ACT SECTION 50 — CONSERVATION

A public campaign directed toward members should be undertaken on behalf of cave conservation and definite action should be taken against any members found guilty of vandalism. Vandalism should be considered those actions as defined in the Cave Vandalism Deterrence Reward Policy, Act 50-395 (Appendix W).

The Conservation Committee is a committee in the Department of the Administrative Vice-President.

A policy for Cave Conservation, prepared by committee, was accepted. (See Appendix H)

The month of February is designated as Cave Conservation Month.

The Society believes that cave gates are one of several "management tools" which can be used to manage caves. If the installation of a cave gate should become necessary, the design of said gate should be such that the impact on the cave environment and cave biota is minimal.

The NSS welcomes inquiries from government agencies about cave management, caves on public lands, requests for assistance in cave rescues, and any other problems involving caves.

Conservation Task Forces (CTF) are created by the NSS to focus on major local level cave conservation issues. The activities of NSS members who work together as a CTF are coordinated by the Conservation Committee. The primary focus of CTFs is to address both short term and long term problems that can have an adverse effect, on caves, karst, and pseudokarst, and to take actions to protect the assets of caves, karst, and pseudokarst. Primary CTF activities include but are not limited to: mitigating the effects of development; protecting caves, their inhabitants, and their contents; protecting karst aquifers; monitoring the impacts of cave visitation; working with private landowners and government land managers to protect cves and karst; and educating the public.

The NSS should urge federal retention of all known Alaskan limestone and pahoehoe lava and granitic pseudokarstic areas until their speleological potential has been adequately studied.

In accordance with the Society conservation policy, where it can be determined that publication of cave lists or surveys would lead to damage to caves before adequate protection can be provided, the Society will oppose such publication, and, to determine whether there is a potential danger from publication of a cave list or survey, upon request the Society Conservation Committee will solicit opinions from cavers and speleologists who are actively working in the caves involved, as well as from other persons, organizations, or governmental agencies who have some jurisdiction over the caves involved. The Conservation Committee will then prepare a report and recommendation for consideration and possible action by the Board of Governors.

The NSS formally opposes award programs which encourage visits to particular caves or groups of caves.

The National Speleological Society supports and encourages the 7-1/2 month mandatory moratorium on visits to Hellhole Cave, Pendleton County, West Virginia, specified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the cave's endangered bat colonies, and requests all cavers, regardless of affiliation, to honor this moratorium.

The National Speleological Society opposes the indiscriminate use of explosives in cave exploration and encourages their wise and minimal use in ways which will minimize adverse impacts on the cave environment.

Circulars relating to cave conservation, underground wilderness, bat protection, cave science and exploration, and NSS membership, as available, may be distributed to selected commercial caves on a regular basis, for public distribution.

The NSS, recognizing the importance of bats in the ecosystem, promotes environmental management programs to protect and enhance the survival of bat species, encourages research on non-lethal methods of resolving human/bat conflicts, urges an end to the use of chemicals to kill bats, and encourages the United States government to establish a system to license all collection and marking of bat species. In order to carry out the intent of this motion, the Bat Subcommittee of the Conservation Committee shall communicate the NSS position to other concerned individuals and agencies and shall develop programs to educate the public to the ecological, scientific, and economic value of bats.

The NSS Cave Vandalism Reward is established as detailed in Appendix W to the Acts. The NSS Cave Vandalism Deterremce Reward Commission, consisting of six membere, nominated by the existing commission, appointed by the Administrative Vice President, and confirmed by the Board of Governors, is established in the Department of the Administrative Vice-President to administer the reward.

The President shall appoint the Chairman of the Commission from among the commissioners for a term of three years. The Commission shall elect from its membership a Vice Chairman who shall serve until his successor is elected.

The Commission Chairman shall be responsible for managing the reward determination process, apointing subcommittees and regional coordinators as needed, reporting Commission activities to the President, and managing all other Commission business.

The Vice-Chairman shall assume the duties of the Chairman should the Chairman become incapacitated or resign. He shall perform all other mutually agreed upon duties as assigned by the Commission Chairman. The Vice-Chairman shall manage the determination process of any Commission reward if and when the Chairman declares that he has a conflict of interest in a specific reward.

Each Commissioner shall be responsible to:

1. Assist in determining if each reward request meets the criteria established by the Board of Governors.

2. Assist in determining the amount of each approved reward.

3. Assist the Commission in other Commission business as needed.

Regional coordinators may be appointed by the Chairman in order to facilitate and otherwise promote the work of the Commission in the various regions of the NSS.

The NSS Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission shall cooperate with and encourage any other organizations interested in cave conservation that would supplement the NSS reward with additional funds under the same procedures as the NSS reward, including the possibility that the NSS reward administrative structure could be used to make the reward determination for all organizations.

The NSS Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission shall cooperate, where practical, with local organizations or individuals wishing to make a one-time or one-event reward for a particular act of vandalism.

The NSS Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission shall publish a regular notice in the NSS News to remind the NSS members of the reward, or combination of rewards if there are any.

Votes to approve the payment must be made by majority affirmative vote of the commissioners. Commissioners are required to vote on each reward request unless the commissioner declares that he has a conflict of interest. Any commissioner having knowledge or reasonable doubt concerning the applicants eligibility for the reward must convey that information to the chairman of the commission upon receipt of the first ballot. The chairman may require a second ballot regardless of the vote on the first ballot if significant new information that might influence the result of the vote is received as a result of the initial mailing.

The minimum reward is $250 and the maximum $1000. Primarily, larger awards will be paid to qualifying persons who provided information that leads to a significant judicial decision, resulted in significantly increased public respect for the cave and karst environment, resulted in significantly increased public understanding of the desirability of cave and karst environmental conservation, or otherwise significantly contributed to furthering the mission of the NSS.

The Commission may also consider paying larger awards to qualifying persons who provided information that required significant personal risk or sacrifice, or demonstrated exceptional resourcefulness, creativity, or persistence.

The requirements for approval of the amount of payment of a reward are as follows: 1. A majority affirmative vote of all the commissioners for a given amount. 2. If no amount has the required majority affirmative vote, the chairman may either conduct another ballot of the commissioners or set the amount as follows: a. delete the highest and lowest amounts and take the mean of the votes of the remaining commissioners. b. the chairman may round the result to the nearest $50 increment.

A policy statement on Cave and Karst Preservation was adopted. (Appendix AJ)

The Society's official comments on land management plans for areas involving caves or karst will be submitted by the NSS Conservation Committee in coordination with the appropriate NSS liaison person or committee.

The NSS Supports to efforts of the Oregon, Jefferson State College, and Willamette Valley grottos to restrict rock climbing using bolts and quick draws in caves of the Fort Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest, the Prineville Management Area of the Bureau of Land Management, and the Lakeview Management Area of the Bureau of Land Management. The NSS urges the agencies to protect these caves from further damage.

The National Speleological Society supports the Rock Climbing Management Recommendations for Pictograph Cave proposed to the Prinevilee District of the Bureau of Land Management by the Oregon, Willamette Vallye, Southern Oregon and Oregon High Desert Grottos. The plan calls for the restoration of Pictograph Cave by removal of bolted climbing anchors over a three year period. It is the desire of the NSS and the local grottos to establish a "Leave No Trace" management policy for future Pictograph Cave visitation.

The Cave Conservancies Committee is established in the department of the Administrative Vice President to encourage all cave Conservancies and other persons and groups responsibly managing caves to affiliate with the NSS.

This committee will be proactive in promoting the NSS to Conservancies and other cave owners, as the major cave organization for providing cave management information, expertise and assistance. Cave managing organizations and persons may affiliate with the NSS as a conservancy by agreeing with the purposes of the NSS and applying in writing with the Cave Conservancies Committee.

A Memorandum of Understanding (Appendix AK) between the National Speleological Society and Bat Conservation International is approved.

The Mammoth Cave Restoration Committee is established to administer and manage the Cooperative Agreement between Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP) and the National Speleological Society. The committee shall:
1) solicit, select, and schedule the work of volunteers at MCNP,
2) monitor the work of the volunteers,
3) work with NPS staff to identify and accomplish specific restoration activities in MCNP,
4) meet with MCNP staff on a periodic basis to review progress made under this Cooperative Agreement and identify ways in which the volunteers can be most efficiently used,
5) perform financial functions required to administer the agrement under the supervision of the secretary-Treasurer,
6) carry out other restoration duties that are specifically under the terms of the Cooperative Agreement.

NSS Membership shall be given priority consideration for attendance at the Mammoth Cave Restoration Camps under the Cooperative Agreement between the NSS and Mammoth Cave National Park. The Mammoth Cve Restoration Committee will encourage participants who are not NSS members to join the NSS.

The Bat Conservation International Liaison Committee is established in the department of the President to act as liaison between the NSS and Bat Conservation International.

The NSS Membership Application shall include the statement: “I support the purposes of the National Speleological Society and its Policy for Cave Conservation. I have read and understand the Policy for Cave Conservation, and will uphold its fundamental principals. Please accept my application for membership.”

Cross References

07-281 Wild Cave Locations
18-367 Conservation Funds
19-321 Conservation Grants
28-286 Application Form
43-116 Conservation Award
83-280 Scientific Publication
88-480 Research Guidelines
88-493 Contempory Cave Use Study
Appendix H: Policy for Cave Conservation
Appendix AK: NSS-BCI MOU

12-6-06

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