Lost River - Karst Information Portal

2007 NSS Convention Guidebook
“ant farm” was procured with the assistance
of the NSS; and Kriste Lindberg began
making the rounds of local schools and
civic organizations showing graphically that
whatever you dump in the sinkhole ends up
in your drinking water.
The organization entered another phase
in 1998 with the decision to purchase its
first preserve—Sullivan Cave. This decision
did not come easily but two of our members
were willing to bankroll the acquisition until
the organization could raise the funds. The
caving community responded with enthusiasm
and the property was paid off in short order.
After a “mission accomplished” moment, we
learned that we now had to deal with things
like insurance, property taxes, invasive species,
abandoned trailers, collapsed culverts, and how
to appropriately regulate access.
Over the years, four additional
preserves have been added, totaling 128
acres. Management agreements are still
administered for several other cave properties
for private landowners. Three of the caves
owned or managed by the Indiana Karst
Conservancy are significant hibernacula for
the federally endangered Indiana bat.
Another long-term project the Indiana
Karst Conservancy has undertaken is a karst
inventory program on the 200,000-acre
Hoosier National Forest. The Federal Cave
Resources Protection Act mandates that
federal properties inventory cave resources
within their boundaries and develop
management plans for those deemed
significant. Indiana Karst Conservancy
members are locating caves, evaluating them
for biological, geological, paleontological,
and cultural values, nominating caves for
designation as significant and writing
management plans. Literally thousands of
volunteer hours have been invested in this
project by members of the Conservancy,
area grottos, and the Indiana Cave Survey.
The staff and management of the Hoosier
National Forest have been extremely
supportive of this effort and in 2005 the
222
Eastern Region of the USDA Forest Service
selected our organization to receive their
award for “Volunteer of the Year.” Several
of the caves in this guidebook are found
in the Hoosier National Forest. We wish
to commend the Forest for its progressive
attitude towards its karst resources and
ask that cavers respect the fragile nature of
these caves and understand that some have
biological values that can be impacted by
overuse or careless activities.
Since its inception, the Indiana Karst
Conservancy has been involved with the
recovery effort for the Indiana bat, taking part
in the biennial population survey, managing
access to known hibernacula, and acquiring
and protecting a Priority III hibernaculum.
The organization also worked with the
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
to install 22 gates on abandoned coal mines
to protect alternative habitat for a number
of bat species. The Conservancy has also
been involved in several research projects
including extensive temperature monitoring
in bat caves, as well as developing a compact
and inexpensive SpeLogger for monitoring
visitation patterns and access management
effectiveness.
An exciting new project is the co-sponsorship
with the Hoosier National Forest, The
NSS, and Ravenswood Media of the educational
video: Caves: Life Beneath the Forest. The goal
is to make this video available to schools, nature
centers, environmental organizations, civic
organizations, and anyplace where we can get
the message out about the importance of the
life found in caves. The next step is to develop a
teaching guide based on Indiana state standards
so that this can be used in science classrooms
throughout the state. The video will be shown
in full during the convention and copies will be
available.
The Indiana Karst Conservancy is an
affiliate organization of the NSS and, as
such, works closely with Indiana’s grottos,
as well as several grottos in neighboring
states. The Conservancy is an acknowledged