National Speleological Society
Executive Vice President’s Report

Board of Governors Meeting Woodbridge, Virginia November 4, 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NO. COMMITTEE, COMMISSION, PUBLICATIONS PAGE

(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 REPORT
(13) PERMISSION TO REPRINT

INTRODUCTION / SUMMARY

There are 13 committees in the Department of the Executive Vice President (EVP).

Progress:

(1) ACA Chairman Bill Putnam regrets that he was not able to get the ACA completed during the summer as he had planned. He got behind after experiencing some health problems, but he is almost finished and expects to publish in October. While he was not able to achieve his goal of early publication in the Summer, the issue containing the 2004 and 2005 reports will still be timely under the bi-annual schedule we have been using, it is also consistent with the traditional publication schedule, and it comes just one year after publication of the previous issue.

(2) & (3) Kathleen Lavoie, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Biology), and Daniel Chess, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Geology) say they have submitted a paper to NSS News on the history of the NSS with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

(4) Harvey DuChene, American Geological Institute (AGI) Delegate, mentioned he believes that he has located a replacement as the NSS Representative to AGI thanks to George Veni, Gordon Birkhimer, and Barbara Luke. Her name is Dr. Kim Johnson and she is an Earth Science Faculty Member at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

(5) Bill Steele, U.S. Exploration Committee Chairman, reports Sara Corrie Fund grants have been approved and issued to the following projects for exploration and survey related expenses: $250 – September 2006  - Christopher Anderson - Webster Cave Complex Survey Group – Ky.

(6) International Exploration Committee Chairman Joel Despain has received the first grant request of this fiscal year and it is under review. This grant request is for a 2008 trip to Laos. He will continue to receive and honor the grant requests.

(7) Don McFarlane, Chairman of the Research Advisory Committee, says the (RAC) NSS RAC continues to function smoothly. There have been two principal areas of work: (1) Research Grants - applications are reviewed in January and June; the following grants were awarded in the June 2006 round:

And (2) NSS Projects: No new applications for Project status have been received. Additionally, the availability of the new Preserves Research Grants was advertised in the August NSS News, on the NSS Grants webs page, on the NSS electronic discussion board, and on the Cavers Digest e-list, with a September 15^th deadline.  As of September 21^st, no applications have been received.  The opportunity will be re-advertised with a January 15^th 2007 deadline, incorporating any changes that NSS BOG sees fit.

(8) Speleo Digest Committee Chairman Scott Fee reports the 2006 newsletters are coming in daily. The 2003 Team has completed the initial draft manuscript and is sending him chapters for a preliminary review. He has seen approximately half of the 2003 manuscript. He has reviewed the proposed layout and the first 40 pages of the 2004 Speleo Digest.

(9) Tom Rea of the Special Publications Committee reports Steve Knutson’s book Oregon Caves is almost ready to go to the printer. He has discovered that Gordon Smith has a couple of old pictures that will really add to the book. Gordon is on vacation so Tom will get those pictures and submit them to Steve for approval. Then we will be ready to go (hopefully). The bookstore ran out of Caving Basics. Since the fourth edition is a multi-author book it is not progressing. I ordered a print run of 500 to restock the bookstore for this constant seller. I have updated the chapters that do not need rewrites, but those that do (and two new ones) will be like pulling teeth.

(10) Malcolm Field Journal of Cave and Karst Studies Volume 68, number 2 (August 2006) was sent out to the printer in a timely manner and distributed to members in early September. This was a significant accomplishment because everything had to be completed at the same time that the NSS Convention was ongoing. Of particular significance in this issue was the paper by Hazel Barton on cave microbiology for the non-specialist. It is hoped that this paper, and similar future papers, will generate more interest from the membership in the Journal. Four papers have already been accepted by Associate Editors (Malcolm still has to approve these manuscripts) for Volume 68, number 3 (December 2006). However, to date (9/19/06) he have only received a few of the NSS Convention Abstracts normally published in the December issue each year. He has contacted Hester Mallonee (52908RE) about getting the abstracts in to me. She has contacted the Committee Chairmen, but response has not been good.

(11) Dave Bunnell, Editor of the NSS News, showed Terry Raines the quote from the other printer mentioned in my last report and he agreed that some costs might be cut on his end. Starting last month (October issue) our production costs were reduced by about $500/issue.

(12) Meredith Hall Johnson, Editor of the Members Manual, was invited back for 2007. The same staff as 2006 has agreed to come back: Gordon Birkhimer, Ad Sales; Bob Hoke, Statistics and Cool Facts; and Scott Parvin, Layout and Design. I will do the editing and proofreading.

Plans:

(1) Bill’s goal is to publish 2004 and 2005 reports in a combined issue in October, 2006. This will be the last of the bi-annual issues, and the next issue will be a single-year issue covering 2006, to be published in the summer of 2007. He continues compiling 2006 reports for publication in the summer of 2007.

(2) & (3) Kathleen and Dan are beginning to recruit speakers for the next AAAS meeting, keeping with their topic of the Sulfurous Underground.

(4) Harvey plans to work with Dr. Johnson over the next few months to insure a smooth transition as the American Geological Institute (AGI) Delegate.

(7) 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 review of application in September.

(8) Scott hopes to offer the 2003 Speleo Digest for sale in early 2007 and 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.

(9) Tom reports the book Gurnee Guide to Commercial Caves is in the information gathering stage. Production will be a long-term project. No apparent progress since my last report. Caves of Chattanooga (working title) Larry Matthews is researching a book on the past and present show caves around Chattanooga, Tennessee. It should be ready in about a year. I will want to add this book to the 2007 capital budget.

(10) Malcolm says efforts are underway to move to an online publication system. Such a system would allow authors to submit their manuscripts directly to the Society via a web address. The manuscript would automatically log the submittal and assign the newly received manuscript a tracking number. Selected reviewers would then be able to download the manuscript for reviewing and be able to upload comments. Authors would then be able to download the suggested changes and be able to regularly check the status of their manuscript. Current efforts are preliminary with me exploring online publishing services.

(11) Dave intends to use some of the savings mentioned above to do more color printing. That amount would almost allow us to print both the inside cover and the flip side of the color insert, each month, for a total of 8 pages of color! Features are still planned in that regard including a Germany Valley issue coordinated by Gordon Brace, and an issue on doings in the Mammoth Cave region.

(12) Meredith will send out the annual request for information updates and photographs around the end/beginning of the year.

Problems:

(4) Harvey will not able to attend the next AGI Member Society meeting, which will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Philadelphia (October 2006), and as of this writing, has not identified a proxy. He has attempted to talk to Dr. Johnson regarding the AGI Representative position, but as yet, has not made contact.

(7) Don recognizes the call for NSS preserves research grants, which had a deadline of Sept 15^th, generated no applications. On the basis of conversations with others, he suspects that the lack of proposals may have been in part due to the requirement for "matching funds", which is a tough hurdle for many people. What is the best course of action on how to proceed?

(8) Scott requests after being the Speleo Digest Series editor for ten 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. The 2003 Team has run into some unexpected delays pushing the expected publication schedule back to early 2007, at the latest. There are not enough experienced or qualified volunteers.

(9) Tom says the price of paper is up right now which increases our overall costs. We will never be able to sell Caving Basics for the low price we had charged for it before.

(10) Malcolm feels funding for the Journal remains a problem in general. Paper and production costs continue to rise. In addition, color photos and figures are really essential in many instances (see for example, pages 49 and 56 of Vol. 63, No. 2 [August 2006]) if important details are to be properly depicted for the reader. However, production costs associated with color figures and photos remain prohibitively expensive (~$1000) for many authors and should be addressed. In particular, the Anniversary issue will contain numerous color figures and photos that need to be funded.

(12) Meredith says the only problem anticipated is the lack of timely responsiveness on the part of the information submitters. But we have nearly perfected the process over the past four years, so I don’t even think this will come up.

Other:

I have created a 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 Gordon Birkhimer (EVP) have had two telephone conferences 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, Editor, 21117RL (FE)

1865 Eagle Summit Ct
Lawrenceville GA 30043-6669
Phone: 678-371-4517
Fax: 770-682-5536
putnam@scci.org

Progress: I regret that I was not able to get the ACA completed during the summer as I had planned. I got behind after experiencing some health problems, but I am almost finished and expect to publish in October. I would like to note that the traditional publication schedule for ACA has been to publish in December of the year following the reporting period - reports for 2005 would be published in December 2006. While I was not able to achieve my goal of early publication in the Summer, this issue containing 2004 and 2005 reports is still timely under the bi-annual schedule we have been using, is also consistent with the traditional publication schedule, and comes just one year after publication of the previous issue. This will be the last of the bi-annual issues, and the next issue will be a single-year issue covering 2006, to be published in the Summer of 2007.

Plans: Publish 2004 and 2005 reports in a combined issue in October, 2006. Continue compiling 2006 reports for publication in the Summer of 2007.

Problems: None.

(2) AAAS REPRESENTATIVE- 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

(3) AAAS REPRESENTATIVE-GEOLOGY & GEOGRAPHY

Daniel L Chess 21715RL (CM)

19 Tavano Road
Ossining, NY 10562
Home: 914-945-2479
dlchess@us.ibm.com

Combined Progress: Dan Chess and I have submitted a paper to NSS News on the history of the NSS with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Combined Plans: We are beginning to recruit speakers for the next AAAS meeting, keeping our topic of the Sulfurous Underground.

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 believe that my replacement as the NSS Representative to AGI has been located, thanks to George Veni, Gordon Birkhimer and Barbara Luke. Her name is Dr. Kim Johnson and she is an Earth Science Faculty Member at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

Plans: I plan to work with Dr. Johnson over the next few months to insure a smooth transition.

Problems: I will not able to attend the next AGI Member Society meeting, which will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Philadelphia (October 2006), and as of this writing, I have not identified a proxy. I have attempted to talk to Dr. Johnson regarding the AGI Representative position, but as yet, we have not made contact.

(5) U.S. EXPLORATION COMMITTEE

Bill Steele, Chairman, 8072RE (CM, LB, FE)
PO Box 166332
Irving, Texas 65016-6332
Cell: 214-770-4712
Work: 972-580-2447
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 the following projects for exploration and survey related expenses:

$250 - Sept.2006  - Christopher Anderson - Webster Cave Complex Survey Group – KY

Plans: Plans are to continue as have been.

Problems: None

(6) INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATION COMMITTEE

Joel Despain, Chairman, 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: First grant request of this fiscal year was just received and is under review. This is for a 2008 trip to Laos.

Plans: To continue to receive and honor as best we can grant requests.

Problems: None.

(7) RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Donald A. McFarlane, Chairman, 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

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:  applications are reviewed in January and June; the following grants were awarded in the June 2006 round:

NSS Projects: No new applications for Project status have been received.

NSS Preserves Grants: The availability of the new Preserves Research Grants was advertised in the August NSS News, on the NSS Grants webs page, on the NSS electronic discussion board, and on the Cavers Digest e-list, with a September 15^th deadline.  As of September 21^st, no applications have been received.  The opportunity will be re-advertised with a January 15^th 2007 deadline, incorporating any changes that NSS BOG sees fit.

Problems: The call for NSS preserves research grants, which had a deadline of Sept 15th, generated no applications. On the basis of conversations with others, I suspect that the lack of proposals may have been in part due to the requirement for "matching funds," which is a tough hurdle for many people. What is the best course of action on how to proceed?

(8) SPELEO DIGEST

Scott Fee, Chairman, 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. I have seen approximately half of the 2003 manuscript. I have reviewed the proposed layout and the first 40 pages of the 2004 Speleo Digest.

Plans: We hope to offer the 2003 Speleo Digest for sale in early 2007. We hope to offer the 2004 Speleo Digest for sale by Summer 2007.

Long-term: A second 25-year index.

Problems: After being the Speleo Digest Series editor for ten 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.

The 2003 Team has run into some unexpected delays pushing the expected publication schedule back to 2007, at the latest. 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: Kelsea and I have received the entire manuscript and made comments on it.

Plans: We are awaiting corrected copies with correct page numbers. Once that is provided, I can complete the detailed Index of Caves mentioned as well as the other Indices (Author, Title, Cave by State, etc.).

We hope to have the final manuscript to Scott by December 30^th, at the latest.

Problems: My computer crashed, but since we have two layout guys, none of the data was lost. I cannot finish the Indexes until the layouts are completely finished with correct page numbers.  I suspect we (me and the two layout guys) are suffering from extreme burnout and desperately want this project to be finished.

2004 Speleo Digest (Submitted by Terry Ragon)

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

Progress: As of August 15, I have finally turned in my sample chapter for review by the Series Editor and have received the OK to continue with my proposed layout and design for the 2004 volume of the Speleo Digest. Since this time I have completed the layout for the first 40 pages of the Speleo Digest; while using Photoshop to improve the quality of maps and photos included. This has slowed overall progress slightly, but will provide a better-looking finished product, I believe. I have also noticed during layout that I needed many more small graphic images for filler material, so have sorted through the newsletters again to obtain these. During this re-sorting I have also chosen additional articles to add to this volume; bringing the total number of articles to 295. This matches more closely the number of articles in the 2001 and 2002 volumes of the Speleo Digest, and should help my finished product fill the desired number of pages.

Plans: My current plan is to continue building the Digest in 50-page increments, and then send those portions to my main Proofreader, Julie Fee. After proofreading, these 50-page sections can be forwarded to the Series Editor for final approval.

I still plan to continue using my scanner to convert the raw newsletters into digital text that I can drop into my layout since this method seems to work fairly well for me. However, there are still a small number of articles which will need to be typed by hand and I plan to delegate these duties to my typists as needed.

I plan to continue building as many pages as possible per week; luckily the cool weather is now slowing my responsibilities around the farm. I am still hoping to have this volume of the Speleo Digest completed by spring 2007.

Problems: There are currently no problems holding back the progress of this project.

(9) SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Tom Rea, Chairman, 5683OS (OS, CM, AL, FE)

8677 S State Road 243
Cloverdale IN 46120-9696
Home: 765-653-4423
Cellular: 765-719-1004
tomrea@ccrtc.com

Progress: Oregon Caves

Steve Knutson’s book is almost ready to go to the printer. I have discovered that Gordon Smith has a couple of old pictures that will really add to the book. He is on vacation so in a week or so I will get those pictures and submit them to Steve for approval. Then we will be ready to go (hopefully).

Caving Basics
The bookstore ran out of Caving Basics. Since the fourth edition is a multi-author book it is not progressing. I ordered a print run of 500 to restock the bookstore for this constant seller. I have updated the chapters that do not need rewrites, but those that do (and two new ones) will be like pulling teeth.

Plans: Gurnee Guide to Commercial Caves
This book is in the information gathering stage. Production will be a long-term project. No apparent progress since my last report.

Caves of Chattanooga (working title) Larry Matthews is researching a book on the past and present show caves around Chattanooga, Tennessee. It should be ready in about a year. I will want to add this book to the 2007 capital budget.

Other: The biography of Bill Cuddington is progressing but I have not seen it.

There is also a book on the art work of Tom Culverwell in preparation.

Problems: Price of paper is up right now. We will never be able to sell Caving basics for the low price we had it on it before.

(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:

E. 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: Jim Pisarowicz has decided to retire after ~12 years as Associate Editor for Production for personal reasons. His position has been advertised on the back cover of the August 2006 issue of the Journal.

Scott Engel, P.G. (32520SU) has expressed a strong interest in the position of Associate Editor for Production and has been discussing details of the position with Jim Pisarowicz. Scott does not hold a Doctorate degree as is generally required of associate editors, but I feel that a Ph.D. is less important for a Production Editor. I am more interested in someone who has the time, inclination, and ability to take on this challenging position.

Stephen Mosberg, M.D. (20444FE) has accepted the newly established position of Medical Sciences Associate Editor. This position was created because of difficulties in finding an editor willing to take on review/editing duties for a medical sciences paper prepared for the Anniversary issue. It is hoped that creating such a position will increase medical science papers to the Journal. Also, I am not aware of any other karst journals having an M.D. on their editorial board.

Kathleen Lavoie, Ph.D. (17033SU) has accepted the newly established position of Microbiology Associate Editor. This position was created because so many Life Sciences papers were submitted for the Anniversary issue that our current Associate Editors, Jerry and Salisa Lewis were overwhelmed and because they felt that they lacked adequate expertise for the microbiological papers submitted. Kathy graciously accepted a request to voluntarily take on the review of the microbiological papers submitted for the Anniversary issue. (Note that Kathy is currently a member of the Journal Board of Advisors, but faces mandatory retirement this December so conflicts are not an issue.)

Progress: Volume 68, number 2 (August 2006) was sent out to the printer in a timely manner and distributed to members in early September. This was a significant accomplishment because everything had to be completed at the same time that the NSS Convention was ongoing. Of particular significance in this issue was the paper by Hazel Barton on cave microbiology for the non-specialist. It is hoped that this paper, and similar future papers, will generate more interest from the membership in the Journal.

Four papers have already been accepted by Associate Editors (I still have to approve these manuscripts) for Volume 68, number 3 (December 2006). However, to date (9/19/06) I have only received a few of the NSS Convention Abstracts normally published in the December issue each year. I have contact Hester Mallonee (52908RE) about getting the abstracts in to me. She has contacted the Committee Chairmen, but response has not been good.

Plans: Efforts are underway to move to an online publication system. Such a system would allow authors to submit their manuscripts directly to the Society via a web address. The manuscript would automatically log the submittal and assign the newly received manuscript a tracking number. Selected reviewers would then be able to download the manuscript for reviewing and be able to upload comments. Authors would then be able to download the suggested changes and be able to regularly check the status of their manuscript. Current efforts are preliminary with me exploring online publishing services.

Special Issue: Preparation to produce a special Anniversary Issue (December 2006) is slowly progressing. January 2006 marked the 65th Anniversary of the National Speleological Society. Most authors met the deadline of May 31, 2006 for sending in their manuscripts. 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). To date (9/19/’06) only a few papers have been accepted; some have been rejected outright.

I am currently working on the assumption that the Anniversary issue will be published as a separate issue from the regular three-volume set published each year. Additional funding was requested from the Board of Governors and a grant application was filed for additional funding. This special issue and future special issues that might be published as separate issues from the regular three-volume set will require additional funding. As such, an increase in funding on an irregular basis should be available for the publication of special issues.

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 (note that this is again updated):

(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 Hanoi, 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’s 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 Maya area are planned.

(6) Dr. Blaine Schubert contacted me about East Tennessee State University’s hosting of the Second Appalachian Karst Symposium at their new museum facility September 12–15, 2007. Dr. Schubert would like to publish the abstracts from the meeting in the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, which I am agreeable to. Also, Dr. Schubert would like to publish selected articles from the meeting as a special Appalachian Karst theme issue for Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. Again, I was agreeable, but informed them that special issues are normally published in the spring on a first come first serve basis so there might be considerable delay in getting this out depending on timing.

For all potential special issues, we may want to consider publishing each as a separate issue from the regular issues to avoid delays of other manuscripts. However, funding for this would need to be appropriated in advance.

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. (I have no word on how this is progressing.)

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. (No final decision has been made on this to date.)

Problems: Funding for the Journal remains a problem in general. Paper and production costs continue to rise. In addition, color photos and figures are really essential in many instances (see for example, pages 49 and 56 of Vol. 63, No. 2 [August 2006]) if important details are to be properly depicted for the reader. However, production costs associated with color figures and photos remain prohibitively expensive (~$1000) for many authors and should be addressed. In particular, the Anniversary issue will contain numerous color figures and photos that need to be funded.

(11) NSS NEWS

Dave Bunnell, Editor, 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
sseg@kiva.net
812-388-6917

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

Progress: I showed Terry Raines the quote from the other printer mentioned in my last report and he agreed that some costs might be cut on his end. Starting last month (October issue) our production costs were reduced by about $500/issue.

Plans: I intend to use some of the savings mentioned above to do more color printing. That amount would almost allow us to print both the inside cover and the flip side of the color insert, each month, for a total of 8 pages of color!

Features are still planned in that regard including a Germany Valley issue coordinated by Gordon Brace, and an issue on doings in the Mammoth Cave region.

Problems: None at this time.

By now you should have gotten my report, mailed separately.

I do notice one thing you mentioned that I should address, regarding budget requirements. As you know I’ve gotten cable connection to the tune of 60 bucks a month so I could deal with all the photo submissions for the News better. I’d like to see "expenses" increased from $1,500/year to $2,000/year to help defray this cost. Considering so much has to come out of that category (convention travel, printing supplies, postage, etc.) I could use more in it. This shouldn’t be hard since we’ve reduced production costs a bit, and though I intend to print more color to use some of this savings, we won’t have enough stuff each month to warrant that.

(12) MEMBERS MANUAL

Meredith Hall Johnson, Editor, 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: I was invited back as Editor for 2007. The same staff as 2006 has agreed to come back: Gordon Birkhimer, Ad Sales; Bob Hoke, Statistics and Cool Facts; and Scott Parvin, Layout and Design. I will do the editing and proofreading.

Plans: I will send out the annual request for information updates and photographs around the end/beginning of the year.

Problems: The only problem anticipated is the lack of timely responsiveness on the part of the information submitters. But we have nearly perfected the process over the past four years, so I don’t even think this will come up.

(13) PERMISSION TO REPRINT

Gordon Birkhimer, EVP, 42778SU (FE)
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:

10/23/05