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Next Scheduled Work Dates
April 12-13, 2008
May 10-11, 2008
June 7-8, 2008
July 19-20, 2008
August 2-3, 2008
Contact Bill Baus (info below) for details or to arrange a project
weekend.
Project Goals
The primary goal is to hold scheduled graffiti removal workdays at
the cave, utilizing any willing cavers as well as scout, youth, and
other volunteer groups or individuals. Due to the many variables (number
of workdays, number of participants during each one, etc. etc.), it is impossible to set a specific goal of how much graffiti is removed.
However, the plan is to remove graffiti in especially offensive amounts into the cave toward the Signature Room,
eradicating non-historical graffiti in the process, and removing as much
as possible from the Signature Room, which will start being referred to
as the LV Cushing Room. It is desired
to remove as much as possible in other areas of the cave as well; only
time and effort will tell how much will ultimately be accomplished
through the sandblasting process.
April 2008 Update
Work is progressing in the Volcano
Passage. A deadline to remove and return the equipment has been
established: early October 2008.
Historical Markings Documentation
Project
An effort led by Randy Jackson was done,
in which historical 'graffiti' was searched for and documented
accordingly. For a review of the findings, please click
here to view the document.
Graffiti Removal Progress
(click on each date for more information on
what was accomplished.)
April 15, 2006: entrance area corridor leading to entrance room
May 20-21, 2006: entrance room
June 17-18, 2006: Sit-up room in crawlway and T-room area
July 22-23, 2006: sit-up room in
crawlway, T-room area, and LV Cushing Room area
August 26-27, 2006:
crawlway, T, and LV Cushing Room area
September 30-October 1, 2006:
crawlway, T, and LV Cushing Room area
October 21-22, 2006:
crawlway, T, and LV Cushing Room area
November 25, 2006: LV Cushing Room
December 23, 2006: LV Cushing Room
January 20, 2007 (SJVG participation & support): LV
Cushing Room area
March 10-11, 2007 (CIG participation): LV Cushing area
May 12-13, 2007: LV Cushing area
June 9-10, 2007 (with Cleveland Grotto participation): LV Cushing area &
passage left of the T
July 7-8, 2007: LV Cushing area and passage left of the T
Background
Buckner Cave had long been the object of
spray-painted graffiti, as well as other types. Although various
efforts to remove it have taken place at different times, and has
recently increased on a regular basis by a small group of regular
visitors, the amount of graffiti present in the cave is staggering.
Around 2003, owner Dick Blenz participated in a
demonstration of a process of removing cave graffiti by sandblasting
with equipment designed for that purpose by Arizona caver Ray Keeler,
and now owned by the Peppersauce Cave Conservation Project (PCCP) and
managed by Ray. Dick requested at that time to use the equipment
in Buckner Cave, and was put on a waiting list. The equipment was
recently obtained for use, and Ray Keeler gave a training session on
April 15, 2006 in the entrance room of the cave.
The Timpanogos Grotto website
http://www.caves.org/grotto/timpgrotto/BloomingtonGraffiti.html
has a summary and 8-minute video of the large graffiti removal effort in
Bloomington Cave in southern Utah near St. George. They put together
seven project weekends in a four-month period during Spring 2005. The
link to the video is near the top of the above page.
To view a different document with more details and specifics of the
equipment, and other information pertaining to consideration of use at
the Richard Blenz Nature Conservancy, visit
http://www.caves.org/grotto/big/sandblaster.pdf
Interested in
helping?
Please contact Project Coordinator Bill Baus for more information.
land line:
812-339-1210
e-mail: baus-@alumni.indiana.edu (To send to this address, you MUST
manually remove the hyphen preceding the @ sign. This is to deter spam.)
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