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Candidate Platforms 2009
LINDA BAKER DEVINE, NSS 18440 RE/FE (Maryland) The NSS should capitalize on its strengths, the foremost of which is its group of dedicated volunteers, who give invaluable time and energy to Society activities and projects. They should be provided with manpower and financial support to the extent possible. In its unique position as a national organization which comprises many missions, the NSS should continue to promote research, exploration, and education fully, and cave conservation in particular. I do not believe the NSS should pro-actively seek out caves to own, because our purpose needs to be broader. But when circumstances (such as cave donations) present themselves, we should embrace the opportunity to be cave stewards. As the national leader, the NSS should be a model for how best to conserve cave resources, and that begins with the careful management of the caves we own. Our preserve committees do an outstanding job and should be given all the tools they need to carry out their work. We should continue to support the many dedicated cave conservancies around the country with financial and other assistance. To this end, I have consistently voted for motions to award grants to these groups. In addition, we should be active in the partnerships that we have forged with government agencies and other organizations with like-minded conservation goals. I believe that pursuing cave-related research is very important, and especially as it applies to conservation. For example, I firmly supported the Board’s recent creation of the White Nose Syndrome Rapid esponse Fund to expeditiously fund WNS research. Our Membership Committee is working hard to increase membership, and it should continue to focus chiefly on individuals who are already cavers. I feel that major projects requiring costly outlays (new NSS headquarters, new office software, etc.) are laudable goals, but we should proceed carefully and cautiously, particularly in this economic downturn. Communication and cooperation are of utmost importance. I hope my efforts have helped facilitate members working together, often when they have held opposing views. I have always encouraged membership input and would continue to be an open ear to members’ views.
Initiatives at the national level to support and promote current NSS activities are weak. A recent article asked ‘What Does the NSS do for Grottos?’ We need to strengthen the support to local and regional organizations, so that there is no doubt about what the NSS does. The NSS membership is not growing and there is a real need to connect with the many cavers who are not members. The Society has an amazing number of committees and many of them function with only one or two members. Too few current Directors serve on major committees. The NSS faces some major decisions regarding the library, the office and the museum. We have just had a dues increase, yet there is more that needs to be done than we have funding for. Buying a new general ledger software likely tops the list. The officers are elected by and work for the Directors. The Board of Directors needs to be responsive to the members and it can only be responsive by providing leadership. Leadership takes work and involvement. I am currently the Chair of the Directorate and understand well how the Society functions. Your vote will give me the opportunity to continue to help provide that leadership on the Board.
Most of my 23 year career with the U.S. Department of Transportation has been in HQ in Washington, D.C., as a Transportation Specialist. I became a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Specialist (Special Agent) for the FMCSA early in my career. I was appointed a Kentucky Colonel by the Governor, became a Federal CDL Examiner, and a certified scuba diver. I am responsible for managing a Research and Financial Database and over 50 million dollars in research funds as a Contracting Officer’s Technical Represen-tative and Accounting Certification Official for the FHWA. I am working on a MBA/Public Administration degree. I was the Treasurer for the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar Group for one year. My wife, two daughters, and I have belonged to the Battlefield Area Troglodyte Society. I became a vertical caver known as “Gadget.” I have visited the NSS Office Headquarters. If elected to the BOG, I will support cave conservation, member recruitment, and methods to generate working capital that can support the mission and goals of the organization. I believe the needs of the organization must be balanced with the needs of the members we serve. I look forward to your support.
I started, like many, sport caving. Over the years I have focused on project caving, primarily survey & conservation efforts. Also I have participated in way too many cave gating projects, especially when the choice was gate it or lose it. The NSS was already searching for ways to stretch its funds when the current economic situation hit us all. It’s going to take a lot of creativity and thinking outside the box to maintain member services & support expeditions, projects & scientific research with the shrinking dollar. The need exists to pursue funding outside of our membership base. At the same time the Society has outgrown the current office & the BOG has approved having a facility that would consolidate all of the Society’s assets in one location. Many of these assets would either be on display or available to the membership. A potential use of such a facility would be to educate the public about caves, cave sciences, conservation & the impact we all have on not only what we see on the surface, but what is going on below & how that can return to them via their water system. Educational promotions that would be regionally specific could go out for presentation & shown at outdoor or sportsmen shows. Programs could be made available that would educate from school groups to the Lions clubs and anything in between. Groups and organizations are always looking for programs to show their members. Why not engage them in cave & karst conservation? These efforts would not need to tie up cavers to show them, a simple CD that can be run on a loop at the shows or shows at schools or at meetings. It only takes putting them on lists that teachers & other folks use to find programs for their meetings. Local chapters of the Nature Conservancy & Sierra Club would be a prime place to start. WNS has hit the media in print & on TV. I fear there will be those who will opt to take the route of kill them all if we do not give them a good reason not to. The amount of air time given to the benefit of bats vs. the problem is minimal. Maybe it is time for the NSS’s scientific experts to step out into the forefront & release material for the press that can tilt the scales in the other direction. Too long we have conducted our activities under a shroud of secrecy & now we are paying the price. It is time for us to fly above the radar. I am not saying put caving in the spotlight to recruit new cavers, but I am saying there are a lot of conservation minded individuals out there, some with very deep pockets, that might be inclined to support our efforts with no desire to ever venture underground, if only they knew more. If you choose to elect me to the BOG I will looks for ways we can economize while not sacrificing member services, find alternate funding to reduce the financial burden on the membership & endeavor to provide more education & information to the non caving public.
I don’t hold many strong opinions that can’t be changed by factual input. I will be guided by two things. First, I value the opinions of others and will be a good listener; secondly, I will be guided by the wisdom I have accumulated over the years and will do what I think is in the best interest of the Society. I will do my homework and explore all sides of an issue before deciding the best course of action. I will attend meetings well prepared. I will generally work quietly, explore alternatives, and get things done. I am somewhat familiar with how politics shapes decisions and will be attuned to such forces. I enjoy tackling a problem and working until a solution has been found. I don’t like confrontation, but would rather mediate to find an acceptable way forward. I can quietly inspire, urge, and help others to do great things and can easily step back and allow them to take the credit. We all should be proud of this large professional organization that we call the NSS. It takes a certain skill to operate a volunteer organization and it takes dedicated cavers who work hard (and play hard) to make it successful. I am mostly a project caver, but I think the NSS should continue to welcome sport cavers. The NSS will be affected by the downturn in the economy, the trend toward less strenuous endeavors by the younger generation, and just the fact that the population is aging. We need to peer into the future and plan accordingly. The BOG should be discussing long range issues and setting policy for the big picture. It should not get “bogged” down with small issues. (Sorry, I just had to say that.) It should be defining a vision and inspiring others to see that vision and move toward it. I’m ready to help.
John A. (Andy) Armstrong, NSS 45993 SU (South Dakota) John W. (Jay) Clark, Jr, NSS 3896 RE (Alabama) Lee Florea, NSS 37909 RL/FE, (Kentucky) William O. (Bill) Putnam III, NSS 21117 RL/FE (Georgia)
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Nominating Committee
Owner, Elkhorn Mountain Cave. NSS Director. Extensive past govt. work (State Dept. Protocol Officer, White House staff, USICTC Presidential Commission staff). Experience has included: Vice Chrmn., Exec. Commt., D.C. Grotto; Chrmn., Exec. Dir., Bd. Memb., Memb. Chrmn., Trustee, Potomac Speleological Club; Pres., Treas., Dir., Memb. Chrmn., Cave Conservancy of the Virginias; Trustee, Cave Conservancy Foundation; Coordinator, Simmons-Mingo Cave Survey Project; NSS Jamaica Cockpits expeditions; Co-Editor, Co-Author, Capital Area Cavers Bulletin No. 1; Visa Subcommt. Chair, 2009 ICS Bid Committee; etc.
40 year member of the NSS; Fellow; NSS Insurance Committee Chairman 1996-present; NSS Secretary-Treasurer 2005-06; Fund Raising Committee Chair 1999-2002; Nominating Committee Chair 1992-99; Budget Manager 2002-04, past officer of Virginia Region, RASS and Project Underground.
The NSS is the premier caving organization in the U.S. The Society and its volunteers do many good things – science, exploration, education and conservation-related activities -- on local and national levels. The annual National Convention, National Cave Rescue Commission activities, Cave Diving training programs, Junior Speleological Society activities, and numerous education and conservation programs by grottos and regions are examples of programs that have existed for some time. The NSS is supporting efforts to develop a means of mitigating the White Nose Syndrome that is affecting bats in the eastern part of country.
My love for wild caving began in 1986 in Kentucky. While growing up in Pennsylvania, I earned my student pilot’s license on my sixteenth birthday before I had my driver’s license. I received a BA in Psychology and became an Operation Manager for a medical surgical company. This led to a Civil Service appointment as a PA Police Officer and part time Deputy Sheriff. I volunteered for 14 years as a firefighter (trustee for 3 years), 12 years as an EMT (Rescue Squad Cap-tain for 3 years), and Civil Air Patrol Rescue Squadron (Assistant Executive Office for Cadets). I taught First Aid/CPR with the American Red Cross and was a Boy Scout (Merit Badge Counselor). I belonged to the 4-H Club and was active in my church.
I am an active member of the Baltimore Grotto. I have been active in the MAR Region & am currently an active participant in the VAR Region’s activities. I also am the NSS Convention Development Chair. I work for IBM in the National Service Support Division 
I have been caving since 1950 and joined the NSS in about 1953. Presently IO Committee Chair and just agreed to serve on the Long Range Planning Committee; life member of the Butler Cave Conservation Society, and 20-year board member and 19-year newsletter editor; member of the Mid Appalachian Region and 7-year vice-chair; served as chair of the Pa. Cave Conservancy, designed, developed, and maintained (26 years) the Pa. Cave Database; life member of Nittany Grotto, and the Mid Atlantic Karst Conservancy. Member of Stonewall Cavers and the Rockcastle Karst Conservancy. Retired from Penn State University where I was Assistant Director for Systems Planning and Development. Oh yes, I also find time to cave in many States, Canada, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.