining "taking" under the Endangered Species Act that would ban traveling between any caves on public or private land, making both cavers and landowners legally liable; and to add two bat species - Eastern Small-footed, and Northern Long-eared - to the federal Endangered Species list. They cite WNS as the reason for doing all of this.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2010/bats-01-21-2010.html

As the WNS Liaison for the NSS, I believe this is an extremely serious threat from a well-funded and litigious organization, and should be responded to at all levels, including by our grottos and other internal organizations. I strongly suggest sending any correspondence to pertinent parties at the Center for Biological Diversity and IMPORTANTLY to the federal officials to whom they sent petitions. Those federal officials are listed within the petitions. The key CBD personnel are :

Mollie Matteson, Conservation Advocate, author of the material: mmatteson@biologicaldiversity.org <mailto:mmatteson@biologicaldiversity.org>
Kieran Suckling, Executive Director and founder: ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org <mailto:ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org>

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Peter Youngbaer
NSS WNS Liaison


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Dr. Katharina Dittmar de la Cruz
SUNY @ Buffalo
Department of Biological Sciences
109 Cooke Hall
Buffalo, NY, 14260
Tel: 716 645 4912 {NEW}
katharinad@gmail.com
kd52@buffalo.edu

[deanme]

I know many of you have no interest in dry caving, but some of you do. Here's a copy of a recent email I received that may be of concern.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2010/bats-01-21-2010.html

I get the impression this is a tempoary closure to address some rare bat species, and that it is only temporary?

dean

WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed two emergency petitions with the federal government in an effort to stop the spread of a deadly bat disease and step up government action to save two rare bat species from extinction. The first petition asks federal agencies to close all bat caves under their jurisdiction and asks Interior Secretary Salazar to pass regulations restricting travel between bat caves under any jurisdiction. Such measures are necessary until it can be shown that people are not a vector for the newly emergent bat disease known as white-nose syndrome, and that measures to eliminate risk of spread are effective. The second petition asks for the eastern small-footed bat and the northern long-eared bat, both hit hard by white-nose syndrome, to be protected as endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

[Tegg]

and so it begins...

Dean, "temporary" closure of something by the federal government on federal lands is hardly EVER temporary...

I hope we get some steam to stop this action... if not, and it proceeds, it may have trickle down effects we do not want to see...

[deanme]

and so it begins...

Dean, "temporary" closure of something by the federal government on federal lands is hardly EVER temporary...

I hope we get some steam to stop this action... if not, and it proceeds, it may have trickle down effects we do not want to see...

I can't imagine anyone connected to this bat concern would pay attention to Peacock for example, which has no bats. Am I missing something?

dean

[LiteHedded]

I can't imagine anyone connected to this bat concern would pay attention to Peacock for example, which has no bats. Am I missing something?

dean

no. but they may have ginnie in their sights

[deanme]

no. but they may have ginnie in their sights

On what basis? Saving bats? The only bats at Ginnie are ding bats.

[UCFKnightDiver]

There's bats in the "bats" lol, seriously though this isnt good news!

[Line Squirrel]

On what basis? Saving bats? The only bats at Ginnie are ding bats.

OK now that was funny!!

[DA Aquamaster]

and so it begins...

Dean, "temporary" closure of something by the federal government on federal lands is hardly EVER temporary...

In my job I get to see first hand what a) happens in congress where good congressional intent often goes horribly wrong, and then b) what happens in the regulatory process where that "intent" is often converted by a regulatory process into something much more far reaching and much more permanant than ever intended.

For example in this case "until it can be demonstrated that humans are not a vector" would in the abscence of any completed and more importantly approved and cleared research, become a de facto permanent ban.

I could see all caves getting drug into it as, to a bureaucrat, banning access to 'all caves on federal property" meets the congressional intent of protecting "all dry caves on federal property" without the need to make case by case detemrinations on what is a dry versus wet cave and developing differing methods of enforcement.

In the event the legislation does go forward, we would at a minimum want the legislation to sundown after X (1, 2, 3, 5?) years, or when the disease disease has already spread everywhere anyway and human vector concerns are no longer an issue, in order to cover the "no research ever gets done" and/or "it cannot be demonstrated that humans are not a vector" possibilities.

And more importantly for cave diving, we need to ensure that the legislation as enacted specifically excludes flooded caves in terms of both fully flooded caves and dry portions of caves where the entrance is flooded and where consequently no bats are present (other than plastic ones hanging from the ceiling.)

[chicken]

The thing I have learned over the last 20 years is the enviromentalists have learned to take small bites. They may start with one group, after that is complete they go after another. If the issue of the minute is dry caves, wet caves could be next. It is important we work together and avoid the "it doesn't affect me" attitude because it will affect you eventually.