Cave Conservancies Committee Mission

Cave Conservancies Committee Mission - Cave Conservancy Home

To serve as an outreach committee of the NSS to cave conservancies and land trusts
To assist cave conservancies and land trusts with caves and karst management and to better utilize the expertise of the NSS and its members
Provide a convenient and economical means for conservancies and land trusts to affiliate with the NSS
Provide a means of communication between the NSS and cave conservancies and land trusts
To encourage cave owners to cooperate in establishing conservancies and land trusts
To encourage NSS members to actively form conservancies and land trusts in order to better manage cave and karst areas
To encourage all appropriate U.S. governmental and state agencies to actively form volunteer cave management bodies similar in nature conservancies and land trusts in order to better manage publicly held cave and karst areas
To encourage all appropriate conservancies or land trusts to affiliate with the NSS as a conservancy
To encourage the active NSS conservancies to affiliate with the NSS additionally through some type of membership
To otherwise promote the purposes of the NSS through the advancement of cave conservancies and land trusts.

Examples of the type of organizations that should be eligible for conservancy status:

Cave conservancies, organizations of cavers, cave interested people, or environmentally interested people who manage caves though ownership, lease, rent or contract
Land trusts that are established to conserve caves
Land trusts that own caves incidental to their primary land trust mission
Chapters of the above
U.S. governmental and state agencies with volunteer cave management bodies similar in nature to cave conservancies and land trusts.

Examples of the type of services the committee could provide to conservancies and land trusts:

Refer to the appropriate NSS member or committee for cave management expertise and workers any of the following areas
Cave rescue
Cave conservation
Cave resource study and evaluation (geological, biological, hydrological, etc.)
Cave protection laws
General cave knowledge
NSS library and cave publications
Cave photography
Cave mapping and exploration

Provide access to information and answers to questions in any of the above areas

Facilitate an ongoing working relationship with the NSS