National Speleological Society
Executive Vice President's Report

2/02/05

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(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
(13) BIENNUAL REPORT
(14) PERMISSION TO REPRINT

INTRODUCTION / SUMMARY

There are fourteen committees in the Department of the Executive Vice President (EVP).

Progress:
Bill Putnam reports The American Caving Accidents will be delivered to the printer February 25. He is publishing a double issue covering 2002 and 2003 for March 2005 distribution. Harvey DuChene attended the AGI meeting was held November 7-9, 2004 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Colorado. Bill Steele has awarded two grants from the Sara Corrie Fund since the last report of the committee. Joel Despain has one grant under consideration for an expedition to New Zealand led by Dave Bunnell. Donald McFarlane has recommended eliminating Study Groups as the best way to resolve structural deficiencies in the current designation of categories within the RAC. Scott Fee reports a special reprint of the 1989 Speleo Digest was completed and made available for convention. The previously stalled 2001 Speleo Digest manuscript was printed and released for sale on December 1^st. The 2003 Speleo Digest has an editorial team assigned and is on track for a possible Convention publishing date. Tom Rea is working with Larry Matthews, the author of Cumberland Caverns, which we just sold out of, is preparing a similar book on Dunbar Cave in Tennessee. Larry expects to have the manuscript ready for review in February. Here's the good part: with the new print-on-demand process we do not have to load up our inventory with a large number of books. We can order a couple of hundred each time the supply gets low with no large penalty in price. Norm Thompson reports the last minute reviews by have slipped publication by about 6 or 8 weeks On Caves and Camera. Dave Bunnell has rewritten one of the digital chapters already and is working on rewriting the other. Jerry and Salisa Lewis are now joint Associate Editors for Life Sciences and for Conservation. This change was formally reflected in the December 2004 issue of the Journal. The December issue of the Journal included an editorial by the Editor, Malcolm Field, proposing a cessation to the willy-nilly invention of new karst terms. A mechanism was also proposed for approving the acceptance of new karst terms when appropriate. This issue also included the first "Conservation" paper published in a few years. I am in the process of negotiating a successful CA with NCKRI for joint publication of the Journal. I have drafted a new version of the CA incorporating proposed changes from the Board that will make the CA more advantageous for the NSS. Louise Hose reports a change of command has occurred and the new Contracting Officer has been assigned to our work and early indications are that he is responsive and competent but a stickler to addressing details. Dave Bunnell accomplished the December ’04 issue of the NSS News with a new flood varnish on the cover. This prevents the buildup of fingerprints on the thick black ink that has been typical of covers in the past and coupled with the thicker cover stock, will survive the mail much better.

Plans:
K. H. Lavoie will be presenting, "Evaluation of Cave and Karst Programs," at the Special Session on Stewardship of Lands and Hidden Resources at the George Wright Conference, Philadelphia, PA in March 2005. Daniel Chess plans to attend the AAAS annual meeting in Washington DC from February 17th to 19th, 2005. Harvey DuChene will continue to work with AGI to promote translations of Living With Karst: A Fragile Foundation. He also has tentative plans to attend the next AGI meeting (June 19-22, 2005) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Malcolm Field reports a special issue on a portion of the Floridian karst hydrology is still being planned, with a special issue on Vietnam Karst, and a special issue on Mystery Cave is also being developed for future JCKS. I plan to recommend eliminating Study Groups to improve the current RAC structure. Malcolm Field is proposing a special issue of the Journal titled, "The Karst of Vietnam," which will be a subject area that has had very little information has been published in English. It is my intention to initiate the process of annually publishing the ACA part of a NSS News issue each year. The ACA is actually a special issue of the News, it just gets mailed separately, which is very expensive. An annual ACA, as part of the News, will be easier to produce, more timely, and cheaper to deliver than the current system of a two or three year combined issue. I recommend targeting the same specific issue, or month, each year for continuity and consistency. I am advocating the ACA as an "add-on" for that particular News issue, perhaps even a whole self-contained insert section stapled into the middle. The ACA editor will provides a PageMaker file in timely fashion to the News Editor, who will prepare it for printing and distribution.

Problems:
Harvey R. DuChene would like to step down as AGI Representative. I would like to find an NSS member to work with him for the next year and eventually step into his position to insure a smooth transition. The financial statements we got for the Biennial Review have arithmetical errors in them. The Biennial Report is in limbo pending corrected reports.

Respectfully submitted,
Gordon Birkhimer, Executive Vice President, NSS

(1) AMERICAN CAVING ACCIDENTS COMMITTEE

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

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

Progress:
I am still having difficulty obtaining an appropriate cover photo for the 2002–2003 issue. The basic requirement is that the cover photo should be related to caving accidents or rescue activities. Further, the setting should be in a cave or in front of a cave entrance. Finally, it must be on color film or be a color digital image of at least 2000x2500 resolution (5megapixels) so that it can be printed at approximately 8x10 inches at 250 dots per inch.

After multiple appeals on the NSS Discussion Board, Cavers Digest, and other venues, and a host of direct email and phone calls to people in the cave photography and cave rescue communities, as well as a lot of help from Gordon and others, I have received and reviewed quite a few photographs. Unfortunately, almost all are low-resolution (<4 megapixels) digital images that cannot be used for an 8x10 cover photo. Several are quite good, and I am planning to use them in a photo montage on the back cover, as I did for the previous issue.

The problem seems to be the proliferation of inexpensive digital cameras, which have apparently replaced 35mm film cameras for many cavers. The subject matter requirement limits the field of entries quite a bit, but I feel that it adds a lot to the publication. The requirement that the photo be in-cave or at lease in front of a recognizable cave entrance also eliminates photos from indoor or outside training exercises. However, I am willing to use such photos on the back cover or inside the issue.

To solve the cover photo problem, I am arranging an in-cave photo shoot with members of several TAG-area cave rescue teams. I will have three photographers shooting both film and high-resolution (6 to 7 megapixels) images to be sure we get what I need. The shoot will take place in early February. In the event that the shoot does not produce a suitable image, I will use the images that I have to produce a montage or multiple image cover layout and proceed with the printing. In either event, I will send the issue to print by the end of February.

I am also still pursuing some leads for photo sources and would be delighted to receive or find an appropriate photo without having to do the shoot.

This issue is a double-issue covering the 2002 and 2003 incidents. The previous issue, which covered 1999, 2000, and 2001, was published 17 months ago, in June 2003.

Plans:
Conduct photo shoot in early February to obtain cover photograph. Finish proofreading of manuscript and deliver to printer by February 25. Publish double issue of ACA covering 2002 and 2003 for March 2005 distribution.

Problems:
Lack of publication-quality images with appropriate subject matter, I tried to arrange a photo shoot in December or January, but the timing was not good for key people, and I could not get everyone together any sooner.

(2) AAAS REP- BIOLOGY

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

518-564-3150 (w)
518-562-1154 (h)
518-564-3152 (fax)
lavoekh@plattsburgh.edu

Progress:
I will be presenting at the Special Session on Stewardship of Lands and Hidden Resources. (Session Chairs: T. Strong and P. Seiser) at the George Wright Conference, Philadelphia, PA in March 2005, "Evaluation of cave and karst programs." K. H. Lavoie.

Plans:
I still need to send in the article on the NSS and the AAAS to the NSS Newsletter.

Problems:
As usual, lack of time.

(3) AAAS REP-GEOLOGY & GEOGRAPHY

Daniel L Chess
19 Tavano Road
Ossining, NY 10562

Home: (914) 945-2479
E-mail: DLCHESS@us.ibm.com

Progress:
No Change

Plans:
I will be attending the AAAS annual meeting in Washington DC from February 17th to 19th, 2005. The Geology Section business meeting will be on Friday February 18th from 12PM to 3PM. Travel and conference related expenses have been out of pocket. The budget for the AAAS Geology representative continues to be zero.

Problems:
No Problems

(4) American Geological Institute DELEGATE

Harvey R. DuChene
7216 East Bentley Circle
Englewood, CO. 80112

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

Progress:
The last AGI meeting was held November 7-9, 2004 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Colorado. The Member Society Council was held on the morning of November 8, and focused on the potential impacts of Open Access on scientific publications. Major concerns are that the costs of publishing scientific papers may be shifted to the authors, and the loss of peer review. Pushing the cost of publication onto authors could result in only independently wealthy authors and those with strong financial support being able to publish their material. Loss of peer review could result in a loss of quality control and the publication of a flood of poorly researched and presented work. This movement is currently being considered by the American Medical Societies, but is expected to spread to other scientific disciplines, including speleology.

The Environmental Geoscience Advisory Committee met November 9 and was attended by myself and George Veni. A major topic for discussion was the high level of interest from outside AGI to have Living With Karst: A Fragile Foundation translated into Spanish and Arabic. Veni reported that groups in Lebanon and Guatemala are interested in publishing book, and that the text has already been translated into Spanish. AGI has established a policy for foreign language versions and a cost structure for using its materials. Translating this book into other languages will expand its distribution and make fundamental knowledge of karst available to many people who do not speak or read English.

Plans:
I will be continuing to work with AGI to promote translations of Living With Karst: A Fragile Foundation. I also have tentative plans to attend the next AGI meeting (June 19-22, 2005) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Problems:
I would like to find an NSS member to work with me for the next year and eventually step into my position as AGI Representative. I have enjoyed filling this position for NSS for the last 10 years, but would like to apply my volunteer time elsewhere. Also, I no longer enjoy the benefit of corporate financial support in paying for trips to AAPG and GSA meeting sites, and it is more difficult for me to attend all of the AGI meetings. I do not plan to abruptly leave the position, particularly since I have established excellent connections and working relationships with AGI staff and representatives of other Member Societies. I would like to have time to introduce my replacement to these people and insure a smooth transition.

(5) U.S. EXPLORATION COMMITTEE

Bill Steele, Chairman
PO Box 166332
Irving, Texas 65016-6332
Cell: 214-770-4712
Work: 972-580-2538
E-mail: speleosteele@aol.com

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

Progress:
Two grants from the Sara Corrie Fund have been awarded since the last report of the committee:

A grant in the amount of $250 was awarded last October to the Scapegoat Wilderness Smoking Entrance Project, and sent to Joe Oliphant, chairman of the Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto of Montana.  The grant was for the purchase of stell quick links, a bear-proof container, and a GPS unit.

A grant in the amount of $250 was awarded last November to the Tony Groves Project, for exploration related expenses.  The check was sent to Jon Jasper, project coordinator.  The Tony Grove Project is exploring a deep cave in Utah.

Plans:
Plans are to continue as have been.

Problems:
None

(6) INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATION COMMITTEE

Joel Despain
HCR 89 Box 211
Three Rivers, CA 93271

559 565-3717 (day)
559 561-4972 (evening)
joeldespain@wildmail.com

Committee members:
Carol Vesely
Kevin Downey
Cyndie Walck
Rebecca Jones

Progress:
One grant for an expedition to New Zealand led by Dave Bunnell is under consideration.

Plans:
More giving of grants and fund raising to bolster the endowment.

Problems:
None

Current Budget is $800 before the New Zealand expedition which would reduce the balance to $600.

(7) RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE

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

Ph: 909 607 2564
Fax: 909 621 8588
Email: dmcfarla@jsd.claremont.edu
Web page: http://jsd.claremont.edu/faculty/mcfarlane/index.htm
Extinct Mammals of the West Indies Website:
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:
The Research Advisory Committee is in receipt of several research grant proposals, which are going out for review next week. I have received a few Project Annual reports, and will now begin the laborious process of trying to solicit the late reports. There was some exchange of ideas between McFarlane and Birkhimer as to the best way to resolve structural deficiencies in the current designation of NSS "Projects" versus "Study Groups". Birkhimer has introduced a motion to delete Study Groups.

Plans:
RAC will place a "reminder" in the NSS News in an attempt to improve the response of NSS Projects to the annual reporting requirement. Notification of the Ralph Stone Award appeared in the December NSS News, with a deadline of mid-March - that will be our next major job.

Problems:
None

(8) SPELEO DIGEST

Scott Fee
PO Box 380473
Birmingham AL 35

205-856-9177
E-mail: scottfee@caves.org

Progress:
A special reprint of the 1989 Speleo Digest was completed and made available for convention. 75 Copies were printed and 32 copies remain available. The previously stalled 2001 Speleo Digest manuscript was printed and released for sale on December 1^st. This book could not have been taken from digital to paper without the intense volunteer effort of Scott Parvin. As of January 27^th, we have sold 62 copies. The 2003 Speleo Digest has an editorial team assigned and is on track for a possible Convention publishing date. (See detailed report below). 2004 Newsletters are tricking in and I am seeking an editorial team. 2005 Newsletter are coming in daily.

Plans:
Find a qualified volunteer to lead the 2004 team

Problems:
Not enough experienced or qualified volunteers.

2001 Speleo Digest

Edited by: James Adler, Mark Adler, and Scott Parvin
Layout and Design: Scott A. Parvin
Proofreader: Julie S. Fee

Progress:
The book was available for sale on December 1^st.

Plans:
This is the last report for this sub-committee,

Problems:
All solved.

2003 Speleo Digest

Editorial Team
Kelsea Johnson and Meredith Hall Johnson (Editors)
Meredith Hall Johnson (Layout)
Sarah Richards (Proofreader)

Progress:
Kelsea Johnson, co-editor, made a great effort and nearly finished screening the remaining newsletters; we have maybe 5-10 percent more to screen. The screening part turns out to be the easy part, though when we were in the thick of it, we didn't think so. I have been keeping a list of what we've asked for, so that it can become a checklist and master list of articles, sort of a precursor to an Article Index. I feel this is vital. E-mailing also gives the editors the e-mail address I want them to send articles to. For the newsletters with more than 10 items, I'm requesting a CD-ROM to be made with all the issues and mailed to us. It will just be so much easier to virus-scan a CD all at once and then transfer the articles to the file folders on my hard drive. As for how much we have actually done... Well, I would say that we are 90-95 percent finished with the screening/selecting process. I estimate that we are about 10-15 percent of the way to contacting editors for material and that we're about 5 percent of the way to collecting material and editing it. I know that does not sound like much, but I am a master procrastinator. I put things off for so long and then I realize I have an albatross around my neck and get off my butt and start working. I am to that point now. I have started working on a daily basis to get this project in hand. Hopefully by the next report, the statistics will sound a lot better. We have begun to get back articles from our proofreader. Having that extra set of eyes is helpful, though it adds time to the process. We may not send her every single article in the future, but we will decide that as we go.

Plans:
And yes, our schedule has gone by the wayside. We were far too optimistic about what we could get done during the holidays. However, we have both made a concerted effort to get the project moving and it is. The revised schedule is as follows:

End of January 2005: Finish contacting editors and collecting material.

End of February 2005: Be one-third of the way through the editing and proofreading of the material. Make the first 8-page section for Series Editor Approval.

End of March 2005: Have another third of the material edited and proofread.

End of April 2005: Have the final third edited and proofread.

Month of May 2005: Begin layout of publication.

June 2005: Continue and hopefully finish layout. Send to Series Editor for final review, changes, and submission to printer. We realize that this all is subject to change, but have no fear. The early deadline that Kelsea and I set for ourselves will hold us in good stead in case we come across any unforeseen problems. Our ultimate to-the-printer deadline is mid-August.

Problems:
The e-mailing requests to grotto editors are slow. I have been saving the text of each e-mail so that I have a record of who I e-mailed and what I asked for. However, since this is taking up a good deal of time and some hard drive space, I may stop doing this step. And it might be moot in light of the aforementioned list I've been keeping. Live and learn-maybe by the time we do another Speleo Digest, we'll have this all down pat. One of the most time-consuming parts of this whole process is the downloading and virus-scanning of articles that have been e-mailed. I know my current virus software says it scans incoming e-mail, but I am cautious and scan each individual attachment as well. As you can imagine, this takes time.

(9) SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Tom Rea
8677 S State Road 243
Cloverdale IN 46120-9696

(home) 765-653-4423
(cellular) 317-691-2051
(E-mail) ovp@caves.org

Progress:
1. The Biennial Review for 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 is ready to go the printer except for a major glitch. See problems.

2. Larry Matthews, the author of Cumberland Caverns, which we just sold out of, is preparing a similar book on Dunbar Cave in Tennessee. The book covers aboriginal history (10,000 BC to AD 500 ), early settlement by whites, early commercial use starting in the mid 1800s, and Big Band use in the 1930s, and then an extensive section on the exploration by the Northern Indiana Grotto in the 70s and 80s, who mapped the cave to over 8 miles in length.  Exploration by NSS members continues and a new entrance was discovered last year.

Larry expects to have the manuscript ready for review in February. Here's the good part: with the new print-on-demand process we do not have to load up our inventory with a large number of books. We can order a couple of hundred each time the supply gets low with no large penalty in price.

Plans:
To review a book offered to the NSS and submit recommendations.

Problems:
The financial statements we got for the Biennial Review have arithmetical errors in them. It doesn't make sense to publish a book we intend to use for fund raising with errors in the financial statements. And I do not think I should make changes in an audited report. Bert Ashbrook discovered the problem and pointed them out in his manuscript. As soon as I saw them I told Paul Stevens and he asked the auditor to issue corrected reports but I have heard nothing in reply. Thus the Biennial Report is in limbo pending corrected reports.

Ted Kayes obtained a corrected report and the book is now completed. A quote has been solicited.

BOOKS IN PROGRESS:

On Caves and Camera

The last minute reviews have slipped publication by about 6 or 8 weeks.

Bill Mixon did his expected thorough review and I am working through his redlined copy of the book, marking those of his suggested changes that I think are worth doing at this point.  Then David Anderson will have to edit the Quark files accordingly.

Dave Bunnell has rewritten one of the digital chapters already and is working on rewriting the other.  He also added a page on electronic flashes and I rewrote part of JV's chapter on electronic flash to fit it in.

Kevin Downey finished the color scans before Xmas.  He had not done the review of the B&W scans at that time.  I have not spoken with him in about 3 weeks.  (He was also off to China for a couple of weeks around Xmas time.)

After all these changes, I will need to rework the index for the second time.  (The first time was after Woods withdrew his chapter.)

Norm Thompson

Cave Conservation and Restoration

Pages: 576 pages total, plus separate 4/C cover and separate one or two 8-page 4/c inserts

Size: 7 1/2 by 9 inches.
Quantity: 1M and 2M
Paper: 60 lb. white uncoated stock for text pages.
60 lb. white coated stock for insert.
Cover 10pt, C1S
Ink: Black on text pages. 4/C on cover and inserts
Color Inserts One or two 8-page 4/C inserts.
Preparation: Please quote separately.

Text: We will supply Macintosh Zip disks in native or PDF format with all text and illustrations (line and half tones) in position using PageMaker 6.5. Printer to output film, strip to imposition, and supply one set of blueline proofs.

Covers: We will supply Macintosh Zip disks in native or PDF format. You will make final film and proof for front and back covers and color insert.

Binding: Perfect Bound: Cover is four color plus UV coating

Sewing: Smythe sew all folios.

Packing: Shrink wrap individually, pack in cartons

Shipping: Estimated shipping costs to Huntsville, AL 35810, inside delivery.

Pricing: Please break out the cost estimates for the color cover and the color inserts separately.

(10) JOURNAL OF CAVE AND KARST STUDIES

Malcolm Field (Editor)
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
E-mail: 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
E-Mail: pisarowi@gwtc.net

BOARD OF EDITORS (current)
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 (Book Reviews)
Donald G. Davis (Proof Reader)

ADVISORY BOARD
Chris Groves
Carol Hill
Horton Hobbs III
Dave Jagnow
Julia James
Kathy Lavoie
Joyce Lundberg
Donald MacFarlane
William White

Progress:
Volume 66, number 3 (December 2004) was sent out at the end of December 2004. This issue was not delayed — all of us involved worked at a fairly frenetic pace, especially Ira Sasowsky to get the Index completed, to get this out on time.

Jerry and Salisa Lewis are now joint Associate Editors for Life Sciences and for Conservation. This change was formally reflected in the December 2004 issue of the Journal.

The December issue of the Journal included an editorial by the Editor, Malcolm Field, proposing a cessation to the willy-nilly invention of new karst terms. A mechanism was also proposed for approving the acceptance of new karst terms when appropriate.

This issue also included the first "Conservation" paper published in a few years — very few conservation papers have been deemed even remotely acceptable by the Associate Editor for Conservation, Jerry Lewis. As a result most are rejected prior to even being sent out for review.

Lastly, this issue included two papers in which the senior authors are from foreign countries (Poland and Belgium). The fact these authors chose the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies to publish their work is a tribute to the wide-range of readership that the Journal enjoys.

Plans:
Volume 67 number 1 (April 2005) is not yet being worked on. To date (1/11/’05) several (five) manuscripts have already been received from the Associate Editors with the recommendation that they be published in the Journal. One of the papers will include a two-page fold-out color map of a cave system and the historical archaeological investigations that took place in the past. In addition, at least one discussion paper and author’s response will likely be published in the April issue.

Several book reviews will possibly be ready for this issue. Some have already been received but there were problems with the reviews so the Associate Editor for Book Reviews, Arthur Palmer, is revising the reviews.

Special Issues:
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.

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 Univ.

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 speleogensis (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's center at the cave and has been doing all sorts of cave management science.

Issues:
A prospectus to join with GeoScienceWorld.org (GSW) has been received. It is free to join and looks to be beneficial to the Journal in terms of recognition. Although I have not received responses from all of the members of the Advisory Board and Associate Editors, those that I have heard from are in favor of joining with GSW. I now strongly recommend our joining with GSW.

The terms of appointment on the Advisory Board for William White and Donald McFarlane have expired. Retirement letters to these two individual have been mailed out. An invitation letter to become a member of the Advisory Board has been sent out to Hazel Barton. A second invitation letter to a potential ninth member to the Advisory Board to be determined will go out soon.

Problems: None

(11) NSS NEWS

Dave Bunnell
PO Box 879
Angels Camp, CA 95222

dbunnell@caltel.com

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

Technology Reviews
Mike Fraley
cheshire@prairienet.org

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

Progress:
The News continues to come out on time and within budget. I got the last of the things on my wish list as of the December ’04 issue: a flood varnish on the cover. This prevents the buildup of fingerprints on the thick black ink that has been typical of covers in the past. Coupled with the thicker cover stock, I find that the covers are surviving the mail much better.

Plans:
Continue as usual and troll for more articles, hopefully more on domestic caves. Other foreign expeditions supported by the international exploration grants will lead to articles as well.

I will be participating in an expedition to New Zealand between Feb. 25 and April 4. I’ll finish up the April issue about a week earlier than usual, before I go. The May issue may be mailed a few days later than normal, depending on whether a feature is available before I go to start a layout with. I will not be reachable via e-mail, but my wife will download material for the News while I am gone.

I’ll plan a major feature on New Zealand caving with material from that trip and an earlier one.

Problems:
One thing worth noting is that with so few ribbon winners in the salon this year, there is much less material for the color section. The disk made from the salon last year was very poor quality, and as it was I had to pester the ribbon winners for better scans or copies of their slides to scan.

(12) MEMBERS MANUAL

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

(home) 703-573-4653
(e-mail) birkhimer@cox.net

Committee Members:
Meredith Johnson - Proofreader
Bob Hoke - Database Manager
Scott Parvin - Layout and Design

Progress:
The 2004 Members Manual was printed and mailed in December 2004 and most members received their copy in Late December and January 2005.

Plans:
I plan on beginning the process of gathering the information that will make up the 2006 Members Manual in December 2005 and anticipate a firm delivery date to the Membership of May 2006.

Problems: None.

(13) BIENNUAL REPORT

Bert Ashbrook
107 Avonbrook Rd
Wallingford, PA 19086-6001

(610) 627-2378
caveman@craftech.com

Progress:
At long last here is what I consider the final version of the biennial report in MS Word format. I will send you the map for the sidebar on cave maps in a separate email.

Plans:
I am copying Paul and Ted because of three apparent errors in the Statement of Activities of Mercer's audit report for 02-03, which are at footnotes 2, 3, and 4 in the "total of all funds" column on page 21. Paul and Ted, can you (1) Confirm whether these are in fact errors, and

(2) Determine whether we want to point them out in the biennial report?

Problems: None

(14) PERMISSION TO REPRINT

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

(home) 703-573-4653
(e-mail) birkhimer@cox.net

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

2/16/05