Dr. George Huppert, Conservation Editor of the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, died on October 14, 2001 in a head-on car crash in the Roosevelt Lakes area near Globe, Arizona while exploring prior to the National Karst and Cave Management Symposium held in Tucson in mid-October.  George was a prolific writer on cave and karst conservation and management topics, and had spend many years of service to the National Speleological Society (NSS), the NSS Cave Conservation and Management Section (CCMS), the American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA), the International Union of Speleology (UIS), and most of the National Cave and Karst Management Symposia.  He was 56 years of age at the time of his death, and is survived by his wife Betty J. Wheeler, one son, 3 nephews and 2 nieces.

In his life, George accumulated six university degrees in Geography, Geology and related subjects. He read two or more newspapers daily, and several hundred books, professional journals, and magazines per year. George was devoted to the study of the earth and nature, with an insatiable thirst for knowledge.  He wrote most of the dissertations for his advanced degrees on cave related topics, including Papoose Cave in Idaho and a Survey of Cave Conservation in America.  He joined the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse in 1979, and became Professor of Geography and Earth Science.  He was twice voted Chair of the Department of Geography and Earth Science.

 

George’s caving included trips to hundreds of caves (905 that he recorded) in many parts of the U.S.; and to caves in Canada, Jamaica, San Salvador Island (Bahamas), Cuba, England, France, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Brazil.  He was particularly delighted to visit the “Kras” area of Slovenia, which is the area first to be scientifically described (“type-section”) well over 100 years ago where solutional caves are found, and where groundwater resources are fragile.  (This work defined what is now known as a “karst” area.)  George was also honored to visit the famous Lascaux Cave in France.  This famous cave, with Paleolithic drawings and paintings of animals, is one of 16 sites named together as the “Decorated Grottoes of the Vezere Valley” and is designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.  The drawings and paintings in the cave are exceedingly fragile, and therefore visitation is extremely restricted.

George spent thousands of hours volunteering in the NSS and other organizations.  He was a founder and officer of the American Cave Conservation Association, and a founder and President of the NSS Cave Conservation and Management Section.  He was at various times a Director of the Section, and was the coordinator for the NSS Convention Conservation Session for many years.  He was a Fellow of the NSS, and was the 1996 recipient of the NSS Conservation Award, given each year to an individual who, through specific actions, has demonstrated an outstanding dedication to the cause of cave conservation.  Ironically, George was a prime mover in convincing the Conservation and Management Section to continue to present the old style NSS Conservation Award to Internal Organizations after the NSS changed their award to an Individual Award; George chaired the Section Awards Committee for many years.

At the time of his death, George was an Adjunct Secretary of the UIS Bureau, and served for a time as the US Delegate to the UIS.  Prior to 1996, he served on the International Geographical Union Commission on Sustainable Development & Management Of Karst Terrain.

George was a prolific writer on cave conservation and management topics.  He attended and presented papers at many of the National Cave Management Symposia, on topics ranging from Underground Wilderness to Cave Laws to Show Cave Owners Perceptions of the NSS. He was co-editor of the Proceedings for the 1987 meeting at Rapid City.  At the time of his death, he was collaborating with Tom Lera on a book on Cave Protection Laws.

There is no doubt that George will be sorely missed, not only by his family and friends, but by the entire cave conservation community.

[A George Huppert Memoriam Page has been established on the NSS CCMS Web Site at http://www.caves.org/ccms/huppert/]

--Rob Stitt
(with inputs from Betty Wheeler, Arthur Clarke, and Abel Vale).

(Preprinted from the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, Vol 63, No 3, December 2001, p. 106