Administrative Vice-President
Report to the NSS Board of Directors

Fall 2002

Administrative Vice President

Thomas Lera

Table of Contents

NSS Cave Management Division

Cave and Karst Acquisition Committee
Conservancies Committee
Closed Cave Database Committee
Contemporary Cave Use Study Committee
Land Owner Relations Committee
NSS Cave Preserves Committee

NSS Conservation Division

Conservation Committee
Bat Gate Design Technical Interactive Forum
Discovering Caves Brochure Series
Conservation Division Website
Bat Conservation Liaison
Conservation Task Forces
Resource Preservation Committee
Mammoth Cave Restoration Committee
NSS Liaison for Crawford Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Quarry Issue
NSS Liaison for Road 18 Caves in Oregon
NSS Liaison for KEEP
NSS Liaison for Virtual Cave Trip Production
Conservation Grants Committee
NSS Liaison for International Speleothem Protection
NSS Cave Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission

NSS Education Division

Environmental Education Committee
National Cave Rescue Commission
Project Underground
Safety and Techniques Committee
Television/Video Production Committee
NPS National Cave and Karst Resource Management Co-op Agreement

NSS Convention Division

Convention Development Committee
2002 NSS Convention
2003 NSS Convention
2004 NSS Convention
Junior Speleological Society
Salons Committee
Congress of Grottos
Attachment C-1 – NSS Cave Preserves Detailed Reports
Attachment C-2 – NSS Salons Members
Management Plan for Wells Cave

The Department of the Administrative Vice President consists of 16 Committees, two Commissions, and three NSS Convention hosts Committees, within these are nine Conservation Task Forces, ten Cave Preserves, ten NSS Conservancies, and several sub-committees.

The current name and contact information for the chairman of each organizational entity may be found at in the table of Current Personnel. If the complete name and address or email address is listed, it is different from the listing in the member manual and business pages. Please correct your database.

NSS Cave Management Division

Cave and Karst Acquisition Committee

Thom Engel, Chairman

Thom Engle indicated at the Maine Convention that he would like to be replaced and a motion will be presented to the Board for his replacement. This position was advertised in the August NSS News in accordance with Act 40-498.

PROGRESS:
Material on management plans has been provided to The Nature Conservancy in Vermont. They will be preparing a plan with the US Fish & Wildlife Service on Aeolus Bat Cave in Vermont.

The committee has been contacted by Buckner Restoration Project Committee who have prepared a draft management plan for Buckner Cave near Bloomington, Indiana, which we are awaiting for a copy.

PLANS:
The management plan for the donation of Wells Cave east of Somerset, Kentucky is tentatively scheduled to be presented at the Board. Lee Florea and Philip Moss have prepared the draft management plan with the assistance of Thom Engle and other NSS members. It is currently being finalized and will be appended to this report.

Conservancies Committee

John M. Wilson, Chairman

PLANS:
A symposium for cave conservancies, land trusts with caves, and related cave management interests is planned for the 2003 NSS Convention. Rane Curl will plan and chair the session. The title has not been determined; however, he is developing plans and arranging financing to have a presentation by the Land Trust Alliance. The session is scheduled at least for 9:00 A.M. to 12 noon Wednesday, August 6, 2003.

The Sixth Annual Cave Conservancies Round Table at the 2003 NSS Convention in Porterville, California will follow this session in the afternoon.

It is tentatively scheduled for 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. on Wednesday, August 6, 2003, depending on the Land Trust session schedule.

The session will have three parts:

• The appointed representative from each conservancy may make a short presentation on one or two successes they have had related to cave management or cave conservancy administration. Presentations will be limited to seven minutes for each representative.
• Attendees may ask representatives for suggestions on solving specific cave conservancy problems.
• A general discussion of cave conservancies will conclude the session. This meeting is primarily a networking session for people interested in cave management and cave conservancies.

Details can be found at the conservancy web page at: http://www.caves.org/committee/ccc/

PROBLEMS:
Philip Moss resigned as the Chairman of the Karst Conservancy of Illinois. A formal replacement has not yet been found.

Closed Cave Database Committee

Everett Carpenter. Chairman

PROGRESS:
I have received the closed cave listings from VAR and from TAG that gives me closed caves in 8 states. I have also received contact information for Mid-Atlantic Region, and Northeast Regions, which will give a complete listing for the eastern coast. I have sent a letter to the remaining regions in the U.S. asking for their assistance in the project. The questions that I am trying to answer are where are most of the closed caves and what are the reasons for the caves being closed. I am incorporating any additional information provided by the regions so there may be other questions that I can answer such as contact person information.

PLANS:
I plan to continue requesting information form regions, surveys, and other cave conservation groups. Any suggestions of people to contact should be forwarded to me either by e-mail or regular mail.

PROBLEMS:
The real problem, which has arisen from this project, is simply getting the information. In many cases, it appears that individuals keep the listings and there is very little follow-up on the information. The result is that the listings are very difficult to get and the information is most probably out-of-date. I believe that a comprehensive listing can be made, which will provide a snapshot of closed caves, but all this work will be wasted unless it is kept up to date. This listing has the potential of being a marvelous tool to help direct the NSS's conservation efforts across the nation. I would suggest including a request for the information in either a grotto's annual report or a region's annual report. It is also possible to include closed cave information with the local survey groups.

I also am running into a problem trying to explain what this listing is going to be used for. My understanding is that it is going to be used to help elucidate conservation issues per region.

Essentially what I have done to date is determined that 23% of cave closure is enforced by the cave owner, and the bulk 35% closure is unknown. I chose to estimate the number of caves in each state rather that use survey numbers. What this allows me to do is determine statistics based not on the total number of caves but instead on the number of caves that someone would want to visit. This came about after many emails with surveys and listing holders. Even though there may be many (200+) caves in Virginia for example only around 400 are visited. So what I have chosen as criteria for total caves are caves which are over 1,000 feet horizontal, or 50 feet vertical.

The totals then break down to 38% of the caves in Virginia are restricted, with 35% in West Virginia, and 22% in TAG. I think however part of reason for the high percentage in VAR is due to the wonderful listing of closed caves. Although TAG has a substantial listing, their listing does not have reasons and seems a bit more out of date.

Contemporary Cave Use Study Committee

Garrett Czmor, Chairman

Not having much new to report from the previous without being repetitious, I have outlined the following:

PROGRESS:

• The new CCUS register software is still not finished (about 2/3 done) and I have alerted the software developer of the urgency and our need. One must understand that the software is being written through spare time efforts and the developer is not really making money over it. Further, I would like to have some money set a side to reward this person for the countless hours, days, weeks that he spent in developing the software when finished.
• Although, we are still using the old DOS software version (which doesn't always work well) to compile data previous to Y2K, the new software will probably be implemented in generating the final report. The new software will also have the capability to transform all old data produced through the DOS version software into the new version. Much of the old data books have been compiled and the next hurdle is to merge all data into one report. I'm doubtful that the DOS version can do this, thus I'm even more anxious for the new Windows version to arrive.
• I have contacted all CCUS personal with updated information either by emails, snail mail or telephone. I have also been correcting some registers - in - neglect problems by finding new volunteers to take over those areas.
• We continue to carry all necessary materials to fill orders as needed and are shipped promptly.

PLANS:

• Compile all significant cave register book data from 1995 to year 2000 and generate a final report for publication (NSS News).
• Develop a new Windows format CCUS software so that CCUS attendants can punch in and generate their own cave reports plus send final data to me for major compilation in the form of disks or Internet attachment files.
• Compile all cave register book data from year 2000 to present.
• Keep a good supply of CCUS materials for distribution as needed.
• Continue to monitor cave areas where there may be neglect in the project.

PROBLEMS:

• Waiting for the new software to be finished and tested for bugs.
• Keeping everyone on track to service and return data books on time (hopefully, the new software will help soften this problem).
• I've tried to save the CCUS some money by using cheaper plastic bags for the register books (bag protects books from wetness while in the canister). Apparently, this is not working out and we will have to return to a brand name freezer type bag, which hold up better to the wet underground elements.

Land Owner Relations Committee

Position vacant. There is a motion before the Board to fill this position. This position was advertised in the August NSS News in accordance with Act 40-498.

NSS Cave Preserves Committee

Gary Bush, Chairman
E-mail: gary@wgbush.com

GENERAL:
Reports were received from nine of the ten Preserves this period. The Preserve Managers reports I've received are attached, for the record. As is my custom, I've also summarized the status of each report.

PROGRESS:
Fund-raising for the Shelta fencing is successfully completed. Unusual and interesting fossils have been found and studied in a cave on the Don Russell Preserve. More information and brochures have been obtained for the kiosk at Tytoona Cave Preserve.

PLANS:
The new Shelta fence is planned for October. The John Guilday "Conservaction" is scheduled for September 7th. The current oak-wood ladder in the entrance to one of the Barton Hill caves needs repair, being planned for this Fall. Surface improvements to the Tytoona Preserve property are underway.

PROBLEMS:
Don Russell suffered a stroke in 2000. His recovery has been poor to date. I'm currently investigating the possible need for a substitute, or, at least, an assistant to maintain the Preserve. Currently, Clayton Russell is filling in for Don in this role.

Vandals damaged the gate at Kingston Saltpeter Preserve. ATVs have been running over the Barton Hill Preserve property, irritating Neil Baumann, a neighbor we've had problems with in the past. Fencing is planned to hinder such traffic, although they aren't damaging our property. A minor accident occurred at Barton Hill. The injured caver (an ankle) exited on his own.

Alachua County (Florida) has changed the name of Alachua Sink to Mill Creek Sink on their maps. The ASP Committee is investigating the need to also change the Preserve name to be consistent. If that is decided, a proposal will be submitted to the Board.

Minor vandalism, including shooting at signs, has occurred at Tytoona Cave Preserve. Repairs are planned and/or completed.

PROPERTY STATUS:
McFails Cave (New York): The cave is open for the summer. Ed Lucas and crew dug out the Ack’s Shack entrance on 6/23/02. No work has been done on the property except for taking care of the parking lot and some poison ivy along the trail.

Shelta Cave (Alabama): The new entrance fencing is tentatively scheduled for an October installation. Over $36K has been raised to cover the cost. Parked cars have occasionally blocked the entrance road.

John Guilday Cave Preserve (West Virginia): The annual Conservacation is scheduled for September 7, 2002. No problems have been reported.

Kingston Saltpeter Cave Preserve (Georgia): Avian fossils, previously housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, were moved to the Frank H. McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee. Most of the fossil record from KSCP is now housed there. The gate at the cave entrance was damaged in early June. Repairs are being planned. The annual trip for Georgia teachers and Weinman Mineral Museum personnel took place on June 18th. Overall, the Preserve is clean and in good shape, despite the gate damage.

Barton Hill Karst Preserve (New York): A wooden entrance ladder needs repair. Planned for later this year. The property is generally in good shape and not highly visited. ATV's have been using the property and exiting onto neighboring properties. Strategic fencing is planned to reduce the problem. Larry Davis fell at the entrance and injured his ankle, but exited on his own.

Warrens Cave (Florida): (No Report received this period)

Donald R. Russell Preserve (Oklahoma): A fossilized tapir was found and studied in a secondary cave on the property. The fossil of a grey-haired bat was found in the same cave. The primary cave on the property is undisturbed and continues to house a large colony of grey myotis bats.

Schoharie Caverns (New York): PLANS & PROGRESS - Much remains the same in these two areas. The summer is a busy season, cavers enjoy the cave & cabin, and the Preserve looks good. I got an absolutely heartwarming email from a caver traveling thru the area and stopping at the cabin. He was thrilled at the new (1995) cabin and what we had done with the property. This is my "pay" for being Committee Chairman! This ALMOST balances the big Problem below, ALMOST.

OTHER PLANS - The Northeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. (NCC) is discussing organizing a massive Spring 2003 cleanup of the 13 acres of Preserve property - it needs it. More details will follow in the next report.

NOW, THE PROBLEM. The Dead Dog Incident, now downgraded to the Dog Incident. (See details in Attachment C-1)

Alachua Sink Preserve (Florida): Diving conditions have been good, though cloudy due to warmer temperatures, this summer. The property is clean and more maintenance is planned for the Fall. The Committee is investigating a possible name-change for the property to reflect the name of the creek draining into it. The county has already changed the name on local maps to "Mill Creek Sink." There is another "Alachua Sink" in Gainesville. Once all information has been studied, a proper proposal will be made to the Board.

Tytoona Cave Preserve (Pennsylvania): Possible stair improvement is being considered. A review of the dive rules is underway. Photodocumentation of the cave is planned and the property boundaries are being retraced. A barrier wall has been upgraded to control erosion along the stream walls. More Preserve brochures were printed and the kiosk stocked with them and other information. Some minor vandalism has been occurring on the surface of the property.

NSS Conservation Division

Jim C. Werker & Val Hildreth-Werker, Division Chiefs
Cuna Cueva, PO Box 207, Hillsboro NM 88042-0207

voice 505 895-5050 werks@zianet.com

note new address and e-mail address

Vision for the NSS Conservation Division: Heighten awareness of the importance of cave and karst conservation. Develop strategies to serve a greater diversity of audiences throughout the U.S.

Mission: Our Conservation Division mission is to develop programs to strengthen public knowledge about the benefits of cave and karst protection. Let’s work together to encourage common knowledge of the word karst and its implications.

• Partner with other cave and conservation organizations/agencies/associations/institutes to provide cave and karst outreach programs to landowners, land managing agencies, commercial cave interpreters, educators, and the public. Develop cooperative programs to distribute information and develop materials that promote awareness and conservation of karst landforms.
• Strengthen and extend common knowledge among cavers to include multiple aspects of cave/karst protection, preservation, and ethics.

Conservation Committee

Jim C. Werker & Val Hildreth-Werker, Co-Chairmen

Serve on various national and international committees. Maintain contact with federal agencies. Coordinate communications among members of the Conservation Committee. Define goals. Initiate programs. Assure that conservation questions directed to the NSS do receive answers. Network people and expertise. Delegate conservation responsibilities. Serve as conservation editors for the NSS News. Represent the NSS in answering frequent media inquiries from radio and print journalists. Requests have increased as Amazing Caves opens across the country. Agreed to write section on cave restoration/repair/conservation for the Cave and Karst Encyclopedia. Jim and Val also conduct workshops on cave/karst conservation and restoration/repair throughout the country. They are currently editing work from three dozen authors for an NSS book titled Cave Conservation & Restoration.

Convention

• We have scheduled daily Conservation presentations/discussions (a different moderator for each day) with the 2003 NSS Convention (to emphasize the California convention theme of conservation).
• Report on 2002 Convention in Maine: Our Restoration Forum, on Monday morning, hosted a lively panel discussion on cave graffiti and the importance of historical and cultural preservation. There was ample audience participation and food for thought during this and other conservation sessions on Monday. The Conservation Sessions and Forums have become a dynamic, interactive place to share ideas.
• During the spring, Jim & Val initiated an NSS Conservation Policy Review at the request of the Conservation & Management Session (initiated via the Conservation List-serve). During the Convention session meeting, a review team was established under the leadership of John Wilson.

Book

Chapters of Cave Conservation and Restoration are being reviewed by the Executive Committee. Jim Werker and Val Hildreth-Werker, editors for this manual, are working with EVP, Don Paquette; NSS Special Publications Committee Chairman, David McClurg; Committee members Gail McCoy and Tom Rea. The many authors and reviewers are giving their time and energy to produce a quality NSS publication. This fall is our target for finalizing all submissions.

Bat Gate Design Technical Interactive Forum

• Symposium with invited presentations covering current closure design for caves and mine protection—site assessment, project planning, design options, species considerations, construction, maintenance, and resource monitoring. Held March 4-6, 2002 in Austin Texas.
• Sponsors and hosts include: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bat Conservation International, U.S. DOI Office of Surface Mining, National Speleological Society, National Cave and Karst Management Symposium, Lower Colorado River Authority, Indiana Karst Conservancy, and Texas Parks and Wildlife.
• The U.S. DOI Fish and Wildlife Service, Bat Conservation International, Inc. (BCI), and the U.S. DOI Office of Surface Mining (OSM) organized the forum.
• Proceedings will provide definitive gating manual for designing bat friendly protection options and detailing the best techniques for protecting important caves and underground mines used by bats. Proceedings from the event will be available on CD and in hard copy.
• The Coal Research Center-Southern Illinois University at Carbondale will be printing the proceedings. The NSS is negotiating to sponsor the printing of additional copies that will be available through the NSS Bookstore.
• The Texas Cave Management Association and the Texas Cave Conservancy co-hosted a post-conference field trip, visiting several gated caves in the Austin area.
• Several NSS members serve on the Bat Gate Forum Steering Committee. Steering Committee members are: Roy Powers, American Cave Conservation Association; Jim Kennedy, Bat Conservation International; Dave Dalton, Gating Consultant; Marion Vittetoe, Gating Consultant; Keith Dunlap, Indiana Karst Conservancy; Jim Werker, National Speleological Society; Val Hildreth-Werker, National Speleological Society; John Kretzman, New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division; Pat Brown, University of California at Los Angeles; Robert Currie, US Fish and Wildlife Service; Len Meier, US DOI Office of Surface Mining; Kimery Vories, US DOI Office of Surface Mining; and Mark Mesch, Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining.

NSS NEWS

We completed material for upcoming NSS News March Conservation issue and are seeking material for the 2003 Conservation Issue.

Seminars & Workshops

• With George Veni, Jerry & Sandy Trout, Jim & Val conducted conservation/restoration workshop at Kartchner Caverns for cavers from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and California.
• Conducted Restoration Forum at Convention in Maine.
• Scheduled to present seminar in Washington, D.C. for land managers through the USDA-FS.
• Scheduled to present brown bag seminar for Forest Service personnel in New Mexico.
• Scheduled to do several presentations for Venture Scouts and school groups.
• Scheduled to conduct workshops at Timpanogos Cave National Monument and several other sites in Utah next fall.
• Attended the NSS/NPS cave education workshop in Albuquerque on February 16.
• CBS television journalist, Bob Martin, is scheduling a piece on conservation work in caves.
• NPR radio journalist, Daniel Grossman is scheduling a piece on formation repair. Jim and Val hosted Dan on a fall interview for the DNA Files. The completed production recently won the prestigious Peabody Award. Check out http://www.dnafiles.org
• We continue to interact with national contacts in the federal agencies. (See spring 2001 report).

Discovering Caves Brochure Series

Cheryl Jones, Coordinator

Mike Dale, Graphic Design

Mike Dale and Cheryl Jones are creating the Discovering Caves. The first two of the series were introduced at Convention are being widely distributed. Kudos to Mike and Cheryl for creating fine products for marketing cave conservation philosophy and promoting the NSS.

• Lava Tubes was produced with money from the NSS Save the Caves Fund.
• Fragile Underground is a greatly revised reprint of the brochure of the same title.
• Both new brochures are available at no charge from the NSS Office and on the NSS Conservation Division web page.
• The NSS Publication The Guide to Responsible Caving is now available in PDF format on the NSS Conservation Division web page, thanks to Tom Rea and Cheryl Jones.
• Jim Kennedy of BCI has agreed to update our NSS Bats Need Friends brochure. He will start from the draft created by Eugene Vale. The new brochure will be a joint NSS/BCI project focusing on general conservation facts about bats.
• Cheryl Jones had a nice insert at Wolf Trap Program notes for "Face of America - Mammoth Cave NP" which included handing out Fragile Underground at the Encore Circle and Ovations tent. Kudos to Cheryl

Conservation Division Website

Simon Hughes, Coordinator
41-36 51st Street #D4
Woodside NY 11377
718 426-6435
simon@strumble.com

Conservation Kudos to Elizabeth Rousseau-Bunnell, Webmaster for the Conservation Division Website. Elizabeth developed the site, formatted it for easy additions, added appropriate visual flare, and wrote introductory statements for many links. We appreciate her energy, time, and creativity. Many thanks & kudos, too, to Dave Bunnell for filling in during the interim.

• Simon Hughes has just accepted the responsibility Conservation Division Web Coordinator. As expansion of the site occurs, the workload will increase beyond the scope of one volunteer and the work will have to be spread amongst others whose efforts will be coordinated by Simon.
• In the short term it is necessary to bring some cross-page consistency to the web site and repair several broken links. As new material becomes available, it will be added promptly to the site.
• In the near future, we hope to establish the NSS Volunteer Value database that will allow cavers to plug in their hours for any cave-related project, from conservation to cleanup to survey to administration. This data will be compiled for presentation in future NSS Biennial Reports. Before work on the database can be started, it is necessary to establish which database system work best with the current setup of the web server.

Bat Conservation Liaison

Jim "Crash" Kennedy
Cave Resources Specialist, Bat Conservation International
Post Office Box 162603
Austin TX 78716-2603
512 327-9721 phone
512 327-9724 fax
jkennedy@batcon.org

I am new to this position, but it is very appropriate for me since this is what I do professionally. Much of what I do as Cave Resources Specialist at Bat Conservation international involves other NSS cavers, so I will use this position as an opportunity to make other cavers aware of the bat projects in which a few of us are involved, to give those folks more credit, and to encourage others to likewise get involved.

Highlights from the past four months:

• Assisted Idaho Cave Survey in a inventory of lava tubes on BLM land in Idaho. This particular parcel was burned several years ago, so the ICS did a flyover grid search, GPSing potential features, and relocating those during groundwork.
• • All sites were mapped, photographed, and inventoried for archeological, paleontological, and biological resources.
  • Special attention was paid to bat sign, since Corynorhinus townsendii, a Species of Concern, is known to use caves in the area.
  • 43 caves were located during this project, with total combined survey length of 28,232 feet. This information will provide invaluable data to biologists and other scientists, and greatly aid BLM personnel in management of the area.
  • Bat Conservation International provided funding for this project.
  • Kudos to Scott (NSS 30895) and April Earl (NSS 33575) and the rest of the ICS.
• Assisted Vermont Cavers Association, The Nature Conservancy, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, and US Fish and Wildlife Service with assessment and microclimate monitoring at three sites in Vermont used by the endangered Indiana bat.
• • Management recommendations have been made, including re-gating Aeolus Bat Cave, one of the largest natural hibernacula in New England.
  • Also partially funded by BCI.
  • Kudos to Peter Quick (NSS 18575), Steve Hazelton (NSS 37569), and Rick Pingree (NSS 38599) of the VCA.
• Coordinated further microclimate study at Mammoth Cave National Park in five caves, including the Historic Section of Mammoth. The outcome of this project is to restore former microclimates to make the caves more suitable for bats (as they once were before human alterations) and preserve artifacts, etc.
• • One aspect of this is the removal of a concrete blockage at Long Cave, the remnant of a former commercialization. Work was performed by NSS and NPS cavers, and photo-documented by our OVP, Colin Gatland (NSS 35440).
  • Kudos to Rick Olson (NSS 13432) and Brice Leech (NSS 34431) of MACA and Julia Germany (NSS 47678) for support.
• Helped coordinate and fund the purchase of Wolf River Cave in Tennessee with TNC and Southeast Cave Conservancy. This eight-mile system has the second-largest population of hibernating Indiana bats in the state, but is also used by endangered gray bats and Rafinesque's big-eared bats, a species of concern.
• The cave also has incredible archeological and paleontological resources, as well as incredible speleothems.
• Kudos to Heather Garland (NSS 49304) of Tennessee TNC, Mark Wolinsky (NSS 11438) and many others of the SCCi.
• Assisted with bat event in Austin on 9 August, the "Freetail Free-for-All", which had 3500 attend.
• Wrote bat article for guidebook for upcoming VAR Fall Meeting, expected attendance: 300.
• Plans for the next four months:
  - Submit draft text for new NSS bat brochure.
  - Produce proceedings from Indiana bat symposium held last year.
  - Present findings and conservation actions from first four years of Indiana bat hibernacula temperature-monitoring project to 32nd North American Symposium on Bat Research in Burlington, Vermont, on 6-9 November.
  - Make funding available for priority bat conservation, education, and research through the North American Bat Conservation Partnership (http://www.batcon.org/nabcp/newsite/index.html).
  - Participate in opening day ceremony for new U.S. bat stamps in Austin, Texas on 13 September.
• Need more time, money, and cooperative projects from cavers!

Conservation Task Forces

Robert J. (Bob) Hall

New email address: rj.hall7@verizon.net

• NSS Conservation Task Forces are sub-units of the NSS, designed to furnish a not-for-profit mechanism to NSS members to address threats to caves and karst. CTFs usually focus on regional, ongoing issues. A CTF is formed under the NSS umbrella for members in common cause where caver-citizen activity, by study, stewardship, publicity, etc., can help landowners, managers, or other authorities protect cave and karst resources. The CTF division of the NSS stands ready to lend assistance with advice, networking, and other help to any group of conservation-oriented cavers who care about the future of the underground. See the NSS Members’ Manual for listing of current CTFs.
• It has been a couple of interesting months since I took on the role of Conservation Task Force Coordinator shortly before the Maine convention.
• I'd like to thank my predecessor, Jo Schaper, for her help during the transition, especially for the many records of her tenure that she passed along. They were a valuable resource as I worked at getting up to speed.
• Jim & Val have also been a great help – with a ready supply of encouragement and advice.
• Since Convention, I've made an effort to contact the CTF leaders, and have spoken with many of them by phone. It's a good bunch of people we have out there working on local cave conservation projects, dedicated and passionate. It is a pleasure to be in a position to support them.
• One comment I've heard from several is that they would appreciate better communication, both between the CTFs and the NSS, as well as between the different CTFs. "I send these reports in. then I don't know what happens with them," said one. I think that is a reasonable request. To address this, I am considering creating some sort of forum that could be used to disseminate announcements, ask questions, share ideas, and generally allow CTF folk to easily communicate with each other. I own my own domain (droolingcow.net) which I could use to create a mail-list and/or a password-protected website to this end.
• In the same vein, we are planning a Conservation Task Force Roundtable for the 2003 Convention in Portervile.
• Also in the works is an article on the various CTFs for the March Conservation Issue of the NSS News.
• Boone Karst CTF – (Howard Kalnitz) Waiting for the second draft of a 10-year cave management plan to be released. The first draft was very unsatisfactory – it proposed closing most caves in the Daniel Boone National Forest. BKCTF submitted comments and proposed changes to that first draft. BKCTF has also submitted a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding with the Forest Service to replace one that expired.
• Teton CTF – (Warren Anderson) There have been no rescues so far this year in Fossil Mountain Ice Cave, a wet, cold Alpine cave with a through-trip. The TCTF has scheduled an upcoming cave rescue training with County Sheriff and rescue personnel. They are working with the Forest Service to devise a plan for replacing old hangers and bolts in Fossil Mountain Ice Cave, are planning to gate another cave, and have nominated several caves in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness for significant cave status under the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act.
• Central Oregon CTF – (Gary Petrie) Things have "calmed down considerably" now that bolting has been prohibited. The Forest Service has also plans to re-locate a parking area away from the Road 18 caves, but funding for the project has not yet appeared. COCTF is also keeping tabs on the transfer of a 40-acre parcel of BLM land within the city limits of Redmond to the city for a park. There are 6 caves on that property. Another on-going issue is the planned "spelunking tour" at Oregon Caves National Monument.
• Hawai'i Caves CTF – (Fred Stone) The recently-passed state cave law is "mixed news." The law as it finally passed was a compromise between the draft developed by the Cave Law Task Force and another produced by native Hawiians who wanted to close all caves to protect any burials which may be in them. The State Department of Lands and Resources still needs to write some of the regulations needed to implement the law. As the law reads, a caver needs the permission of the landowner to "enter or traverse a cave, or any segment thereof." The State Attorney General has found that that means the permission of all landowners who own land above the cave. Another provision requires any caver who discovers a burial to immediately exit the cave and report the find. It remains to be seen how this will all be implemented and enforced. Other on-going activities include the cleanup of Kaumana Cave and several research projects.
• Peppersauce Cave Conservation Project – (Ray Keeler) "The first major water sampling was made. Results were better than expected. Solid waste cleanups were made through out the first part of the quarter until forest closures stopped work. A major graffiti removal and signage effort was completed on April 23rd, however a second effort on June 8th was postponed due to fire restrictions. Meetings with Catalina Ranger District on kiosk design have been positive and a proposed structure/wording/format is under review by the Forest Service. A PCCP presentation was made at the National Speleological Society (NSS) Convention in Maine. It appears this is currently the largest cave graffiti removal project in the United States."

Conservation Kudos to Jo Schaper for doing a great job as Conservation Task Force Coordinator. Serving five years in this position, she has given energy, dedication, and heart to the job. We appreciate Jo’s efforts and service. She received a President’s Certificate of Appreciation at the Maine Convention.

Resource Preservation Committee

David Joaquim, Chairman & Conservation Outreach Team Coordinator
New email address: dj@pcslink.com

Met with Jim & Val for transition discussions and acquisition of materials.

Conservation Outreach Team

• Developing presentation material kits for Conservation Outreach Team members. Kits include modular slide shows and CDs, hand-out masters (electronic and hard-copy), transparencies, brochures, booklets, and posters on the benefits of karst and cave protection.
• Received commitments from a dozen NSS cavers across the country who will participate in this team by conducting seminars and presentations in their geographic areas—most of these members are already booking frequent presentations. NSS Conservation Team modules will supplement their current materials. Team will facilitate collaboration and information-sharing across the country.
• Partnering with cave and conservation organizations throughout the country for information, images, and materials.

Mammoth Cave Restoration Committee

Norm Rogers, Co-Chairman; Karen Dennis, Co-Chairman
New email address: nrogers1@juno.com

Coordinate NSS restoration efforts at Mammoth Cave National Park with Society members and the National Park Service.

Conservation Kudos to everyone who has participated in this major restoration effort at Mammoth Cave. NPS and NSS cooperation is proving most successful in accomplishing much restoration work during this ongoing project.

NSS Liaison for Crawford Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Quarry Issue

Diane Cousineau
737 Glass Road
La Fayette GA 30728-6736
dcousineau@compuserve.com

Will communicate to the NSS Conservation Committee the status of cave conservation efforts concerning the Crawford Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Quarry.

NSS Liaison for Road 18 Caves in Oregon

Larry King
PO Box 14882
Portland OR 97923
Lking@teleport.com

Communicates to the NSS Conservation Committee the status of cave conservation efforts concerning Road 18 Caves. The Road 18 Caves Environmental Assessment is now complete. The final appeal decision supports removal of the bolts. In early 2002 the final bolted sport climbing anchors were removed ending a lengthy conservation battle between cavers and rock climbers in Central Oregon. Find full reports in recent issues of the NSS News. Included here are new concerns that cavers in the area are addressing.

• With the completion of the Deschutes National Forest, Bend/Fort Rock Ranger District's Road 18 Caves Environmental Assessment (EA) in 2001, many of the cave conservation problems in Central Oregon have been addressed. The EA is expected to provide a template for management of other area caves should the need arise.
• A new volunteer agreement has been signed between the COCTF and the Bend/Fort Rock Ranger District to facilitate the COCTF's participation in long-term management projects at Central Oregon caves.
• The COCTF recently met with Wanderlust Tours to discuss their proposed cave-for-pay tour operation at Boyd Cave, Skeleton Cave, and Wind Cave near Bend.
• The Conservation Task Force will continue trash removal and sign maintenance projects at several Central Oregon caves.
• A need has been identified for coordination between various groups doing cave cleanups in Central Oregon.

NSS Liaison for KEEP

Hilary Lambert Hopper
720B Aurora Avenue
Lexington KY 40502
hlhopper@prodigy.net
Hilary@KWAlliance.org

Communicates to the NSS Conservation Committee the status of cave conservation efforts concerning the Kentucky Trimodal Transpark (proposed to be built near Mammoth Cave National Park) and other issues facing the Karst Environmental Education and Protection (KEEP).

KEEP (Karst Environmental Education & Protection) was organized one year ago by Hilary Lambert (Hopper) and Roger W. Brucker, in response to a proposal to build a 4000-acre TriModal Transpark on central Kentucky's sinkhole plain, directly above underground rivers and a few miles from Mammoth Cave NP. In addition to threats to the cave and karst resource, the proposed development would destroy several African-American communities, well-tended farmland, and the fabric of small-town Kentucky, in addition to having significant impact on air quality that is already below federal standards for the region.

Today KEEP supports Web sites www.stoptranspark.org and www.karstcontact@yahoo.com, and works with www.rogerbrucker.com as well as www.WCCMG.org which is maintained by Warren County Citizens for Managed Growth, a grass-roots organization with whom KEEP cooperates. KEEP also has a major communications and archiving system, set up and maintained by Deb Bledsoe.

At this point, the Transpark has already been involved in two legal actions (one taken by the Kentucky Resources Council, and one by the Sierra Club); and many more are anticipated. Fund raising is KEEP's #1 goal for 2002. Additionally, this situation has stirred two geology professors, Dr. Ken Kuehn and Dr. Mike May (both KEEP leaders) of Western Kentucky University, to run for City Commissioner in '02.

A major publicity campaign has been mounted and run, with great energy and zeal, by Roger Brucker and Fred Andersen. In the face of apparent local desire to keep this story low-profile, Roger and Fred, with the help of many others, have made this into a major regional story that is beginning to hit the national stage.

Several attorneys, local and state-focused, are deeply involved in fighting the TriModal Transpark: It is not just about "jobs in south central Kentucky." It is about future choices needing to be made now, about the kind of country we want to live in. It is about rural people's right to live their lives in peace without their land being stolen from under them. It is about the longest cave and the need to protect it, the land that contains it, and to bring about rational planning for the larger region so that this kind of proposal will never be considered for this area again.

Also involved in the TriModal Transpark situation, is the plan to route a new interstate, I-66, through this area. One proposed route for I-66 is right along the southwestern boundary of Mammoth Cave National Park. Obviously this is ludicrous; but it will have to be fought, tooth and nail, as we are fighting against the TriModal Transpark.

Over the past few months, KEEP has developed a three-point fieldwork program for the area targeted for development. In cooperation with local landowners, we are developing a cave and karst inventory, so as to catalog the world-class karst beauty to be found on the sinkhole plain; we will thus also be able to provide the sites needed for a major biota study, to be conducted in the summer of 2002. Under the direction of Pat Kambesis, a re-survey is under way of one of the prominent caves in the affected area, and other survey and GIS work will follow, in cooperation with the Hoffman Institute at Western Kentucky University under the leadership of Dr. Chris Groves.

During 2001 KEEP was fortunate indeed to receive a $1,000 Conservation Grant from the NSS Conservation Division, which is already in use to bring cave and karst education to local schools. In addition, Drs. Kuehn and May have been providing geology field trips to the area for school classes and other interested groups. Roger Brucker has given a series of talks about the situation to local citizens, African American residents, and local ministers; and will be speaking at a major event along with transpark expert and opponent Donald Carrington, on February 21 in Bowling Green. Much more is planned for 2002 and beyond, to ensure local control of people's lives and long-term protection of the region's karst.

A "History," recently written by Roger W. Brucker, is available on request.

NSS Liaison for Virtual Cave Trip Production

Bill Frantz
16345 Englewood Ave.
Los Gatos CA 95032, USA
408 356-8506
frantz@pwpconsult.com

Provides advice and encouragement for people wanting to build virtual cave trips. Virtual caves may allow many people to visit a cave and create no new impact.

Conservation Grants Committee

Albert A. Krause, Chairman

PROGRESS:
A total of 2 grants valued at $1,500.00 were awarded thus far during FY 2002-2003 and $1,500.00 remains available. No completed grant applications are currently pending evaluation.

Articles covering all grant awards have been/are being routinely submitted to (and published in) the NSS News.

PLANS:
Continue to advertise, talk-up and evaluate applications. No major new initiatives appear needed.

PROBLEMS:
Still not receiving many grant applications, but they usually do pick up in the fall/winter when academic activities pick up. Articles in the members’ manual and NSS News (as well as on the NSS & NSS Conservation Committee WebPages) are helping inform our members and knowledge of the grant program appears to be getting out effectively.

NSS Liaison for International Speleothem Protection

Thomas Lera

Progress:
Continue to communicate with the international conservation community and promote protection of caves and karst. eBay and Yahoo have changed their auction policies to assist in protecting cave formations, however we still have to monitor them as listing do appear. When they appear we contact eBay and the seller for corrective actions. For example, e-mails with a Florida Rock Shop resulted in revision of the website and deletion of speleothem sales.

NSS Cave Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission

Jay Jorden, Chairman

Current commission members: Gale Beach < raybeach@earthlink.net >; Tom Rea < tomrea@ccrtc.com >; John Wilson < JohnW@LewisGinter.org >; Aaron Atz < atz@netpointe.com >; Thomas Lera < frontier2@erols.com >

Progress:
The commission has two new members: Aaron Atz, who has been a conservation activist for a number of years, and Thomas Lera, the new NSS Administrative Vice President. Congratulations Aaron and Tom.

On the vandalism deterrence front, in the three months since the last report, Preston Forsythe has updated his earlier information on apprehension of pot hunting suspects outside the entrance of a WKSS project cave —Twin Level in Western Kentucky. The four were convicted in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, of trespassing, were assessed $900 in fines and court costs each and spent several days in jail. They received 90 days’ suspended sentence, plus two years’ probation, and were told not to trespass again. Because of circumstances surrounding the investigation, Preston has recommended that a letter of commendation to those responsible for the prosecutions is more appropriate than a monetary reward. The committee is contacting him for details.

Also, just this month, detailed information was received about a cave near Springfield, Missouri, and the James River Valley that had been opened by the Highway Department and was vandalized after publicity about a gating project. Commission members are being contacted to consider a reward recommendation in this matter.

An article on the Committee and the reward was prepared by Tom Lera and will be published in the NSS News along with being placed on several cave websites, like http://www.scci.org Other web sites are being contacted.

Plans:
The commission intends to review all successful prosecutions of cave vandals with an eye toward publicizing the Society's conservation goals and rewarding diligence on the part of those individuals who work in furtherance of those goals. Other means of publicizing the commission's activities are also envisioned. The commission chair also plans to continue contributing to the NSS Conservation and Management Section's publication efforts.

Problems:
None noted.

NSS Education Division

No formal report received. Chuck Acklin has indicated that his business is taking priority and would like to serve on the committee but does not have the time to chair the Division. As such, this position is advertised in the September NSS News in accordance with Act 40-498

Environmental Education Committee

Barbara L. Moss (Chairman)
new email address: bmosskvr@nova.org

Plans:

• Update and make the Education Web page compliant with Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act, "Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards."
• Solicit members of a "Cave, Karst, and Groundwater" Yahoo Discussion group. The group will begin to network ideas and lessons to help each other in classroom and outreach education programs. caves_karst_groundwater-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Progress:

• Web Page:
• • Continue to update links as they come in;
  • http://www.caves.org/committee/education/learn_more_about_caves.htm
• Discussion Group:
• • As of 1:00 P.M. 8/18/02 have had three replies to solicitation for a "Cave, Karst, and Groundwater" Yahoo Discussion group begun at 11:00 P.M. EST.
• Project Underground workshop slideshow: Trying to get two copies of the slideshow into the NSS A-V Library.

Problems:
No problems at this time. Will have a better idea of how the Discussion Group networking has progressed at the October Board meeting in Detroit.

National Cave Rescue Commission

John Punches (National Coordinator)
633 West Hazel St
Roseburg OR 97470
Home: 541 957-5461
Work: 541 672-4461
e-mail: national@ncrc.info

NCRC Web site: http://ncrc.info

Board Of Regional Coordinators (BORC)
Steve Meyer (Eastern Region Coordinator)
David Ashburn (Training Officer)
Mark Bowers (Western Region Coordinator)
Bob Rodgers (Southwestern Region Coordinator)
Sam Chewning, MD (Medical Officer)
John Evans (Northeast Region Coordinator)
Marc Ohms (Rocky Mountain Region Coordinator)
John Green (South Central Region Coordinator)
Anmar Mirza (Central Region Coordinator)
Dennis Williams (Interim Diving Officer)
Efrain Mercado Vasquez (Caribbean Region Coordinator)
Tim White (Southeastern Region Coordinator)
John Punches (Pacific Northwest Region Coordinator)

Staff
Harold Chrimes (Equipment Manager)
Barb Ritts (Education Board Member)
Andy Franklin (NCRC Discussion and Administrative List Manager)
James Hall (Archives Officer)
Bryan Lavender (Education Board Member)
Jack Grandy (Education Board Member)
Bruce Smith (Education Board Member/Curriculum Coordinator)
Susan Thrasher (Assistant to the National Coordinator)
Kathy Welling (NCRC Recording Secretary/Financial Officer)
Tricia Daugherty (NCRC Database Manager)

Progress:
The NCRC hosted its annual weeklong national seminar in Schoharie New York July 13-20. Over 50 students participated in the event. Many thanks to John Evans, Emily Davis, and the NE Region for hosting this fine event. Emily has posted copies of local newspaper articles on her website at www.speleobooks.com/ncrc/.

Work continues on a replacement of the NCRC's "Manual of U.S. Cave Rescue Techniques." Draft materials for most of the chapters should be distributed to the review panel soon.

The NCRC Education Board has made significant revisions to our incident management and technical rope rescue curricula, and the medical lessons have been place in PowerPoint format.

Central Region is continuing work on a revised and expanded Orientation to Cave Rescue (OCR) manual for use in regional OCR classes.

Susan Thrasher has worked with her contacts in NASAR to draft a new MOU between NASAR and NCRC. The draft will be forwarded to the NCRC BORC and then to the NSS AVP for review and potential adoption.

Southeastern Region is developing an outline to coordinate call-out of resources in heavy caver populated areas that do not have an "official" cave rescue unit or group. City/areas such as Birmingham,AL and Atlanta,GA process a great wealth of skilled and NCRC trained resources. These areas need a preplan for contacting and dispatching their resources.

Southeastern Region has applied for grants to further region activities.

Central Region held a regional instructors meeting June 2-3 in Indiana. Topics covered included training with the 540 belay device and cache maintenance.

Northeastern Region has purchased several new pieces of equipment for its various regional caches.

Eastern Region helped coordinate resources for two rescues in Bowden Cave, Elkins, WV, in March and April.

Eastern Region held OCR classes in Elkins, February, 53 students; Laurel Caverns, PA, April, 22 students; Franklin, WV, May, 50 students.

Rocky Mountain Region has been working with the Black Hills National Forest on an MOU with the local grotto that includes a cave rescue plan and rescue call out lists, and has conducted an OCR for Wind Cave National Park Staff.

Plans:
The 2003 NCRC National Cave Rescue Seminar will be held at Washington Ranch in Carlsbad New Mexico June 21-28, 2003. The Southwestern Region will host it with registration assistance from the PNW Region.

The 2004 NCRC National Cave Rescue Seminar is being planned for Lawrence County, Indiana, and will be hosted by the NCRC Central Region.

Bids for the 2005 National Seminar are encouraged and will be heard at the 2003 NCRC Winter meeting.

The next NCRC Board of Regional Coordinators (BORC) Winter Meeting is scheduled for February 1, 2003, at the Walker County (Georgia) 911 Center. The NCRC Education Board will meet on the day prior to the BORC meeting.

The PNW Region is planning an OCR September 28 and 29, 2003.

Central Region has planned three OCRs.

The Huntsville(AL) Cave Rescue Unit will conduct its annual Basic Cave Rescue Orientation Seminar on August 23 - 25, 2002. This is a program developed by the HCRU over 15 years ago that has developed into a 3 day event similar to OCR that incorporates SRT and rope skills.

Tim White, SE Region coordinator, will attend regional and state rescue squad meeting to introduce the to NCRC, and will be attend ITRS 2003 and represent NCRC in November.

Problems:
NCRC is engaged in discussions to determine how best to meet its insurance needs. Insurance premiums have risen significantly, and it is not clear that we will be able to continue holding our existing policy. Tom Lera and Ted Keyes are helping address the issue.

Project Underground

Report to the Project Underground Board – Activities from January 2002-June 2002

By Carol Zokaites, Virginia Karst Education Coordinator and National Coordinator of Project Underground.

Lots of wonderful things have been happening with Project Underground, both in Virginia and nationally around the country. Last year the IMAX film, Amazing Caves opened through out the country and it is still playing in many areas. Many educational activities are being done along with the film.

Workshops:
12 Project Underground workshops were held in Virginia, reaching over 300 teachers.

Five additional workshops were held in four other states, Tennessee, Indiana, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania. These workshops reached an additional 99 educators.

Peg Sorensen has been working with Project Underground in New Mexico. Peg leads Project Underground workshops and works with the National Park Service Karst Education program in the New Mexico area.

Amy Berm has been leading the National Park Service program in the Colorado area, introducing cave education to several cavers very enthusiastic in teaching others.

Training 400 teachers in environmental education about karst resources means over 10,000 students will be reached with this information.

Future workshops planned so far in 2002

In Virginia - Three workshops combining Project Wet, Project Underground, and Litter information in Southwest Virginia. A workshop for teacher in-service training for Montgomery County teachers and Children’s Groundwater Festival with DEQ at The Breaks State Park was held.

Nationally - A workshop at the National Speleological Society’s (NSS) convention in Camden, Maine.

A workshop for Graduate Students from Mississippi State University at Mammoth Cave, Ky.

Additional activities

This year I have participated in the activities of the Virginia Resource Use Education Council, the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Education, the New River Roundtable education committee, Environment Virginia Conference at VMI, the Pure Water 2000 Forum in the Shenandoah Valley, the Virginia Cave Board and the Virginia Karst Program.

I was a guest speaker the Tazewell Soil and Water Conservation Districts annual meeting, served on a selection committee for a national conservation award given by the NSS and will be a guest instructor for a graduate class at Mississippi State University.

Funding
Virginia will continue to support Karst Education and the Project Underground program next year with a 319 non-point source pollution grant through the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation.

Nationally – Project Underground, Inc. has received small grants from the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias and the National Speleological Society. Funds are also received from the sale of the Project Underground Activity Guides.

Safety and Techniques Committee

Dan McConnell

No report received.

Television/Video Production Committee

John P. Scheltens, Chairman

No report received.

National Park Service National Cave and Karst Resource Management Education Co-op Agreement

Peggy Kesner, Project Coordinator

We started fiscal year 2002 with $15,281.92 in our account. We put on five Volunteer Training workshops throughout the country, training 51 volunteers to put on Cave & Karst Education Programs. It cost $2,944.53 to put on the workshops including stipend, materials and travel expenses. We purchased $11,979.61 worth of materials for the program during this fiscal year. Total postage and shipping cost was $1,959.02. As of August 28, 2002, there is $8,767.43 remaining in the account. The last Volunteer Training Workshop was just completed in April, but expenses have not been paid. We will have approximately $700.00 for Stipend plus Mike Adams' travel expenses (estimated at about $1,100.00, but I don't have the final amount yet). Some of the items we are planning on for the remainder of the grant is:

• T-shirts for each volunteer and team participants
• Some additional parts for the ground water models
• The mailing of pencils and t-shirts to volunteers who haven't received them at workshops. Mailing fliers to announce the program in some school districts. Some of the volunteers live in large school districts (like Denver) and may want to send fliers out to the schools to let them know about the program. We were going to help with some of these.
• An open Fed EX account to pay for volunteer mailing of Karst Models to each other as they conduct teaching sessions. Actually, I think we are going to use the NSS UPS account and reimburse the NSS. Fed Ex needs a charge card number to set up an account, and we don't have one The Karst Models are quite heavy and have to be mailed to some of the volunteers and then mailed back.
• Mike and Roger put on the last workshop in Sequoia National Park. Mike flew out from Mammoth and Roger drove down from Oregon to put on the workshop. I have only received a few reports (no new ones) from the volunteers, but I think most of the programs will be happening this fall.
• With this last workshop being so late in the school year, some of the volunteers won't be setting up their programs until the fall. Mike suggested that we close the program out in December 1, 2002.

NSS Convention Division

Carol Tiderman

Convention Development Committee

Carol Tiderman, Chairman

Progress.

• Hosted Convention Planning and Development Meetings at the 2002 Convention
• Attended 2003 & 2004 planning meetings
• Have potential host groups for 2005, 2006, and 2008
• Performed a site visit at the potential 2006 site. My findings will be sent to the board once the University has granted all permission’s and the host group is satisfied with the arrangements.
• Continued to pass along any new information and/or developments to the confirmed and potential host groups
• Continued to mentor confirmed host groups
• Have volunteers to mentor host groups in the area of Budgeting and Consignment Sales

Plans

• Go on a site visit September 9 to 11th to the proposed 2005 sites (2 potential sites).
• 2005 & 2006 will present their bids at the Oct. Board meeting.
• Continue working with confirmed and potential host groups.

Problems
None at this time

2002 NSS Convention

NSS Convention 2002, Camden, ME, Wrap-up Report

Kevin Harris, Peter Jones, Co-chairmen

The 2002 NSS Convention was held in Rockport and Union, ME, from 23-28 June 2002. Breaking the trend of previous conventions, no major weather "events" spoiled any of the planned activities. Only a few minor personal injuries occurred, none of which appear to present future liability. While there were some early worries regarding the budget, we currently believe we will make a slight profit, when everything is toted up.

Primary Venues:
The new Camden Hills Regional High School was used for the sessions, and its large "Strom Auditorium" was used for large sessions, the Auction, and the Slide Salon. A variety of classrooms were used for smaller sessions and the indoor vendors. The Union Fairgrounds was used for the convention campground. This large flat area is 10 miles from the High School and shuttle busses were provided during the day and for transportation to and from evening activities. Several convenient buildings were used for campground activities. Due to the lack of adequate sanitation and bathing facilities, shower trailers and port-a-johns were rented for use of the convention campers.

The Camden Snow-Bowl was used for the Howdy Party, most attendees were treated to one or more lobsters for their primary meal. In addition, the chair lift was rented from 4pm until sunset for a trip to the top of Ragged Mountain, where an amazing view of the Maine Coast and as far inland as the White Mountains of New Hampshire were visible.

Rockport Harbor was the site of several sailing tours of Penobscot Bay each day. All attendees were treated to at least one sail on either the schooner Rachel B. Jackson or the Motor Vessel "Monhegan" for a sunset sail on Tuesday evening.

The Geology Field trip, taken by over 160 members, featured a tour of a large number of interesting geologic sites on Mt. Desert Island, in and around Arcadia National Park on Sunday, 23-Jun-2002.

Major Contracts:
The major contracts undertaken by the Convention on behalf of our members were:

1) School - The original plan for this contract was $5,000, but the school administration insisted on the provision for a large number of staff hours and fees, totaling over $15,000. This was the source of the largest amount of worry and friction in the entire planning process. In addition, we were originally hoping to have access to the entire facility, but very late in the planning process, we were restricted primarily to the main floor. This restriction required substantial replanning of the space usage. Only extremely professional negotiation skills on the part of Peter Jones and Karen Kastning kept the visible problems to a minimum.

2) Fairgrounds - The contract with the Union Fairgrounds was comparatively straightforward, a flat fee of $10,000 was agreed well in advance, and services such as mowing and the use of Fairgrounds buildings posed no significant problems. The lack of sufficient shower and sanitary facilities was known in advance, although a "best-effort" agreement to upgrade these facilities was not followed-up, costing the convention an unexpected $6,000 at a very late date.

3) Snow Bowl - The fee for use of the Camden Snow bowl was modest and the hourly rental of the chair lift was also reasonable.

4) Schooner Cruise - Our original contract with the schooner Northwind was terminated before any money changed hands, the owner decided not to sail her this year. No replacement boat of her size could be found. In order to accommodate the expected number of passengers, and still meet the established budget, we were forced to split the cruise into two parts – a schooner cruise similar to the Northwind, on the "Rachel B. Jackson," a smaller vessel, and the Motor Vessel Monhegan, for a single cruise. The total cost was only a little more than the original Northwind contract. The choice worked out well, it allowed people to avoid missing any sessions, but the additional arrangements were a major drain on Peter and staff.

5) Food Service - a) We hired "Coastal Critters" to cater the Howdy Party and the Banquet. This was a very carefully planned contract and worked out very well. b) We hired the regular cafeteria staff at the school to serve the meal plan. This contract was fraught with miscommunication, performance problems, and bad planning. See more details below.

6) Transportation - We hired Luce Transportation, a local firm, for all School-bus type shuttles for general use during the week. This contract was carefully negotiated and adjusted during the week, this turned out to be important. We were able to change details at the last minute and address problems throughout the week. Overall, we were very happy with this service. After initially planning to rent the Motor Coaches for the Geo Field trip ourselves, we discovered that we could achieve significant savings by going through a travel agency for these. There were only minor problems with these, and we heard no complaints from the Geo FT attendees.

7) Security - The security service was handled in a completely professional manner by our combination of volunteer and professional service. The contract with the local provider was mostly problem free. The primary issue was an ever rising hourly rate, which we eventually stopped by specifying an absolute limit on the amount we would spend.

8) Beverage Service - We were able to achieve a substantial discount on beverage purchase by qualifying as a private association under the Maine alcoholic beverage laws. These same laws, however, included some onerous provisions, designed to prevent alcohol abuse. Unfortunately, we were given to believe that they would be strictly enforced (unscheduled visits from police), so we were forced to erect elaborate fencing structures and provide strict enforcement to prevent beverage transport between the alcohol and non-alcohol areas. While these rules provoked widespread grumbling, we know of no incidents of gate crashing or other unruly behavior in association with the alcohol service. Incidents of intoxicated youth were much less than last year.

9) Logo items - These were purchased from a number of vendors, mostly from suppliers local to the staff member in charge. The single largest item, the T-shirt order, was purchased from a local supplier to avoid shipping costs and allow a remedial order. This turned out to be a very important consideration, since we needed a considerable upgrade in the size distribution (more larger sizes) than we originally planned. We considerably over-ordered on the patches and pins, by about a factor of 2.

Except for the school and campground, all contractors were chosen after a review of several candidates, sampling of wares, and review of financial requirements. Early and continuous involvement through convention week of one or more responsible staff members was instrumental in insuring adequate contractor performance.

Staffing Discussion:
The list of official staff members is given below. The most interesting topics are the geographic distribution of staff and the recruitment process. Unlike almost all previous conventions, the staffing for 2002 was very geographically diverse. Although the majority of staff were from the northeastern USA, a very large number were recruited from far and wide.

There are two points to make about this diverse geography: Many people claim that this distribution proves that a convention can be put on anywhere in the USA, especially due to the heavy use of e-mail. This is somewhat justified, but our experience shows that it is an overstatement. In fact, it was very important to have as many staff as local to the convention as possible. We needed to overcome very significant problems due to the lack of local staff. The biggest problems caused by remote staff were the inability of the co-chairmen to assess adequate performance. In two specific cases the original staff recruited for important positions were entirely inadequate to the task, and needed to be replaced or substituted at a late date. This situation caused substantial problems, and only great fortune in finding new candidates to take over these duties at the last minute allowed a successful outcome. Another major problem caused by remote staff was lack of on-going planning ability. A very large amount of non-communication and mis-communication can be attributed to the remoteness of staffing.

Regarding recruiting: Only an on-going recruiting process, using every kind of inducement, arm twisting, personal recommendations, and prioritization of needs allowed us to recruit adequate staffing. In the end, we did not, in fact, succeed in recruiting for all the necessary positions. We originally wanted an "Info Center" like Traci Fearday provided for the Kentucky convention, but were unable to find a suitable candidate and this caused severe over-work on the part of the registration staff. We highly recommend staffing such a position in the future. Also, we overlooked the need to staff a Salons Liaison until it was too late, and a variety of volunteers took-on this chore, sometimes at great distraction to their other duties. Our "Volunteer Coordinator" was not replaced after we discovered at the last minute that she would not be able to attend, this also caused the chairmen a major extra workload.

In recruiting staffing, it is very important to consider three major factors: availability, ability, and energy. The events, contracts, and venues managed by staff with all these properties went smoothly from the beginning. If any of these three factors was weak, there were substantial problems. We strongly recommend that, during the planning process, the chairmen and senior staff continually monitor these properties. If there are co-chairmen, consensus from both on a given recruitment is very important.

It will sometimes be necessary to take the painful step of replacing an established staff member if he/she isn't performing adequately. If there really is a problem, this should be done earlier rather than later. In judging adequacy, a very good indicator is ability and timeliness of communication. If a given staff member cannot, or does not, communicate with the chairman or other staff members in a reasonable time, it is very likely that their area of responsibility will have major problems.

In recruiting qualified and energetic staff, it helps to insure that they are motivated to do the best possible job. We highly recommend the formula that we used: Allow the staff members complete freedom to accomplish their tasks, and support them in all important decisions, in exchange for taking responsibility for a given task or area (within budget, of course). Future difficulties can be avoided if the chairman discusses the duties and specific expectations for each new recruit, especially if that person has never performed a given duty previously.

After recruitment, it is highly demotivating to dispute, or undercut, staff members decisions. A successful chairman will allow decisions to occur against his/her own preferences (with consultation) in order to preserve this autonomy. This behavior helps in recruiting as well - better-qualified people will volunteer for staff positions if they know they will be treated respectfully (by how existing staff are treated). A certain amount of open discussion of each issue is expected and helpful, but the chairmen should insure that important decisions are made in a timely way by the staff member recruited for that area.

Inter-staff communication is essential. There are a very large number of areas where different staff functions need substantial communications. It seems that everyone has the need to communicate with the registration staff, for example, same with the venue coordinators. Getting this communication going and keeping it going are very important. If excess communication must go through the chairmen, too much will be lost or delayed. Two additional kinds of failures are seen regarding the boundaries of the various staff positions:

a) A gap. If two staff members define the boundaries of their positions too narrowly, then a major item might fall through the cracks. Example: food for the Geo Field Trip. Is this the responsibility of the Field Trip leader or Food Service coordinator? This was a genuine problem.

b) Overlap. Two staff members who both claim responsibility or wish to have the last word on a given area or decision. For example, we had difficulty distinguishing between sponsorship and advertising solicitation. Both were relatively successful, compared to expectations, but caused on-going difficulties.

Both of these situations can cause substantial hard feelings among the participants, and therefore need to be monitored closely by the chairmen. They can often be resolved amicably if the participants can be persuaded to calm down and discuss the situation mutually with the chair as early as possible. They should not be allowed to fester, lest the situation get out of control and lead to the need for additional recruitment. Both situations can be resolved by negotiating a partial concession from both parties, or if a gap is large, recruiting a specialized position.

Here is the final staff org chart of record for 2002:
NSS 2002 Convention Committee Organization
Co-Chairman - Camden Site - Peter Jones - pjcaver@gwi.net
Campground - Ed Sira - AEdSira@aol.com
Medical - Nigel Dyson-Hudson - ndh@internetsmiths.com
Sauna - Brad Smith, Elizbeth Robinson - 2speleonauts@revealed.net
Speleolympics - Kevin Flanagan - flanagan@redsuspenders.com
School Facilities - Karen Kastning - karen@skyhopper.net
A/V coodinator - Ernst Kastning - cavers@skyhopper.net
Salons - Paul and Lee Stevens - paulstevens@adelphia.net
Security - Lizette Molina - lizette.molina@eeoc.gov
Logistics - Jim Hall - JimEHall@compuserve.com
Vendor Liason - Emily Davis - Emily@speleobooks.com
Events Chair - Dave Lester - djlester@juno.com
Pre and Post Convention Camps - Bob Addis - RAddis@capital.net
VT Pre-convention Camp - Rick Pingree - caverrick@yahoo.com
Moira Cave (Canada) Pre Convention Camp -
Kirk MacGregor - kirkm@globalserve.net
Quebec pre&post - Marc Tremblay - info@canyoning-quebec.com
NY Post-convention Camp - Chuck Porter - necaver@acmenet.net
Geology Field Trip - Paul Rubin - hydroquest@yahoo.com
Speakers - Thom Engel, Mike Nardacci, Steve Stokowski
Howdy Party - Dennis "Pancho" Regan - DennisPancho@aol.com
Beer Service coordinator - Charlie Williams - weasel@otr.org
Schooner Coordinator - Ted Kayes - tckayes@earthlink.net
Auction - Kelley Deem - kldeem@earthlink.net
Cave Trips Coordinator - Roioli Schweiker - bobfs@juno.com
Banquet - Daryl English - DarylLE@aol.com
Sound System - John Parsons - johnp@exhilaronics.com
Master of Ceremonies - Kelley Deem - deem@mammoth-geo.com
Transportation - Lynn Kleina - Lynn.G.Kleina@betzdearborn.com
JSS:
Coordinator - Karen Potter - jkbrewcave@rcn.com
Chairman - Rick Bowersox - lavabeds@aol.com
Outdoor Signage - Mark Skove - nnjg_caver@tellurian.net
Communications - Dan Hoyt - danhoyt@attbi.com
Meal Plan Coordinator - Alexis Kumfer - ecogirl2@yahoo.com

Co-Chairman - Off-site - Kevin Harris - Kevin.Harris@compaq.com
Treasurer - Joe Levinson - JELevinson@tellurian.net
Registration - Peg Sorensen - pegmatite1@netscape.net
Pre-Registration - John "Rocco" Stembel - rocco@mindspring.com
Registration Staff - Helderberg-Hudson Grotto, contact -
Emily Davis - speleobooks@speleobooks.com
Symbolic Devices - Doug Soroka - dsoroka@arserrc.gov
Program Chair - Cheryl Kayes - tckayes@earthlink.net
Special Seminar on Psuedo-Karst - Ernst Kastning - cavers@skyhopper.net
Project Underground - Carol Zokaites - zokaites@usit.net
Vertical Workshop - Terry Clark - terjen@henderson.net
Public Relations - Paul Steward - pddb@juno.com
Fund Raising Chair - Betty Mullins - okbetty@aol.com
Advertising Chair - Jennifer Ledenican - j.ledenican@usa.net
Publications:
Logo Artist - Terry Wilson - terry@terryfic@com
Guidebook - Mike Nardacci - cavedoc@francomm.com
Massachussetts,Vermont ,New Hampshire - Steve Higham - srhigham@worldnet.att.net
Maine - Eric Hendrickson - hendrie@bangornews.infi.net
Layout, Printing - Art Palmer - palmeran@snyoneva.cc.oneonta.edu
Program & Abstracts - Steve Stokowski - CaverSteve@aol.com
Daily Rag (Lobster Tales) - Norma Dee Peacock (no email)
Webmaster - Mike Warner - mike@speleobooks.com
On-line Registration system - Andy Niekamp - AJNiekamp3@aol.com
Volunteer Coordinator - Christa Hay - c.hay@ctmale.com
NSS Board Liason (NSS Admin VP) - Thom Engel - caveman@acmenet.net
(previously, Cheryl Jones, Doug Medville)
Convention Development Chairman - Carol Tiderman - ctider@us.ibm.com

Citing specific members for a good job is a slippery slope and might lead to hard feelings. However, we feel we must mention the following staff members for an outstanding job, for working incredibly hard, long hours well above and beyond the specific boundaries of their tasks, and showing ingenuity and perseverance in solving many difficult problems.

With no order implied:
Daryl English - Banquet Coordinator
Karen Kastning - School Coordinator
Ed Sira - Campground Coordinator
Jim Hall - Logistics
Emily Davis - Vendor Liason and on-site Registration
Steve Stokowski - Program & Abstracts Editor and Geo Field Trip

Problems and Solutions:
Here is a fairly concise list of the major problems we faced and how we dealt with them:
1) Lack of cavers in the main venue area: Heavy staff recruitment from the closest available grottoes throughout the region and throughout the continent. An enormous reliance on electronic communication - esp. email, remailer,
and WWW usage.

2) Lack of caves in the local area. Promotion of the variety of cave types that do exist (sea, talus, gypsum) in the area. Providing pre-and post-convention caving in areas "on the way to" convention. Providing access (Geo FT, guided trips, directions) to the local caves that are available. Providing access and promotion of the alternate
attractions of the local area - boating, hiking, good food, etc.

3) Remote location from most cavers in the USA: Heavy advertising of the region's attractions, including several in the official program (for example Acadia National Park, the schooner cruise, the chair lift).

4) Expensive accommodations and services during high season: Careful choice of date to avoid worst of high-season. Extensive negotiations for reasonable prices for adequate venues. In the end, while the school proved an excellent facility, it cost far more than we originally intended to pay. We would likely not have been able to make a credible bid had we not been able to secure both that specific school and that campground at reasonable cost.

5) Difficulty estimating attendance: Extreme fiscal conservatism until we were certain of an adequate attendance. Strong reliance on RATES of registration (compared with previous years) for narrowing the eventual attendance value. The eventual full-week registration count (960) was predicted within 10 (950) a full month before convention started.

6) Difficulty in keeping costs under control: A budgeting innovation was devised: The NSS Chart of Accounts spreadsheet (an Excel file) was modified to contain assumptions and formulas, rather that just bare numbers. This
allowed instantaneous evaluation of the effects of extra costs and income for various fiscal decisions. The final approved version of this budget spreadsheet is available for use by future NSS Convention staffs.

7) Difficult or non-performing local service providers: Extreme attention to negotiation by our best diplomats, attention to follow-up in recruiting substitutes and monitoring delivered services closely.

8) Non-performing staff: Replacement after long consideration, assigning marginal duties to other staff members.

9) Marginal cash-flow: Delaying and reducing "deposit" and good-faith payments. Elimination of taxes as much as possible (use of 501(c)3 status, purchasing expensive items in tax-free states). Recruiting sponsorships (1 success, for $2500, more would have been available except for 9/11).

10) Staff disputes: Cooling off periods before taking action. Profuse apologies. Heaps of praise. Strong personal respect. Listening more than you ever could imagine.

11) Injuries on-site. I know of only four:
a) Back injury: Elaine Hackerman injured her back when stepping into a hole on a public dock or street. She performed self-diagnosis and treatment, which appeared to be healing during the week.

b) A dog bite. During a windstorm on Monday, a woman attempted to restrain a neighbor's tent from blowing away. The neighbor's dog bit the woman when she approached too closely. Apparently, it was frightening but the injury was minor. Substantial attention was paid to her injury. The potential for infection was investigated and appears unlikely (shots?). She appears to have been dropped the idea of any formal complaint about the incident. I never learned the woman's name.

c) A pinched finger. June Shofstall (wife of Don) had her finger pinched in the restraint mechanism of the chair-lift on the ride down. This was painful, frightening, and bloody. It was treated on site and substantial attention was paid to a good long-term recovery. It appears to have been resolved successfully.

d) A leg burn. Apparently, a military veteran was burned by his camp stove (hot water? fuel?) at the campground. His burn was treated at the VA hospital in Augusta. I never learned his name, or of any follow-up problems.

12) Food Service: We believe most attendees were adequately provided with good food. We provided a modest price meal plan and arranged for timely hot meals to be available at the campground, in addition to the abundant local restaurants. However, there were substantial, behind the scenes problems with the meal plan contract:

a) Miscommunication: Apparently, the head of the cafeteria staff, Tammy Boulette, misunderstood the original estimate of attendance (1,000, quite accurate, actually) as the estimate of meal-plan users. We do not understand why she seemed to have persisted in this belief - we have proof of repeated attempts to correct this impression. This led to over recruitment of kitchen staff and significant hard feelings when the truth dawned.

b) More miscommunication: The original problem seems to have led to an over-compensation in the reverse direction – inadequate supply at other meals. Apparently, the high levels of walk-in meals at lunches and dinners (esp. on Thursday) was unexpected. We ended up needing to order pizza, because they sold out all the meal-plan food to walk-ins. This kind of problem, it happens with the vegetarian meals at the Howdy Party too, seems very common. We recommend specifically calling it out in the Convention planning document - strictly enforce access to special meals to those who've paid for them.

c) Still more miscommunication: The basis for payment of the meal-plan provider was not agreed in advance. Convention staff used two conflicting models: 1) Pay by ticket (convention reimburses providers on a per-meal/per-user basis) vs 2) Pay by user (convention simply passes along fees to the meal plan staff). This conflict wasn't discovered until well into mid-week and caused substantial hard feelings.

13) Dissatisfaction among attendees: We encouraged attendees to alert staff to any problems. By and large, this was successful in allowing staff to find and resolve problems before they became major. There were inevitable gaps and lapses, but overall, they appeared to be minor. There were a couple of near misses for bigger problems, so we were quite lucky in several respects.

Overall Attendance:
Full week paid registrations: 956 Total number of individual attendees: 1,015 A spreadsheet providing a record of the entire attendance is in preparation and will be made available for future convention planning purposes.

Financial:
Final accounting is not yet available. The total income and costs are in the $140K range. Full financial details will be made available by late September / early October 2002.

Conclusion:
We heard a very large number of positive comments and expressions of satisfaction from the attendees. Many of the complaints appeared to be inevitable consequences of necessary compromises (dog lovers vs haters, loud music lovers vs haters). We avoided many potential large problems and didn't lose much (any?) money for the society. Many people enjoyed their first or only visit to Maine. We done good! Whew!

2003 NSS Convention

Peri Frantz and Lynn Fielding, Chairmen

***** Problem Area: On-Line Registration
On-line registration is still not available. Scott Smith (Registration Chairman) reports that software is ready for final testing, but that the ISP has been unresponsive to requests for support of secure processing of credit cards, and will not allow sufficient administrative access for him to set it up himself. Scott would like to move to another ISP, and is investigating a number of alternatives. I have also asked him to talk to Andy Neikamp for guidance. Any new site must provide 7/24 support, secure access, and be low cost. Scott should make a decision by 9/15. Once the site is moved, I anticipate it will take two weeks to a month to go live.

Even though true on-line registration is not available, people can down load a copy of the registration form from the web site, and mail it in.

***** Progress since the Summer Board Meeting
Planning & Logistics
- Next Convention Planning Meeting will be Sept 21, in Porterville. We'll send minutes of that meeting to Tom prior to the Board meeting. - Registrations materials & equipment, AV cabling from Jonesy, and some med-tent equipment has been transported from Maine to California in private vehicles. - Campground Noise: Following this year's convention there was a heated and extensive debate on Caver's Digest regarding campground noise and loud music. The convention committee is sensitive to both sides of this debate and will seek ways to protect designated quite areas during the Howdy Party and Campground Party (which may become a stadium party).

Registration
- Current registration is approximately 25

* Guidebook
- Guidebook editor, Merrilee Profitt, has begun receiving content (text and photos), and editing has begun. The outline has been revised and is on-line for committee review. - The Guidebook will include the road logs for both Geo trips

Publicity
- CD's of the promotional video, which was shown in Maine, have been distributed to all grottoes. Many were picked up at the Convention, the rest were mailed along with registration forms and other literature. - A series of articles about California Caving will appear in the NSS News beginning in November. The first, written by Lisa Tesler, is a history of caving in southern California. These are feature articles, not convention publicity, and are intended to whet people's appetite. - I will be making a presentation to the Porterville Rotary concerning the convention on 9/18.

Web Page
- The convention web page (http://www.nss2003.com) went live during the Maine Convention, and has been updated frequently since then. Apart from the registration problem discussed above, the web is in good shape.

Finance
- Tom Lera has further reviewed the budget (dated 6/18/02) which was approved in June. Amy and I are reviewing his comments and recomendations, and will adjust the budget accordingly. The revised budget will be available prior to the Spring Board Meeting. - We have commitments for corporate sponsorships from ERSI (ArcView) and
NGS Topo!. Details are still being worked out, but the support will come primarily in the form of software, which can be used as prizes, or auctioned, off, and by purchasing ads in the program.

Program
- During the convention, program chairman, Carol Vesely, contacted most of the session’s chairmen and established contacts for 2003. - Scott Schmitz has distributed first draft of general information for inclusion in the Program book. Much of this information is preliminary, and review is in progress.
- Chuck Chavdarian has committed to organizing a half-day symposium on 3-D photography techniques and a series of 3-D photo shows.
- Bernie Szukalski will conduct a GIS Symposium, and also organize some computer-aided mapping demos
- Carolina Shrewsbury plans to have speleoarts at the convention.

Detroit Board Meeting
Unfortunately, neither Lynn nor I will be able to attend. I will provide Tom with an update to this report prior to the meeting. Please don't hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions. (apfrantz@pwpconsult.com, 408 356-8506)

2004 NSS Convention

Jean DeVries, Chairman
DeVriesJ@aol.com

Progress:

• We have set a date for our convention: July 12-16, 2004.
• We have filled the position of Treasurer. Martina Golden has volunteered to be our treasurer. All committee positions are now filled.
• We have contacted both Northern Michigan University and the Marquette County Fairgrounds to secure our dates and request contracts.

Plans:

• A Kick-Off meeting is scheduled for September 8 with all committee heads. At this meeting we will set expectations for chairs, formulate a preliminary schedule for benchmark due dates, and make sure all bases are covered.
• We plan to get contracts from Northern Michigan University and the Fairgrounds, and have them signed by the appropriate NSS and Convention representatives.

Problems:
The only anticipated problem is with the Northern Michigan University contract. They have a two-part contract. The first one is a Confirmation outlining all of the available facilities and services, as well as a price range for our Convention needs. This contract also requires a deposit of $250. The second contract is for the actual facilities, and cannot be signed until the classroom space is assigned in March 2004. Although we have requested space in a specific set of buildings, that space cannot be guaranteed by contract until March 2004. I have let them know that my concern with this is that we will be spread all over campus, which is unacceptable, but I have a verbal and e-mail commitment from the head of Conference and Catering to put us in as few buildings as close together as possible. They are well aware of our needs, and I don’t anticipate any problems with NMU accommodating our requests, however they are mentioned here just to keep the NSS Board informed.

Junior Speleological Society

Rick & Faye Bowersox Co-Chairmen
LavaBeds@lvcm.com

Progress:

• The JSS committee was able to execute a very good convention program this year, with the outstanding support of the 2002 convention committee. We send our most sincere thanks to Peter Jones, Kevin Harris, and their fine staff.
• • JSS education division expanded the vertical training classes this year to three half-day sessions in the gymnasium and one full day session outdoors on a rock face of about sixty feet.
  • JSS education division added ascending to the vertical program this year. Four complete ascending units (made for training and adjustable from young children to older teens) were loaned to the JSS and are available to the committee on a yearly bases.
  • Twenty-seven events were held this year for the youth, twelve educational and fifteen recreational/social.
• We have been in contact with the Convention Chairman and Co-Chairman for the 2003 convention.
• • Fees for the JSS has been established for 2003 at $30.00 per child (to the JSS). Budgetary goals can be met due to the low cost of transportation in the Porterville, California, area.
  • We are being provided excellent facility along with a swimming pool that is adjacent to our main location.
• Contact has been made with the 2004-convention committee and lines of communication have been established.
• An NSS/JSS bank account has been open in Huntsville, AL for funds raised by the JSS members at convention and at other times.
• A chart of accounts has been created to beater facilitate the tracking of JSS finances.

Plans

• Work will start to accelerate on the 2003 convention schedule.
• • Vertical education will be expanded again to meet demand.
  • Two sessions of cartography will be added to the schedule both classroom and practical application.
  • Two sessions of water quality/microbiology will be added. One session geared for pre-teens and one for teens.
• Forms for release of liability, medical consent to treat…etc. will be reviewed and revised as needed to be brought up to date.
• A JSS web site will be created.
• • To advertise and explain youth programs and activities at each years convention.
  • To show activities held at past conventions.
  • To advertise regional activities not held in conjunction with convention activities.
  • To post financial reports.
  • To solicit volunteer help.
• A spring 2003 JSS cave camp is on the drawing board for the Southwest area of the US and contacts are being made to hold a similar activity in the Midwest/Eastern area of the country.

Problems
No problems to report at this time.

Salons Committee

Paul & Lee Stevens

The 2002 NSS Salon was a success and every thing went well thanks to the efforts of many skilled volunteers.

Since convention Paul Stevens has written the NSS News article for the 2003 Salon and incorporated feedback from the individual salon chairmen. Paul is now updating the "Cave Art" web site. Lee Stevens updated the list of committee members for the NSS Members Manual and the NSS Business Pages and Attachment C-2

Paul Jorgenson produced a list of things we could do better to improve future Thursday evening presentations and the Stevens are working to accomplish them. Paul Jorgenson will be the on-stage director of the 2003 salon program. Paul Stevens' inability to speak does not allow him to react to ad hoc issues that always occur no matter how much preparation is done before the event.

In addition to Paul Jorgenson's list, some of things we will do differently next year are as follows:

• feature live music before the salon begins
• introduce the salon program with a 4 minute multi-image presentation set to music
• project the words to cave ballads when playing them [Barbara am Ende's idea]
• project the"Cave Quiz" during intermission
• not permit glass-mounted slide entries to avoid the projection problems we have observed

Cheryl Jones continues to work with the Smithsonian Institution. Beginning in November 2002, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit Service (SITES) will tour "Caves: A Fragile Wilderness", the photo exhibit she developed with the National Museum of Natural history a year ago. The exhibit consists of 39 photographs by NSS members plus several educational text panels -- one of which features the Society. It is planned that the exhibition be shown at 20 locations across the country over the next three years. Information for museums interested in hosting "A Fragile Wilderness", as well as the venue schedule as it develops, are available on the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service web site http://www.sites.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibit_main.asp?id=98

Congress of Grottos

Convention Report

Chairman: John LaMar Cole
Vice-Chairman: Bill Jackson
Chairmen NSS I/O Committee: Evelyn Bradshaw, Keith Wheeland

Four resolutions were voted upon during the 2002 meeting. The first was received prior to the meeting. The remaining three were presented from the floor.

Resolution #1: Nittany Grotto moves that the counts for deciding how many votes to allocate for each I/O be obtained from the NSS records rather than from the membership reports submitted by the I/Os; and that the Congress rules be amended to reflect this change.

PASSED: 186 YES; 30 NO.

Resolution #2: Evansville Metropolitan Grotto moves; The Congress should exist; to continue.

PASSED by show of hands; one opposed.

Resolution #3: Vertical Section moves; The Congress of Grottos is in favor of the NSS acquiring caves when practical and appropriate and continuing the present policy of local stewardship or ownership.

PASSED unanimously by show of hands.

Resolution #4: Central Arizona Grotto moves: Request the Board of Governors to expedite publication of American Cave Accidents.

PASSED unanimously by show of hands.

Elections: 2003 Congress of Grottos Officers
Chairman: William N. (Bill) Jackson, Augusta Cave Masters: elected unanimously by acclimation.
Vice-Chairman: Don Shofstall, Evansville Metropolitan Grotto: elected unanimously by acclimation.

Respectfully submitted,
Bill Jackson, Vice-Chairman