National Speleological Society

Executive Vice President's Report
Board of Governors Meeting Irving, Texas March 25, 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
(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 final invoices for the printing and distribution of the 2002-2003 issue of American Caving Accidents (ACA) have been paid. The cost for printing and mailing was $10,913.31 which exceeded the budgeted amount of $10,695.00 by $218.31. The budget overrun resulted from the additional expense of $413.39 for the follow-up mailing of copies to General Members, who were accidentally omitted from the initial mailing. The overage from the printing was smaller than usual, leaving us with only about 200 extra copies of ACA 2002-2003 for the Bookstore. That is less than half the usual number, and he believe that the Bookstore is almost out of them. The cost for 1,000 additional copies would be $2,250. As an alternative, Bill could produce an electronic reprint in the form of a PDF document that could be produced in small quantities on CDROM for less than one dollar per copy, which could be sold through the bookstore web site as a downloadable file. Kathleen Lavoie, American Association for the Advancement of Science – Biology, is in the process of contacting speakers for a possible symposium on Sulfidic Cave and Karst Systems for the 2007 (AAAS) Annual Meeting in February of 2007, which will be held in San Francisco. Daniel Chess, American Association for the Advancement of Science – Biology, 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 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. Daniel received his reappointment from the AAAS for another 3 years. Harvey DuChene, American Geological Institute (AGI) Delegate, mentioned he responded to AGI’s request for updated information on the Executive staff and membership. For 2006, the stipulated member count (The number of members of the Geography and Geology Section) is 79. The NSS will pay AGI $158.00 in 2006 for dues. Bill Steele, U.S. exploration Committee, is currently reviewing a grant proposal for the Tony Groves Project for exploration related expenses. The Tony Grove Project is exploring a deep cave in Utah. 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 going on a research trip to Belize to collect cave sediment samples for paleoclimate research. Don McFarlane says the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) has made three awards during the January competition. The recipients and their projects are Gustavo Quesada for Bat Diversity in Costa Rican Caves, Aldemaro Romero for Genetic structures of the southern Cavefish Typhlichthys subterraneus, and Ben Hutchins the Genetic divergence in Antrolana lira and Stygobromus tenuis. Don has encouraged Project directors to submit their required annual reports by the end of the 2005 calendar year. A current listing of Projects and their contact details has been submitted to the editor of the 2006 Members Manual. Beloved Ex-President Scott Fee reports the 2005 newsletters for the Speleo Digest have, for the most part, arrived. The 2006 newsletters are coming in daily. The 2003 Team has completed their initial draft. Tom Rea of the Special Publications Committee reports Larry Matthews is preparing a book on Big Bone Cave. He has a first draft completed of most of the book, which is included in the Capital Budget. Tom is asking for $1,800 for an initial run of 300 copies. Tom says Anmar Mirza is almost through adding illustrations to the NCRC Training Manual manuscript. Since this is to be a loose-leaf publication for handing out at classes, he expects that this will be a Xerox job that the NCRC will handle. Tom has completed the index and will do a final proofread of the manuscript for On Cave Conservation and Restoration. The book should be available at the 2006 NSS Convention. Malcolm Field has completed Volume 67, number 3 (December 2005) of the Journal of Caves and Karst Studies (JCKS) was sent to the printer at the end of December 2005. This issue was delayed because there were numerous problems with the NSS Convention Abstracts that caused a delay in finalizing this issue of the Journal. In addition, some manuscripts required last minute corrections which further delayed sending the issue to the printer. This issue should be mailed out by mid January, 2006. Dave Bunell says his recent call for articles on the NSS board got a good response and he actually have several month’s worth of articles queued up, more than he’s had in quite awhile. Recently broadband internet became available in his area and he finally got connected on cable. This will help a lot with all the digital image submissions he gets. Meredith Hall Johnson reports that as of late January, the MM Committee has sent out requests for cavers to submit photographs for consideration as cover art for the 2006 NSS Members Manual due in June. All of the previous text submitters (mostly NSS officers and committee chairmen) have been notified that their updates are due soon.

Plans: Bill could produce PDF versions of all of the previous issues of ACA that he has published, which would cover the period from 1994 to the present. These could also be published and sold as a collection on CDROM or via download from the bookstore web site. Bill is continuing work on the preparation of the 2004 and 2005 reports for publication. The 2004 and 2005 reports will be published in a combined issue in June, 2006. The ACA will then resume an annual publication schedule, with publication of the 2006 reports scheduled for June, 2007. Bill estimates the expenses for the 2004-2005 issue of ACA to be $12,200.00. Daniel 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". AGI is seeking a representative from NSS to participate in their important sessions. The public outreach and education initiatives are designed identify and implement methods of doing a better job of presenting Earth Science to the general public. Harvey has tentatively agreed to fill the position. Don has advertised 2006 Ralph Stone Graduate Fellowship, and plans to receive all applications by the end of March. Scott hopes to offer the 2003 Speleo Digest for sale in early summer. He hopes to offer the 2004 Speleo Digest for sale by Christmas and his long-term plan is a second 25-year index. Sadly, after being the Speleo Digest Series editor for nine years, Scott has decided to step down and will try to find a replacement. Tom has started work on a fourth edition of Caving Basics and he has recruited authors for chapters on LED cave lights and GPS. The bookstore stock of Caving Basics will last for a year or so. This book is long out of print but it was popular with the bookstores at show caves around the country. Tom has formed a committee of himself, Jeanne Gurnee, and Gordon Smith to update and publish a revision of Gurnee Guide to Commercial Caves. He is planning for this book to be in color. Jeanne Gurnee has recruited Gary Burdeaux (Diamond Caverns) as photo editor of the book. Malcolm Field says Volume 68 number 1 (April 2006) is not yet being worked on. To date (1/17/’06) no manuscripts have been received from the Associate Editors with the recommendation that they be published in the Journal. Several articles are being evaluated by the Associate Editors so it is likely that the April 2006 issue should be ready to go by April 2006.

Dave plans to continue as usual and troll for more articles, especially more on domestic caves. Features are planned on California’s Black Chasm Cavern, a Germany Valley issue coordinated by Gordon Brace, a series on Woodville Plains caves by Michael Wisenbaker, and a big issue on doings in the Mammoth Cave region. The 2006 NSS Members Manual is scheduled for delivery in June 2006. I have advertised the Biennial Report Committee Chairman position in the NSS News and hope someone will volunteer to fill the spot and begin production.

Problems: The expenses for the 2004-2005 issue of ACA will be $12,200.00, which is over the current budget, and the question of how to proceed needs to be resolved. Harvey R. DuChene would like to step down as AGI Representative. I would like to find an NSS member to work with him and step into his position to insure a smooth transition. Meredith Hall Johnson reports the 2003 Speleo Digest Team’s preliminary page count was approaching 800 pages. Considering the Digest is a softbound book, in addition to the limited retail market and the expected price of this publication, the committee has steadfastly held an upper ceiling around 650 pages. Therefore, the team has decided to reduce the current page count by reformatting the book. And there is the perennial problem of lacking enough experienced or qualified volunteers. A problem with JCKS identified at this time comes from Ira Sasowsky and deals with the Index that appears in the December issue of the Journal. Specifically, Ira writes: "We had a lot of difficulty with the indexing this year. I think the main issue is that the DOS indexing software (KWIX) that we have been using has become more and more incompatible with the Windows OS. It has gotten to a point where we cannot go on as we had been. Dave Bunnell 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 salon awards or not, and he hopes this will hedge against any attempts to place more restrictions on the salons. 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. 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: I am currently creating a Copyright Policy for the NSS to include a standard Copyright Agreement. Once I have completed the drafts, I intend on forwarding them to the Board for review, comment, and corrections.

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: Final invoices for the printing and distribution of the 2002-2003 issue of ACA have been paid. The breakdown of costs for printing and mailing was:

$6,843.20 Printing
$1,180.00 Mailing services
$2,404.56 Domestic Postage
$485.55 Foreign Postage
---------------------------
$10,913.31 ACA02-03 Expenses

That exceeds the budgeted amount of $10,695.00 by $218.31. The overrun resulted from the additional expense of $413.39 for the follow-up mailing of copies to General Members, who were accidentally omitted from the initial mailing. The overage from the printing was smaller than usual, leaving us with about 200 extra copies of ACA 2002-2003 for the Bookstore. That is less than half the usual number, and I believe that the Bookstore is almost out of them already. I requested and received a quote from the printer for a re-printing in case additional copies are desired. Cost for 1,000 additional copies would be $2,250. Most of the expense of production is in the setup and press time, so a reduction in the number of copies to 500 does not substantially reduce the price.

As an alternative, we could consider producing an electronic reprint in the form of a PDF document. That could be produced in small quantities on CDROM for less than one dollar per copy, or could be sold through the bookstore web site as a downloadable file. I could create a PDF version of that issue without much difficulty, since everything but the outside cover is already in PDF for archival purposes. I could also produce PDF versions of all of the previous issues of ACA that I have published, which would cover the period from 1994 to the present. These could also be published and sold on CDROM or via download from the bookstore web site. The best strategy might be to produce a 5-issue electronic reprint this summer after the 2004-2005 reports are published. It could be sold as a collection on CRDOM or by individual issue downloads from the bookstore web site.

I am continuing work on the preparation of the 2004 and 2005 reports for publication. Gordon and I have discussed the logistics at length, and have agreed that the 2004 and 2005 reports will be published in a combined issue in June, 2006. ACA will then resume an annual publication schedule, with publication of the 2006 reports scheduled for June, 2007. I estimate the expenses for the 2004-2005 issue of ACA to be:

$7,500.00 Printing
$1,500.00 Mailing services
$2,600.00 Domestic Postage
$600.00 Foreign Postage
---------------------------
$12,200.00 ACA04-05 Expenses

These figures include the effect of the recent postage increase, as well as increases in paper and printing costs, and also allow for a production run of 11,000 copies rather than 10,000, as used for the most recent issue.

Plans: Publish 2004 and 2005 reports in a combined issue in June, 2006. Compile

2006 reports for publication in June, 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: I am in the process of contacting speakers for a possible symposium on Sulfidic Cave and Karst Systems for the 2007 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting. The meeting is in February, and in 2007 it will be held in San Francisco. I have a list of suggested speakers, and two acceptances with topics. I need a total of either four or eight speakers for a formal symposium.

Plans: I am continuing to work on items pending from the last report.

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 responded to AGI’s request for updated information on the Executive staff and membership. For 2006, the stipulated member count (equals the number of members of the Geography and Geology Section) is 79. The dues NSS will pay to AGI for 2006 will be $158.00

Plans: The AGI Executive Committee met on January 27-28, 2006 to plan for the coming year. It was agreed that AGI will focus on public outreach at the spring meeting in Houston, Texas, and on education at the fall meeting in Philadelphia. AGI is seeking a representative from NSS to participate in these important sessions. The public outreach and education initiatives are designed identify and implement methods of doing a better job of presenting Earth Science to the general public. I have tentatively agreed to fill the position, provided I am able to attend these meetings (At this writing, I am not sure that I will be attending either meeting).

Problems: I am still looking for a person to work with me as I transition out of my position as AGI representative for NSS.

Gordon, regarding budget: The only expenses I am aware of are the annual dues paid by NSS to AGI. That number will be $158.00, based on the stipulated member count of 79 for NSS. I am not aware of any other expenses related to AGI.

(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: A grant proposal is currently being reviewed for the Tony Groves Project for exploration related expenses. 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 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 below expedition receive $400.00 from our budget of $1,000.00.

Mr. Despain,

I would like to apply for an NSS International Exploration Grant on behalf of the Vaca Plateau Geoarchaeological Project (VPGP). As a part of the VPGP, I and several other NSS members will be going on a research trip to Belize to collect cave sediment samples for paleoclimate research (13C analysis). The trip will involve traveling to several caves located within a remote archaeological site, which is where we will collect our samples. The location is in the highly karstified Maya Mountains in western part of the country and involves bringing in all of our own water and gear to the campsite, which is approximately 20 miles into the jungle along an abandoned and overgrown logging road using an old tractor to haul our supplies. The duration of the trip will be 14 days and will take place on March 9, 2006.

Reconstruction of the environment, specifically vegetation changes, is important in this area because very little research has been done and a better understanding of Maya impact on the landscape and tropical response to drought conditions will help to clarify future climate change impacts. Collaboration between archaeologists, geomorphologists, and paleoclimatologists on this project will shed light on the formation, manipulation, and transformation of the Vaca Plateau, Belize and the surrounding region, providing a holistic perspective of Late Holocene environmental change.

I previously applied for and received an NSS Int'l travel grant in 2005 for research work in Belize, which resulted in an article entitled "Environmental Reconstruction since 2,500 years ago from cave sediments in Belize," which is currently in review for publication in Quaternary Research with acknowledgement to the NSS for the travel grant I received last year. It is my hope that the NSS will fund our research again this year and more publications will result from this year's expedition.

Budget:

1) Water collection device for isotope calibration study ~$300.00
2) Coring equipment to collect sediments from 3 caves ~$300.00
3) Ground transportation to campsite ~$100.00

NSS Members on Expedition:
Jason S. Polk (55322RE)
Lee Florea (37909RE)
Sarah Fratesi (53988RE)
Amber Yuellig (43992FR)

Past NSS Members and others on Expedition:
Dr. Philip Reeder, Univ. South Florida
Dr. Philip van Beynen, Univ. South Florida
Dr. James Webster, US EPA
Bill Reynolds, Director of Lower Dover Field Station, Belize
Dr. Mick Day, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Thank you for your consideration,
Jason S. Polk

Plans: More of the same

Problems: None

(7) RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Donald A. McFarlane 23523RE
Associate Professor,
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 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: NSS_RAC continues to function smoothly. There have been two principal areas of work:

Research Grants: Although funds remaining from the June competition were minimal, RAC has made three awards during the January competition. The recipients and their projects are:

Gustavo Quesada: Bat Diversity in Costa Rican Caves.

Aldemaro Romero: Genetic structure of the southern Cavefish Typhlichthys subterraneus

Ben Hutchins: Genetic divergence in Antrolana lira and Stygobromus tenuis.

NSS Projects: At the request of BOG, extended efforts were made to encourage Project directors to submit the required annual reports by the end of the 2005 calendar year. A current listing of Projects and their contact details has been submitted to the editors of the 2006 members manual.

Plans: The 2006 Ralph Stone Graduate Fellowship has been advertised, and receipt of applications will close in late March.

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 2005 newsletters have, for the most part, arrived. The 2006 newsletters are coming in daily. The 2003 Team has completed the initial draft manuscript.

Plans: We hope to offer the 2003 Speleo Digest for sale in early summer. We hope to offer the 2004 Speleo Digest for sale by Christmas. Long-term: A second 25-year index. After being the Speleo Digest Series editor for nine years, I have decided to step down and try to find a replacement that will bring new energy to this underrated publication.

Problems: The 2003 Team preliminary page count was approaching 800 pages. Considering the Digest is a softbound book, in addition to the limited retail market and the expected price of this publication, the committee has steadfastly held an upper ceiling around 650 pages. Therefore, the team has decided to reduce the current page count by reformatting the book as indicated below. 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 pretty much finished with the layout of the publication. However, we went way over on the page count and are now having to fix this. (See "Problems".)

Problems:
The Committee (namely me!) insisted on using 10-point type for the text. This, in addition to our having pulled a large number of articles, caused us to go over the 600-page production guideline. We decided to reduce the font size down to nine, adding more time to the project and work for the layout guys. With the widespread use of desktop publishing, it seems more and more articles are getting published. We worried at one point about not having enough material, and then it turns out we pulled too much. We are also going through to cull out some of the more "trip report-y" articles that are not as relevant as many others. We are also removing the very visually appealing, but space consuming, pull quotes.

Plans:
We hope to have the page total number pared down to the within appropriate guidelines in the next month or two. The layout is very time consuming and having to change font sizes and take out the pull quotes is causing much delay.

2004 Speleo Digest

(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: After receiving the newsletters on October 25, I have finished initially sorting them to choose the articles I want to include in this issue of the Speleo Digest. I have also entered data specific for approximately 150 of these articles (title, author, etc.) into a spreadsheet to help me have an overall view of the materials needed. I still have approximately 75 articles and graphics to add to this list.

I have discovered that my scanner is able to scan material directly into .rtf format, so I have begun scanning a handful of newsletters and storing the text and photos on my hard drive. I have also used Adobe Photoshop to improve the quality of a few marginal photos so they will print better in black and white.

I am in the process of learning Adobe InDesign from scratch since I will use it to lay out the Digest; and have made considerable progress in this area. I have also received templates from Scott Parvin which have greatly helped me in the layout of pages for the Digest.

Plans: Since the discovery that my scanner will export material in .rtf format which can then be directly placed into my template, I now plan to gather the majority of text needed for the Digest. This will prevent me from e-mailing 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 nearly completed my Adobe InDesign "training" and have already begun to sketch (on paper) how I want my Digest layout to appear; within the guidelines provided by Scott Parvin’s previous templates. I plan to begin building my own template and copying material into it within the next month; and have a test chapter ready for submission and approval within six weeks.

I still plan to have this project completed by October; hopefully sooner.

Problems: None.

(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
ovp@caves.org

Progress: Big Bone Cave: Larry Matthews is preparing a book on Big Bone Cave. Big Bone Cave is a Tennessee Natural Area and contains the largest collection of saltpeter mining artifacts I have heard of. He has a first draft completed of most of the book and we had a short photo trip to the area after the Cumberland Caverns Christmas Party in December. We have a large collection of photos from Larry and other photographers already on hand. The book is included in the Capital Budget. I missed my guess on Dunbar Cave by $100 and there will be some extra expenses for Big Bone Cave, so I am asking for $1,800 for an initial run of 300 copies.

NCRC Training Manual: Anmar Mirza is almost through adding illustrations to the manuscript. Since this is to be a loose-leaf publication for handing out at classes, I expect that this will be a Xerox job that the NCRC will handle.

On Cave Conservation and Restoration: Tom Rea has completed the index and will do a final proofread of the manuscript and on to the printer. The book should be available at the 2006 NSS Convention.

Plans: Caving Basics: The bookstore stock of Caving Basics will last for a year or so. The book is also a little "long in the tooth." I have started work on a fourth edition and have recruited authors for chapters on LED cave lights and GPS. The chapters I am responsible for have been updated and several of the other authors have agreed to do theirs but little progress has occurred. Like other multiple-author books, this will be a long pull.

Gurnee Guide to Commercial Caves: This book is long out of print but it was popular with the bookstores at show caves around the country. I have formed a committee of myself, Jeanne Gurnee, and Gordon Smith to update and publish a revision. We are planning for this book to be in color. Jeanne Gurnee has recruited Gary Burdeaux (Diamond Caverns) as photo editor of the book. He is well qualified. I suspect production of this book will take a year or more. I will include a rough guess in the 2007 capital budget.

Other: There is also a biography of Bill Cuddington in preparation but it is nowhere near ready for our ministrations.

Problems: None

(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 (Proof Reader)

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

Advisory Board Changes: With the end of 2005 and the start of 2006, Dave Jagnow and Chris Groves completed their three-year terms on the Advisory Board and have retired. Steve Worthington and Calvin Alexander have accepted invitations to join the Board for three-year terms (2006–2008).

Progress: Volume 67, number 3 (December 2005) was sent to the printer at the end of December 2005. This issue was delayed — all of us involved worked at a fairly frenetic pace, especially Jim Pisarowicz, Don Davis, and me to correct various problems. In particular, there were numerous problems with the NSS Convention Abstracts that caused a delay in finalizing this issue of the Journal. In addition, some manuscripts required last minute corrections which further delayed sending the issue to the printer. This issue should be mailed out by mid January, 2006.

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.

Plans: Volume 68 number 1 (April 2006) is not yet being worked on. To date (1/17/’06) no manuscripts have been received from the Associate Editors with the recommendation that they be published in the Journal. Several articles are being evaluated by the Associate Editors so it is likely that the April 2006 issue should be ready to go by April 2006.

Special Issue: Efforts are underway to produce a special Anniversary Issue next year (December 2006). January 2006 will mark the 65^th Anniversary of the National Speleological Society. The last time an Anniversary Issue was published by the NSS, it occurred as the Bulletin of the National Speleological Society in January 1966 so it is high time that a new Anniversary Issue be developed. It will focus on various aspects of the caves and karst, but as the subject matter reflects the work of the NSS.

Other Special Issues: Other special issues listed below are still in the works to my knowledge, but not progress reports from the organizers have been sent recently.

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.

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.

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.

Problems: The only problem identified at this time comes from Ira Sasowsky and deals with the Index that appears in the December issue of the Journal. Specifically, Ira writes:

"We had a lot of difficulty with the indexing this year. I think the main issue is that the DOS indexing software (KWIX) that we have been using has become more and more incompatible with the Windows OS. It has gotten to a point where we cannot go on as we had been.

There are 2 options as I see it:

1) Buy commercial indexing software. I have found some packages, but they do not really seem to do what we want. I could check with the manufacturers to see if we could make it work.

2) Either update the KWIX, or have someone make a new program specifically for our use. I spoke with Keith Wheeland today (NSS Fellow & author of KWIX). He is going to look into (over the next few months) the feasibility of programming Microsoft Access to do what we want. If this does not work out, we will either have to find someone else to do the programming, or try and make the commercial software work (and pay to buy it)."

At this time (1/17/06), no further information is available. Unfortunately, I do not know how much of an increase in the budget I need to ask for because I do not know how much of an expense is likely to be incurred.

(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

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

sseg@kiva.net

(812) 388-6917

In the Media:

Sharon Faulkner

1311 2^nd Ave NE

Culman, AL 35055

sfaulknr@bellshouth.net

Progress:

My recent call for articles on the NSS board got a good response and I actually have several month’s worth of articles queued up, more than I’ve had in quite awhile. Recently broadband internet became available in my area and I finally got connected on cable. This will help a lot with all the digital image submissions I get. It is somewhat pricier than my previous connection but will figure submit the extra cost as part of my expenses.

Plans: Continue as usual and troll for more articles, especially more on domestic caves. Features are planned on California’s Black Chasm Cavern, a Germany Valley issue coordinated by Gordon Brace, a series on Woodville Plains caves by Michael Wisenbaker and a big issue on doings in the Mammoth Cave region.

Problems: There was some controversy as you know about some images in the February issue, the semi-nude that was a salon winner and some of those of human remains. I have agreed to avoid printing both types of images in the future whether they are winners of salon awards or not, so I hope this will hedge against any attempts to place more restrictions on the salons.

(12) MEMBERS MANUAL

Meredith Hall Johnson 21477 RL (FE)
8061 Kittiwake Court
Springfield, VA 22153-2939

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: As of late January, the Committee has sent out requests to various caver listserves and newsletters for cavers to submit photographs for consideration as cover art. Currently we have received numerous entries from nearly 20 cavers, some sending in as many as 15 photographs.

All of the previous text submitters (mostly NSS officers and committee chairmen) have been notified that their updates are due soon. This part of the process should go fairly smoothly since we have done a thorough job in the last 3 years of copyediting and proofreading; much of the information remains the same from year to year.

Plans: Receive text from submitters and edit the submissions; this should be finished by the end of February or the first week of March. One change I plan to make is to delete any NSS Projects that have not sent in an update in the last 3 years. The person in charge of this part of the Members Manual has had ample notice that this is going to happen.

The Photo Deadline is March 15; I hope to have the cover photo chosen by March 20. If I do not already have a high-resolution copy of it, I will get one to send to the layout person.

The advertising person plans to start asking for advertisements the first week of February. We plan to continue to sell as many ads as possible to offset the price of publication. We may repeat the 2004 issue’s back cover ad being a full-page NSS Bookstore ad. If we can sell that space instead, then a full-page NSS Bookstore ad will go inside or a multi-page ad if we have enough blank pages to fill. I have asked the Bookstore to start planning ads already.

The Database and Cool Facts person is well on his way compiling cool facts from the database. This year we had the suggestion to include a list of past NSS Conventions, which he is already formatting to fit on one page. The Layout person is ready and waiting for whatever we send him. He anticipates being able to do the layout even faster due to technical improvements in his area.

Problems: The main problem I foresee is choosing a cover photo from the many high quality photos that have been sent in already. But this is a good problem!

In the past, we have had problems with text submitters slacking off and having to be reminded numerous times to submit UPDATED versions. Hopefully this won’t be a problem this year, but people are people, so I’m listing this as a possible problem.

(13) BIENNUAL REPORT

Vacant

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.

Plans: I have advertised the position in the NSS News and hope someone will volunteer to fill the spot and begin production.

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:

3/5/06