The Georgia Speleological Survey (GSS) is
an archival organization for the exploration, documentation, and
study of caves in Georgia (USA). The GSS has approximately 100
members and is an internal organization of the National
Speleological Society (NSS) and is a member of the Southeastern
Regional Association (SERA) of the NSS.
The GSS maintains a record of caves and karst features in Georgia.
A cave must be at least 30 feet of length, depth, or total traverse
for inclusion in its GSS Cave Listing. Currently there are over
600 caves of record. The GSS maintains a separate Karst Feature
Listing. The GSS has survey instruments for mapping caves available
to its members for a small fee.
GSS Contacts Page information on current officers and positions and how to contact them.
GSS Membership/Sales information on how to become a member and GSS products for sale.
Fellow Cavers, the Georgia Speleological Survey (GSS) is preparing to publish its 2009 GSS Bulletin and we need your articles! The Bulletin seeks original manuscripts, maps and photos concerning the scientific study, history, and exploration of Georgia caves.
We are especially proud to provide a forum for the publication of mapping and survey projects that involve Georgia caves. Projects that are "in process" but not 100% complete are also welcome and may be published in the 2009 Bulletin or archived for publication at a later date. Now is the time for those of you with such projects to submit your narratives, photographs, and maps for publication and recording in Georgia's "official" speleological publication.
Those with articles for the Bulletin may submit them via email (or hyperlink to download site) to georgiacaver@netscape.net. Please insure that emailed articles are sent as a plain text format and/or file. Please format any accompanying maps, graphics or photos as separate files in eps, tif or pdf formats as appropriate. We will also accept jpg and other bitmap images; however, the finished quality may suffer and we reserve the right to edit such images.
Please limit the size of individual emailed articles and files to 3 megabytes. For larger articles and graphics, you may send several smaller emails, mail the articles on disk or email the hyperlink to your download site to Brian Williamson. My snail mail address is Brian Williamson, 2234 Saluda Lane, Acworth, Georgia 30101.
February 19th, 2010, is the deadline for submissions. If you have any questions, please drop me an email at the address above. Thanks for your interest.
Brian
The 2010 GSS Annual Meeting has not been scheduled yet. It will probably be held in March or April of 2010.
The 2009 Annual Meeting was held on Saturday
April 18th, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. at the Southeastern Cave Conservancy's
Frick's Cave Preserve near LaFayette, Georgia.
GSS Annual Meeting Minutes & Treasurer's Reports
As you may already know, hundreds of thousands of hibernating bats have died over the past three years in Northeastern U.S down to Virginia. While it is currently not known if it is a cause or a symptom, a tell-tale sign is a strain of white fungus that is found on the muzzle and other parts of the body of bats, and is referred to as White-Nose Syndrome, One of the best sources of information is found on the following U.S. Fish and Wildlife website: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.
While White-Nose Syndrome has not been currently documented as far south as Georgia, as a precaution, it is suggested that cavers do not visit caves inhabited with lots of hibernating bats and that clothes and gear be thoroughly cleaned between visiting different caves to limit the spread of the fungus between caves. The most up-to-date suggested decontamination procedures are available here: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/whitenosemessage.html .
The Southeastern
Cave Conservancy, Inc. (SCCi) has
adopted a Cave Visitation Policy for WNS Concerns and is poted
on the SCCi WNS News page at http://scci.org/News/WNS_2009.html.
Documents are in portable document format (pdf) and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.x or higher. Visit the Adobe website to download a free copy.
The GSS has an ongoing survey project at Fricks' Cave in Walker County, Georgia. Note that the GSS has obtained special permission to survey this closed cave from the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. For more information on the project, when trips are scheduled, and how you can participate, click here.
Caves are closed to protect the cave, its formations, biota, and archeological resources, or because the owner does not want people on his/her property or in his/her caves for one reason or another. Some caves are always closed while other caves are open only at certain times of the year or with special permission or requirements of the landowner. These lists provided include many of the more widely visited caves and are by no means an exhaustive list of the open status of all caves in the southeast. You are ultimately responsible for obtaining proper permission from the landowner before entering their caves.
Closed and Limited Access Caves of TAG List of closed and limited access caves in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Maintained by the Dogwood City Grotto.
Significant Bat Cave List List of restricted access bat caves in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Maintained by the Nashville Grotto and the Central Basin Grotto.
Hunting seasons vary greatly from one locale to another. For more information visit the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resource Division website or download the following hunting regulations for 2007-2009: http://www.gohuntgeorgia.com/assets/documents/Hunting_Regulations/Public%20Notice.pdf.
NSS Affiliated Caving Grottos (Clubs) in or near Georgia
Other NSS Affiliated State Cave Surveys
Survey & Cartography Section of the NSS
Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc.
Go up to Southeastern Regional Association (SERA) Home Page
Go up to National Speleological Society Home Page
The URL for this page is http://www.caves.org/survey/gss/index.html.
If you have any questions, comments, or corrections about this
page, please contact the GSS website maintainer at gssweb@bellsouth.net.
Last modified: Monday, 30 November, 2009 bta
