National Speleological Society

Executive Vice President's Report

2006 NSS Convention - Bellingham, Washington - Submitted July 17, 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NO. COMMITTEE, COMMISSION, PUBLICATIONS

(1) AMERICAN CAVING ACCIDENTS COMMITTEE
(2) AAAS REP- BIOLOGY
(3) AAAS REP-GEOLOGY & GEOGRAPHY
(4) AMERICAN GEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE DELEGATE
(5) U.S. EXPLORATION COMMITTEE
(6) INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATION COMMITTEE
(7) RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE
(8) SPELEO DIGEST
(9) SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
(10) JOURNAL OF CAVE AND KARST STUDIES
(11) NSS NEWS
(12) MEMBERS MANUAL COMMITTE
(13) BIENNUAL REPORT (Reorganized under President’s Department)
(14) PERMISSION TO REPRINT

INTRODUCTION / SUMMARY

There are currently fourteen committees in the Department of the Executive Vice President (EVP). After this report the Biennial Report Committee will be transferred to the President’s Department.

Progress:

(1) Editor Bill Putnam reports the next issue of ACA that include the 2004 and 2005 incidents is on track for July 2006 Publication. He moved the date of publication back one month to avoid overlapping with the members manual like we did last year. The issue will therefore be labeled "NSS News July 2006 Part 2" and should reach mailboxes in late July or early August.

(2) Chairman Kathleen Lavoie, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Biology), says Bio and Geo did not get enough responses to our call for a symposium on the "Sulfurous Underground" at the upcoming AAAS meeting. She believes they need to start planning for the next annual meeting in the fall rather than late spring.

(3) Chairman Daniel Chess, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Geology), attended the AAAS Annual Meeting in St Louis, Mo on February 16-18. There were a number of very good geology sessions; one was titled "Extreamophile Geomicrobial Interaction" involving acidic brine lake environments. The talk would be a great segway to a symposia proposed by Kathy Lavoie, Penny Boston, Diana Northrup and others. Daniel received his reappointment from the AAAS for another 3 years.

(4) Chairman Harvey DuChene, American Geological Institute (AGI) Delegate, mentioned I was not able to attend the last AGI Member Society meeting, which was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Houston, Texas (April 9-12, 2006).  No proxy was identified to stand in for him at that meeting.

(5) Chairman Bill Steele, U.S. exploration Committee, Sara Corrie Fund grants in the amount of $1,250.00 have been approved and issued for survey and exploration related expenses.

(6) Chairman Joel Despain has recommended that a $400.00 NSS International Exploration Grant from his budget of $1,000.00 be awarded to the Vaca Plateau Geoarchaeological Project (VPGP). As a part of the VPGP several NSS members will be involved in a research trip to Belize to collect cave sediment samples for paleoclimate research.

(7) Chairman Don McFarlane says the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) has awarded no new research grants in the last quarter and that applications are reviewed in January and June. The 2006 Ralph Stone competition attracted a record 13 applications, almost all of which were of the highest quality. The Committee had great difficulty selecting a single winner, but the award was eventually made to Mr. Matt Medeiros of the University of California, Berkeley, for his project, "How many times has flightlessness evolved in cave-dwelling Hawaiian moths?" The RAC has received, reviewed an approved a single application for NSS project status; "Quakes in Caves", a project led by Ira Sasowski and focused on gathering evidence of past seismic activity recorded in cave deposits.

(8) Chairman Scott Fee from the Speleo Digest reports the 2006 newsletters are coming in daily. The 2003 Team has completed the initial draft manuscript and has been sending chapters for a preliminary review.

(9) Chairman Tom Rea of the Special Publications Committee reports Larry Matthews’ book on Big Bone Cave is now available in the bookstore and on Amazon.com. The book has 220 pages and 104 illustrations. In Tom’s opinion, it is the best Matthews book yet. The book overran the capital budget by a couple of hundred dollars but that should be recouped by the end of convention. Word-of-mouth comments are very positive. So far, 154 copies of Big Bone Cave book have been sold and we have almost recouped our initial investment already. And, Steve Knutson has written a history book on Oregon Caves National Monument. It’s an interesting book with lots of historic photographs and quotes from contemporary sources. EVP Birkhimer reports the final Cave Conservation and Restoration files were delivered to the printer at the end of June and will be available immediately after they are produced. It’s important to point out that the key to producing this book was not "when" it would be completed, but "if" it could ever be completed.

(10) Editor Malcolm Field, of the Journal of Cave Karst Studies, reports Volume 68, number 1 (April 2006) was sent to the printer at the beginning of April 2006. This issue was not significantly delayed. This issue included some unusual articles (slime molds and bat odors) which demonstrates how wide ranging cave and karst topics can be. The development of a Journal manuscript on how to prepare a manuscript for publication in the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies and an MS Word template to facilitate manuscript are progressing. This draft template was tested by some of the authors of papers of Vol. 68, No. 1 with a good response from the authors.

(11) Editor Dave Bunnell of the NSS News, at the EVP Birkhimer’s suggestion, got a quote from a printing company in the Midwest that both prints and mails. Their prices are pretty competitive and would indeed save some money over the current arrangement, primarily by reducing the mail processing fees. While he is not really desirous of changing printers since our current printer does such a good job, its good to know that we could have the News printed elsewhere if need be under the current budget without sacrificing quality. There is a possibility of doing a full-color "trial" issue with this company. The customer representative agreed to offer the quoted price for a one-time run.

(12) Editor Meredith Hall Johnson reports the 2006 NSS Members Manual was completed on schedule according to the Board of Governors’ direction and delivered to all members in June 2006.

(13) The reporting period for the next biennial report (2003-04 and 2004-05) ended on April 30, 2005. The Committee currently has no chairman and its responsibility has been established in the Department of the President. This will be the last report on this committee by EVP Birkhimer.

(14) EVP Birkhimer has listed all actions that were accomplished regarding the reprinting of NSS copyrighted materials and the release of NSS Member information.

Plans:

(1) Bill’s goal is to publish 2004 and 2005 reports in a combined ACA issue in July, 2006. Then he will compile the 2006 reports for publication in the summer of 2007 for the first annual issue of the ACA in many years. Bill intends on producing annual issues each year after the 2007 ACA.

(2) Kathleen will contact potential speakers for the AAAS Annual Meeting in October this year.

(3) Daniel plan to work with Kathleen Lavoie, to submit the symposia proposal for the AAAS annual meeting in February 2007 in San Francisco. Kathy’s tentative title was "The Sulfurous Underground: Sulfidic Cave and Karst Systems."

(4) The next AGI Member Society meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Philadelphia. Harvey will not be attending, but he will appoint a proxy to go the Member Society meeting for him.

(5) Don has been working closely with EVP Birkhimer to develop formal procedures for awarding the funds recently made available by NSS-BOG for the support of research in NSS cave preserves. Details are now available on-line via the NSS "Grants" page. Announcements have been forwarded to NSS News and via various on-line media and we hope to begin the review of applications in September.

(6) Scott hopes to offer the 2003 Speleo Digest for sale in early fall. He hopes to offer the 2004 Speleo Digest for sale by summer 2007. And, in the long-term, a second 25-year index will be produced.

(7) Tom reports the bookstore stock of Caving Basics will last for a year or so and that progress on a rewrite has been minimal. The book Gurnee Guide to Commercial Caves is in the information gathering stage and production will be a long-term project. Currently, there is a biography of Bill Cuddington in preparation, as well as a book on the art work of Tom Culverwell.

(8) Malcolm says Volume 68 number 2 (April 2006) is currently being worked on. To date (6/20/06) three manuscripts have been received from the Associate Editors with the recommendation that they be published in the Journal. These three articles have all been edited and approved by the Editor and signed Copyright Transfer Agreements received (these will be forwarded to NSS headquarters in due course). In addition, it is likely that at least two more papers will be received. Special Issue: Progress to produce a special Anniversary Issue next year (December 2006) is slowly progressing. January 2006 will mark the 65th Anniversary of the National Speleological Society. Most authors met the deadline of May 31, 2006 for sending in their manuscripts, but there are some that are still outstanding. This Anniversary issue of the Journal promises to be quite large as numerous authors volunteered manuscripts even though these additional papers were not originally solicited. Other Special Issues: Other special issues listed below are still in the works to my knowledge, but no progress reports from the organizers have been sent recently: (1) A special issue on a portion of the Floridian karst hydrology is still being planned. Some very new and interesting work is being conducted and it is very likely that we may be able to get a full issue packed with articles on the topic. (2) A special issue on Vietnam Karst is being worked on. It will be an outgrowth of the "International Transdisciplinary Conference on Development and Conservation of Karst Regions" that took place in Ha Noi, Vietnam. There is a significant amount of both pure and applied karst research going on in Vietnam, primarily by Vietnamese and Belgian scientists, and until the meeting proceedings, very little had been published in English. This project is being coordinated by Chris Groves of Western Kentucky University. (3) A special issue on Mystery Cave is also being developed. Calvin Alexander of the Univ. of Minnesota is taking the lead on developing this issue. A number of people have been working on a variety of scientific projects in Mystery Cave, Fillmore County, Minnesota for several decades. A major effort involving the Palmers, several of the UMINN people, Rich Lively of the Minnesota Geological Survey, Gerta Nordquist, the Mammalogist for the MnDNR, did projects on geology and speleogenesis (Art and Peg Palmer), hydrogeology (UMINN group), radon (Lively), and bats (Gerta). The DNR just moved into a magnificent new visitor center at the cave and has been doing all sorts of cave management science. (4) Dr. Andreas Pflitsch, from Bochum University in Germany, and Rod Horrocks, the Wind Cave National Park cave management specialist, have been working at both Wind Cave and Jewel Cave dealing with air movement and temperature variation studies for the past four years. At this point they have about six to eight papers which they wish to publish as a special issue of the Journal. (5) Dr. Dominique Rissolo of San Diego State University has proposed a special issue on cave archaeology in the Maya area. Approximately six to eight papers on various aspects of the cave archaeology in the Mayan area are planned. Other Issues: Efforts are now underway to scan back issues of the Bulletin for posting on the NSS web site. This is a significant undertaking that will be of substantial benefit to NSS and researchers alike. A request has been made to consider including the NSS Executive Committee (EC) on the Journal Masthead as it is in The NSS News. The thinking is that it might make it easier for readers who want to contact the governing body, or person, by including that information. Also, uniformity and consistency would be achieved. In general, this type of information is not usually included in scientific journals, but the issue was presented to the Journal Advisory Board for consideration. Although the majority opinion was that such information was not needed, opinions were split. This may be an issue for either the EC or the BOG to address. The Journal is now actively working closely with several other karst journals from around the world by taking part in the World Karst Science Reviews. Specifically, the Journal actively publishes the Table of Contents of those karst journals that reciprocate by publishing the Table of Contents of each issue of the Journal. In addition, the Speleogenesis, The Virtual Journal (http://www.speleogenesis.info/) publishes both the Tables of Contents and Abstracts from each issue of the Journal.

(9) Dave plans to continue as usual and troll for more News articles, especially more on domestic caves. Features planned in that regard include a Germany Valley issue coordinated by Gordon Brace, and an issue on doings in the Mammoth Cave region. With the August issue we are beginning a series of interview with some of the earliest NSS members conducted by Dawn Ryan for the membership committee. These will appear under the Spelean Spotlight column to give Bill Steele some breaks from his column.

(10) Begin the process of compiling the 2007 Members Manual information in December 2006 in preparation for the June 2007 NSS Members Manual.

(11) EVP Birkhimer has advertised the vacant position in the NSS News and hopes someone will volunteer to fill the spot for a smooth transition over under the President’s Department.

Problems:

(1) Harvey is still looking for a person to work with me as I transition out of my position as AGI representative for NSS. George Veni has suggested Dr. Barbara A. Luke, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as a possible candidate. I have not spoken to Dr. Luke, but I am acquainted with her. If she is willing, she would be a superb representative to AGI for the NSS.

(2) After being the Speleo Digest Series editor for nine years, Scott would like to step down. EVP Birkhimer has been trying to find a replacement that will bring new energy to this underrated publication. Also, there are not enough experienced or qualified volunteers to produce the massive work within schedule.

(3) Tom says the price of paper is up right now.

(4) A problem There are two serious problems at this time and one problem that occurred with the last issue of the Journal (Vol. 68, N0. 1). The problem with last issue occurred when mailing address labels were pasted over the list of "Deep Caves of the United States" printed on the back cover of the Journal. This situation has been noted and efforts will be undertaken in the future to avoid similar problems. Second, the Journal appears to be severely underfunded. Last year’s volume of the Journal (three issues) ran approximately $8,000 over budget, yet there was nothing irregular in the production of last year’s volume. To maintain the current level of scientific and editorial quality, an increase in the Journal budget by approximately $10,000 is necessary, especially with the cost of paper and printing of the Journal substantially rising each year. In addition, if we want to continue publishing more color photos and figures in the Journal, additional funding may be warranted. The third problem stems from the very large volume of Life Sciences-oriented and Earth Science-oriented papers submitted for the Anniversary issue. These have somewhat overwhelmed their respective Associate Editors. As Editor of the Journal, I should have either (1) exercised more control over who would be allowed to submit manuscripts for consideration or (2) been better about keeping the Associate Editors informed as to who was submitting what papers. This problem (which may arise again in the future as other special issues are developed) is sufficiently severe due to the excessive workload created.

(5) Dave admits there was some controversy about some images in the February issue of the News including the semi-nude that was a salon winner and some of those of human remains. Dave has agreed to avoid printing both types of images in the future whether they are winners of salons or not and he hopes this will hedge against any attempts to place more restrictions on the salons.

(6) Meredith notes that in the past, the MM Committee had problems with text submitters slacking off and having to be reminded numerous times to submit updated versions of their information.

(7) The reporting period for the next biennial report (2003-04 and 2004-05) ended on April 30, 2005. Bert has stepped down and I currently have no volunteer to chair the committee to begin production.

Other:

The current Copyright Policy for the NSS is in dire need of improvement. I have created an initial Copyright Policy for the NSS and a standard Copyright Agreement. I have forwarded these drafts to the NSS legal experts for their review. Joel Stevenson, Bert Ashbrook, Ted Lee, and EVP Birkhimer are planning a telephone conference to complete the wording of the documents. Once an agreement has been reached on the wording of the Copyright Policy and the standard Copyright Agreement, I intend on forwarding them to the Board for review, comment, corrections, and ultimately approval.

Respectfully submitted,
Gordon Birkhimer
Executive Vice President
National Speleological Society

 

(1) AMERICAN CAVING ACCIDENTS COMMITTEE

Bill Putnam (Chairman) 21117RL (FE)
1865 Eagle Summit Ct
Lawrenceville GA 30043-6669

Phone: (678) 371-4517
Fax: (770) 682-5536
putnam@scci.org

Progress: Publication of the next issue of ACA, including the 2004 and 2005 incidents is on track for July 2006. I am working on the feature article and editorial, and reviewing photographs submitted for the covers.

I moved the date of publication back one month to avoid overlapping with the members manual like we did last Fall. The issue will therefore be labeled "NSS News July 2006 Part 2" and should reach mailboxes in late July or early August.

This issue will contain 65 incident reports. For 2004 there are 22 caving incident reports, plus 8 cave diving incidents and 18 caving-related incidents. For 2005 we have 15 caving incident reports, 3 cave diving incidents, and 7 caving-related incidents.

There were fewer reported incidents in 2004 and 2005 than expected, so the size of this issue should be substantially less than the last issue (48 pages for 99 incidents). I am going to try to fit everything into 32 pages. That should reduce both the printing and mailing costs. I am in the process of obtaining current quotations for a press run of 11,000 copies, with about 10,200 to be mailed to members. I expect the total cost to be less than the $12,200 figure quoted in my last report.

Plans: Publish 2004 and 2005 reports in a combined issue in July, 2006. Compile 2006 reports for publication in the summer of 2007.

Problems: None.

(2) AAAS REP- BIOLOGY

Kathleen Lavoie 17033SU
101 Hudson Hall
Plattsburgh State University of New York
Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Work: (518) 564-3150
Home: (518) 562-1154
Fax: (518) 564-3152
lavoiekh@plattsburgh.edu

Progress: Bio and Geo did not get enough responses to our call for a symposium on the "Sulfurous Underground" at the upcoming AAAS meeting. We clearly need to start planning for the next annual meeting in the fall rather than late spring. Many of our contacts were already committed to other conferences or research at the time of the meetings.

Plans: We will contact potential speakers for the AAAS Annual Meeting in October this year.

Problems: None.

(3) AAAS REP-GEOLOGY & GEOGRAPHY

Daniel L Chess 21715RL (CM)
19 Tavano Road
Ossining, NY 10562

Home: (914) 945-2479
dlchess@us.ibm.com

Progress: I attended the AAAS Annual Meeting in St Louis, Mo on February 16-18. There were a number of very good geology sessions; one was titled "Extremophile Geomicrobial Interaction" involving acidic brine lake environments. The talk would be a great segway to a symposia proposed by   Kathy Lavoie, Penny Boston, Diana Northrup and others. I attended the affiliates meeting on Friday morning. The affiliates meeting discussed the recent legal ruling from the Dover, Pennsylvania School Board on intelligent design. The ruling essentially said that intelligent design is not science and should not be included or proposed in a science curriculum. I received my reappointment from the AAAS for another 3 years.

Plans: I plan to work with Kathy Lavoie, to submit the symposia proposal for the AAAS annual meeting in February 2007 in San Francisco. Kathy’s tentative title was "The Sulfurous Underground: Sulfidic Cave and Karst Systems".

Problems: None

(4) AMERICAN GEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE DELEGATE

Harvey R. DuChene 6318RL (FE)
7216 East Bentley Circle
Englewood, CO. 80112

Home: (303) 694-3472
Work: (303) 885-1707
Fax: (303) 694-3472 (call HD before sending Fax)
hduchene@comcast.net

Progress: I was not able to attend the last AGI Member Society meeting, which was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Houston, Texas (April 9-12, 2006).  No proxy was identified to stand in for me at this meeting.

Plans: The next AGI Member Society meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Philadelphia.  I will not be attending, but I will appoint a proxy to go the Member Society meeting for me.

Problems: I am still looking for a person to work with me as I transition out of my position as AGI representative for NSS.  George Veni suggested Dr. Barbara A. Luke, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as a possible candidate.  I have not spoken to Dr. Luke, but I am acquainted with her.  If she is willing, she would be a superb representative to AGI for the NSS.

(5) U.S. EXPLORATION COMMITTEE

Bill Steele, Chairman 8072RE (CM, LB, FE)
PO Box 166332
Irving, Texas 65016-6332

Cell: (214) 770-4712
Work: (972) 580-2538
speleosteele@comcast.net

Committee members:
Don Broussard – Texas
Dave Black – Indiana
Jim Chester – Montana
Scott Davis – Arizona
Tom Shifflett – Virginia
Jim Smith – Georgia

Progress: Sara Corrie Fund grants have been approved and issued to for survey and exploration related expenses:

1. $250 April 2006 Jon Jasper – Tony Groves Project, Utah
2. $250 April 2006 Mark Passerby - Raders Valley Project, West Virginia
3. $250 April 2006 Jason Gulley – Matanuska Glacier Project, Alaska
4. $250 April 2006 Donald Davis – Alaska Cave Project, Alaska
5. $250 June 2006 Philip Rykwalder – Montana Caves Project, Montana

Plans: Continue as have been.

Problems: None

(6) INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATION COMMITTEE

Joel Despain 23136RE (FE)
HCR 89 Box 211
Three Rivers, CA 93271

Day: (559) 565-3717
Evening: (559) 561-4972
joeldespain@wildmail.com

Committee members:
Carol Vesely
Kevin Downey
Cyndie Walck
Rebecca Jones

Progress: It has been a quiet winter for the International Exploration Committee with no grant requests coming in until recently. We do have one now involving work in Belize that is being considered. Seeing that we have had no requests for funds so far this year, I would like to recommend the Vaca Plateau Geoarchaeological Project (VPGP) expedition receive $400.00 from our budget of $1,000.00.

Plans: More of the same

Problems: None

(7) RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Donald A. McFarlane 23523RE
Professor of Biology
W. M. Keck Science Center, the Claremont Colleges
925 North Mills Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711-5916 USA

(909) 607 2564
Fax: (909) 621 8588
dmcfarla@jsd.claremont.edu

Web page: http://jsd.claremont.edu/faculty/mcfarlane/index.htm

Extinct Mammals of the West Indies Web site:
http://jsd.claremont.edu/bio/extinct/extinctmammals/

National Speleological Society Research Advisory Committee:
http://jsd.claremont.edu/bio/nss/

Committee Members:
Joyce Lundberg, (Assoc. Prof, Carleton University)
William White (Prof. Emeritus, Penn State U.)
Joseph Troester (USGS)
Donald Davis

Progress: NSS RAC continues to function smoothly. There have been two principal areas of work:

Research Grants: No new research grants have been awarded in the last quarter; applications are reviewed in January and June.

Ralph W. Stone Graduate Fellowship:  The 2006 Ralph W. Stone competition attracted a record 13 applications, almost all the highest quality. The Committee had great difficulty selecting a single winner, but the award was eventually made to Mr. Matt Medeiros of the University of California, Berkeley, for his project, "How many times has flightlessness evolved in cave-dwelling Hawaiian moths?"

NSS Projects: The Committee received, reviewed an approved a single application for NSS project status; "Quakes in Caves", a project led by Ira Sasowski and focused on gathering evidence of past seismic activity recorded in cave deposits.

Plans: The RAC Chairman has been working closely with EVP Birkhimer to develop procedures for awarding the funds provided by NSS-Board for the support of research in NSS cave preserves. Details are now available on-line via the NSS "Grants" page.  Announcements have been forwarded to NSS News and via various on-line media and we hope to begin reviewing applications in September.

Problems: None

(8) SPELEO DIGEST

Scott Fee 19797RL (CM, FE)
PO Box 380473
Birmingham AL 35235-2012

(205) 856-9177
scottfee@caves.org

Progress: The 2006 newsletters are coming in daily. The 2003 Team has completed the initial draft manuscript and is sending me chapters for a preliminary review.

Plans: We hope to offer the 2003 Speleo Digest for sale in early fall. We hope to offer the 2004 Speleo Digest for sale by summer 2007. Long-term: A second 25-year index. After being the Speleo Digest Series editor for nine years, I would like to step down. The EVP has been trying to find a replacement that will bring new energy to this underrated publication.

Problems: The 2004 Team ran into some unexpected delays pushing the expected publication schedule back more than six months. There are not enough experienced or qualified volunteers.

2003 Speleo Digest Committee Report (Submitted by Meredith Hall Johnson)

Editorial Team:
Kelsea Johnson and Meredith Hall Johnson (Editors)
George Jaegers and Bob Weaver (Layout)
Sarah Richards (Proofreader)

Progress:
We have finished the layout of the publication. We are now in the process of proofreading, making final changes, and sending the chapters to the Series Editor for approval. The various Indices are nearly complete, and are just awaiting final page numbers.

Problems:
Map quality has been a problem. We have replaced some poor quality maps with better quality maps, after contacting either the newsletter editor or the cartographer. The Series Editor discovered a missing map and that led to me discovering that a couple of entire articles with many accompanying maps had not been put in the layout. These had been in subfolders and just were overlooked. This will add an estimated 10-15 page to an already large publication.

Plans: I personally plan to celebrate the printing of this albatross. I hope to finish up the "front" pages layout in the next week or so. Once all of the chapters are complete, I can finish plugging in correct page numbers into the Indices and lay those pages out. Hopefully all of this will not take more than another month. I do not plan to go to Convention with the albatross still hanging over our heads.

2004 Speleo Digest Committee Report (Submitted by Terry Ragon)

Editorial Team:
Terry Ragon (Editor and Layout)
Julie Fee (Proofreader and Typist)
Chrissy Frotten (Proofreader and Typist)
Martha Mills (Proofreader and Typist)

Progress:
I finished initially sorting the newsletters to choose the articles I wanted to include in this issue of the Speleo Digest earlier this year. I have also entered data specific for approximately 250 of these articles (title, author, etc.) into a spreadsheet to help me have an overall view of the materials needed. I still have approximately 50 articles and graphics to add to this list.

I have completed the general layout and design for my template and have practiced copying text and graphics into the template; but still do not have a sample chapter ready for approval. I have also scanned about 20 articles into my computer and proof-read the electronic version against the hard copies; a task which will be delegated to the other proofreaders as the process becomes routine.

Unfortunately, I have accomplished absolutely nothing on this project in the past five months. Since spring has arrived at our farm I’ve been overwhelmed with unexpected chores; plus have recently gotten married so HAD to spend some time fulfilling those obligations.

Plans:
Since the discovery that my scanner will export material in .rtf format which can then be directly placed into my template, I still plan to gather the majority of text needed for the Digest by myself. This will prevent me from emailing 200 cavers across the country and begging for articles in the correct format; and waiting for numerous replies. I also plan to scan and improve maps and other graphics with Adobe Photoshop so that they will print more clearly in black and white.

Some articles were printed in a special font which will prevent them from being scanned into .rtf format, and I plan to delegate the typing of this material to the typists listed above. In fact, Chrissy Frotten has already typed a handful of articles for me.

I have been using Adobe InDesign to create a family newsletter, so have gained some experience using my template for the Speleo Digest. I will plan to have a sample chapter ready for review in the next six weeks.

Since recent setbacks, I do not see completing this project by October as a reasonable goal. I will now hope to accomplish as much as possible on the Speleo Digest during the extreme hot and cold weather here on our farm. I hope to have the project completed by next spring; which would yield a total time frame of 1.5 years.

Problems:
The main problem has been additional tasks added to my work load around our farm which involved major decisions and purchases.

(9) SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Tom Rea 5683OS (OS, CM, AL, FE)
8677 S State Road 243
Cloverdale IN 46120-9696

Home: (765) 653-4423
Cellular: (317) 691-2051
tomrea@ccrtc.com

Progress:
Big Bone Cave
Larry Matthews’ book on Big Bone Cave is now available in the bookstore and on Amazon.com. The book has 220 pages and 104 illustrations. It is the best Matthews book yet, in my opinion.

The book overran the capital budget by a couple of hundred dollars but that should be recouped by the end of convention. Word-of-mouth comments are very positive. So far, 154 copies of Big Bone Cave book have been sold and we have almost recouped our initial investment already.

Larry is researching another book, subject confidential for now, but it’s Tennessee Cave(s).

Oregon Caves
Steve Knutson has written a history book on Oregon Caves National Monument. It’s an interesting book with lots of historic photographs and quotes from contemporary sources. The book is progressing but will not be available before convention.

Plans:
Caving Basics: The bookstore stock of Caving Basics will last for a year or so. Progress on a rewrite has been minimal.

Gurnee Guide to Commercial Caves: This book is in the information gathering stage. Production will be a long-term project.

Other: There is also a biography of Bill Cuddington in preparation but it is nowhere near ready for our ministrations. There is also a book on the art work of Tom Culverwell in preparation.

Problems:
Price of paper is up right now. My available time and patience is running low. It will be better when I am no longer OVP.

(10) JOURNAL OF CAVE AND KARST STUDIES

Malcolm Field (Editor) 26915RE
National Center for Environmental Assessment (8623D)
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460-0001

Work: (202) 564-3279
Home: (301) 349-5712
field.malcolm@epa.gov

James A. Pisarowicz (Production Editor)
Wind Cave National Park
South Dakota, SD 57747

Home: (605) 673-5582
Work: (605) 745-4600
pisarowi@gwtc.net

BOARD OF EDITORS:
Julian & Salisa Lewis (Life Sciences/Conservation)
Paul Burger (Exploration)
Greg McDonald (Paleontology)
Ira D. Sasowsky (Earth Sciences/Journal Index)
Joseph C. Douglas (Social Sciences)
Patty Jo Watson (Anthropology)
Arthur N. Palmer & Margaret V. Palmer (Book Reviews)
Donald G. Davis (Proofreader)

ADVISORY BOARD:
Calvin Alexander
Steve Worthington
Hazel Barton
Barbara am Ende
Carol Hill
Horton Hobbs III
Julia James
Kathy Lavoie
Joyce Lundberg

Advisory Board Changes: No new changes.

Associate Editors: No new Changes.

Progress: Volume 68, number 1 (April 2006) was sent to the printer at the beginning of April 2006. This issue was not significantly delayed. This issue included some unusual articles (slime molds and bat odors) which demonstrates how wide ranging cave and karst topics can be. It is the very wide range of topics covered by the Journal that often makes the Journal so difficult to read even by experienced karst scientists — it isn’t possible to be an expert in all the diverse fields covered.

Progress on the development of a Journal manuscript on how to prepare a manuscript for publication in the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies and an MS Word template to facilitate manuscript are progressing. This draft template was tested by some of the authors of papers of Vol. 68, No. 1 with a good response from the authors.

Plans: Volume 68 number 2 (April 2006) is currently being worked on. To date (6/20/06) three manuscripts have been received from the Associate Editors with the recommendation that they be published in the Journal. These three articles have all been edited and approved by the Editor and signed Copyright Transfer Agreements received (these will be forwarded to NSS headquarters in due course). In addition, it is likely that at least two more papers will be received.

Special Issue: Progress to produce a special Anniversary Issue next year (December 2006) is slowly progressing. January 2006 will mark the 65th Anniversary of the National Speleological Society. Most authors met the deadline of May 31, 2006 for sending in their manuscripts, but there are some that are still outstanding. If the outstanding manuscripts are not received soon, there may not be time for the full review process to be completed in time for these manuscripts to be published in the December 2006 issue of the Journal. This Anniversary issue of the Journal promises to be quite large as numerous authors volunteered manuscripts even though these additional papers were not originally solicited. This large volume of manuscripts has created an unforeseen problem, however (see below).

Due to the large size and significance of this Special Issue, we are considering the possibility of publishing this issue separately from the standard three issues per volume. So in effect, volume 68 may include four issues. However, funding limitations and other difficulties may prevent publication of the Anniversary issue as a separate fourth issue.

Other Special Issues: Other special issues listed below are still in the works to my knowledge, but no progress reports from the organizers have been sent recently:

(1) A special issue on a portion of the Floridan karst hydrology is still being planned. Some very new and interesting work is being conducted and it is very likely that we may be able to get a full issue packed with articles on the topic.

(2) A special issue on Vietnam Karst is being worked on. It will be an outgrowth of the "International Transdisciplinary Conference on Development and Conservation of Karst Regions" that took place in Ha Noi, Vietnam. There is a significant amount of both pure and applied karst research going on in Vietnam, primarily by Vietnamese and Belgian scientists, and until the meeting proceedings, very little had been published in English. I think that although it will take considerable effort, there is plenty of material to make an interesting and valuable Journal issue that could become one of the most important reference works in English for Vietnamese karst. This project is being coordinated by Chris Groves of Western Kentucky University.

(3) A special issue on Mystery Cave is also being developed. Calvin Alexander of the Univ. of Minnesota is taking the lead on developing this issue. A number of people have been working on a variety of scientific projects in Mystery Cave, Fillmore County, Minnesota for several decades. A major effort involving the Palmers, several of the UMINN people, Rich Lively of the Minnesota Geological Survey, Gerta Nordquist, the Mammalogist for the MnDNR, did projects on geology and speleogenesis (Art and Peg Palmer), hydrogeology (UMINN group), radon (Lively), and bats (Gerta). Very little of this has ever been systematically published. Lively had earlier done a lot of work on the U/Th chronology of the cave using alpha counting techniques. That work has been expanded enormously in the last decade using Larry Edwards' high precision TIMS U/Th techniques. People from the UMINN Geology Department, along with the Univ. of Iowa and other places, have been involved. The DNR just moved into a magnificent new visitor center at the cave and has been doing all sorts of cave management science.

(4) Dr. Andreas Pflitsch, from Bochum University in Germany, and Rod Horrocks, the Wind Cave National Park cave management specialist, have been working at both Wind Cave and Jewel Cave dealing with air movement and temperature variation studies for the past four years. At this point they have about six to eight papers which they wish to publish as a special issue of the Journal. They are looking at the summer issue of 2008 on the meteorology of Black Hills caves. An official confirmation and supporting letter was provided by me to Dr. Pflitsch for use by him in soliciting funding to support his efforts.

(5) Dr. Dominique Rissolo of San Diego State University has proposed a special issue on cave archaeology in the Maya area. Approximately six to eight papers on various aspects of the cave archaeology in the Mayan area are planned.

Other Issues: Efforts are now underway to scan back issues of the Bulletin for posting on the NSS web site. This is a significant undertaking that will be of substantial benefit to NSS and researchers alike.

A request has been made to consider including the NSS Executive Committee (EC) on the Journal Masthead as it is in The NSS News. The thinking is that it might make it easier for readers who want to contact the governing body, or person, by including that information. Also, uniformity and consistency would be achieved. In general, this type of information is not usually included in scientific journals, but the issue was presented to the Journal Advisory Board for consideration. Although the majority opinion was that such information was not needed, opinions were split. This may be an issue for either the EC or the BOG to address.

The Journal is now actively working closely with several other karst journals from around the world by taking part in the World Karst Science Reviews. Specifically, the Journal actively publishes the Table of Contents of those karst journals that reciprocate by publishing the Table of Contents of each issue of the Journal. In addition, the Speleogenesis, The Virtual Journal (http://www.speleogenesis.info/) publishes both the Tables of Contents and Abstracts from each issue of the Journal.

Problems: There are two serious problems at this time and one problem that occurred with the last issue of the Journal (Vol. 68, N0. The problem with last issue occurred when mailing address labels were pasted over the list of "Deep Caves of the United States" printed on the back cover of the Journal. This situation has been noted and efforts will be undertaken in the future to avoid similar problems.

Second, the Journal appears to be severely underfunded. Last year’s volume of the Journal (three issues) ran approximately $8,000 over budget, yet there was nothing irregular in the production of last year’s volume. To maintain the current level of scientific and editorial quality, an increase in the Journal budget by approximately $10,000 is necessary, especially with the cost of paper and printing of the Journal substantially rising each year. In addition, if we want to continue publishing more color photos and figures in the Journal, additional funding may be warranted.

The third problem stems from the very large volume of Life Sciences-oriented and Earth Science-oriented papers submitted for the Anniversary issue. These have somewhat overwhelmed their respective Associate Editors. As Editor of the Journal, I should have either (1) exercised more control over who would be allowed to submit manuscripts for consideration or (2) been better about keeping the Associate Editors informed as to who was submitting what papers. This problem (which may arise again in the future as other special issues are developed) is sufficiently severe due to the excessive workload created.

(11) NSS NEWS

Dave Bunnell 14760RL (OS, FE)
PO Box 879
Angels Camp, CA 95222

(209) 736-1689
davebunnell@comcast.net

Conservation:
Jim & Val Hildreth-Werker
PO Box 207
Hillsboro, NM 88042-0207
(505) 895-5050
werks@zianet.com

Technology Reviews:
Dave Bunnell
davebunnell@comcast.net

Newsletter Review:
Bernie Szukalski
1224 Mira Monte Dr
Redlands, CA 92373-6542
(909)798-5986
bszukalski@esri.com

Spelean Spotlight:
Bill Steele
oksteele@aol.com

Safety & Techniques:
Anmar Mirza
(812) 388-6917
sseg@kiva.net

In the Media:
Sharon Faulkner
1311 2nd Ave NE
Culman, AL 35055
sfaulknr@bellshouth.net

Progress: At Gordon’s suggestion I got a quote from a printing company in the Midwest that both prints and mails. Their prices are pretty competitive and would indeed save some money over the current arrangement, primarily by reducing the mail processing fees. While I am not really desirous of changing printers since our current printer does such a good job, its good to know that we could have the News printed elsewhere if need be under the current budget without sacrificing quality. There is a possibility of doing a full-color "trial" issue with this company, something I discussed with their rep. He agreed to offer the quoted price for a one-time run. I’m attaching their quote to this report.

Plans: Continue as usual and troll for more articles, especially more on domestic caves. Features planned in that regard include a Germany Valley issue coordinated by Gordon Brace, and an issue on doings in the Mammoth Cave region. With the August issue we are beginning a series of interview with some of the earliest NSS members conducted by Dawn Ryan for the membership committee. These will appear under the Spelean Spotlight column to give Bill Steele some breaks from his column.

Problems: None at this time.

(12) MEMBERS MANUAL

Meredith Hall Johnson 21477 RL (FE)
8061 Kittiwake Court
Springfield, VA 22153-293

(703) 451-3637
merecaver@wildmail.com

Committee Members:
Editor: Meredith Hall Johnson
Databases and Cool Facts: Bob Hoke
Advertising: Gordon Birkhimer
Layout: Scott Parvin

Progress: The 2006 Members Manual was completed on schedule according to the Board of Governors’ direction and delivered to all members in June 2006.

Plans: Begin the process of compiling the 2007 Members Manual information in December 2006 in preparation for the June 2007 Members Manual.

Problems: None anticipated.

(13) BIENNUAL REPORT

Currently Vacant and Responsibility has been established in the Department of the President.

Bert Ashbrook (Previous Chairman)
107 Avonbrook Rd
Wallingford, PA 19086-6001

(610) 627-2378
caving.ashbrook@comcast.net

Progress: The reporting period for the next biennial report (2003-04 and 2004-05) ended on April 30, 2005. The Committee currently has no chairman and responsibility has been established in the Department of the President.

.Plans: EVP Birkhimer has advertised the position in the NSS News and hopes someone will volunteer to fill the spot and begin production and smoothly transition over under the President’s Department.

Problems: The committee needs a new committee chairman.

(14) PERMISSION TO REPRINT

Gordon Birkhimer 42778SU
2807 Hogan Court
Falls Church VA 22043-3525

Home (703) 573-4653
birkhimer@cox.net

The following actions were accomplished regarding reprinting NSS copyrighted materials and release of NSS Member information:

7/18/06