[Texascavers] WNS detected in northTexas - what does this mean for New Mexico and Texas :

2017-03-23 Thread Jerry 

As most of you know by now, 6counties in north Texas were recently confirmed 
positive for the presence of Pd(Pseudogymnoascus destructans), the fungus that 
is the base cause of WNS. 30states, including the recent inclusion of Minnesota 
and Nebraska, are nowconfirmed positive for the presence of WNS in the bat 
population, and 3additional states, including Texas, have now tested positive 
for the presenceof the fungus on bats or in the near environment. The reports 
are certainlydisheartening, but not unexpected, as WNS has been progressively 
spreadingwestward since its first detection in 2006. There was some hope that 
theperceived rate of progression was slowing, and that it might not make a 
jumpinto the western portion of the US. This hope faded when a bat was 
confirmedpositive for WNS in Washington State early last year, and the recent 
detectionof the fungus in northern Texas certainly does not bode well for New 
Mexico. 
 
The detectionof Pd in Texas is also of great concern as north Texas represents 
a regionwhere bat species that have widely different ranges overlap, presenting 
thepossibility that WNS could rapidly migrate to areas to the west and 
south.There's still hope for the western bats as it's not known if the species 
thatinhabit these regions will be as susceptible to Pd as in the eastern US, 
andmany bat species in Texas do not hibernate during the colder, winter 
monthswhen conditions for the spread of WNS are increased.

Regardless of the possible future impact of Pd on the westernbat population, 
WNS has reared its ugly head in Texas, and by proximity, to NewMexico. Scurry 
County, one of the counties recently confirmed for Pd, is only125 miles from 
the New Mexico border, and approximately 200 miles from thenearest significant 
bat cave in New Mexico.

Things won't be the same from now on, and we in the cavingcommunity will need 
to make some adjustments if we have not already done so. Istrongly encourage 
grottos to review the standard WNS decon protocols withtheir membership, and to 
strictly adhere to them. Folks in Texas have toreconcile with the fact that 
they are now living and caving in a state withconfirmed Pd, and that they 
should not bring their caving gear to other statesthat have no confirmed Pd or 
WNS (that means this year's NSS Convention). Folksin New Mexico that cave in 
Texas (or nearly anywhere back east for thatmatter), need to purchase a set of 
caving gear to be used exclusively in thosestates or areas with confirmed Pd or 
WNS if they have not done so already. 
 
This is notjust hyper-sensitive political correctness. Federal protocols for 
caving onBLM, NFS, and NPS lands stipulate these decon procedures and gear 
restrictionswhether we agree with them or not. Non-compliance can result in 
fines,penalties, and/or cave closures. Over 85% of the caves in New Mexico 
arelocated on federally managed lands. Cavers in New Mexico have been 
partneringwith various federal agencies for decades addressing the cave 
conservation,exploration, and management issues in the state, and have an 
excellent workingrelationship at the moment. Given the increased sensitivity 
and scrutiny thatthe recent Pd announcement in Texas will undoubtedly bring to 
caving in Texas andNew Mexico, let’s all agree that WNS is on our doorstep, and 
that we should alldo our part to deal with the issue responsibly.
 
JerryAtkinson
Chairman –Southwest Region of the NSS
Past Chairman– Texas Speleological Association
 
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Re: [Texascavers] WNS

2017-03-23 Thread Robert B 
The boundaries of States are just human constructs.
however, policies or action plans written by State Wildlife agencies can be
enforced


On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 3:01 PM, David  wrote:

> I feel it is worth pointing out that the geometric shapes of states like
> Texas, are just lines drawn by some cartographer about 400 year ago, who
> probably had never seen a bat or even been to Texas.
>
> Certainly, mammals do not give a rat's tail about human boundaries and
> walls or fences.
>
> I have not seen much ado or hoopla about bats in east Texas that live in
> trees and crevices and may even stop over at "Gunnel's Cave" near Center.
>
> It would seem the east Texas bats would have been the most to be affected.
>
> How did bats evolve over the past 500,000 years had bats not been
> resistant to viruses ?
>
>
>
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Re: [Texascavers] WNS

2017-03-23 Thread David 
I feel it is worth pointing out that the geometric shapes of states like
Texas, are just lines drawn by some cartographer about 400 year ago, who
probably had never seen a bat or even been to Texas.

Certainly, mammals do not give a rat's tail about human boundaries and
walls or fences.

I have not seen much ado or hoopla about bats in east Texas that live in
trees and crevices and may even stop over at "Gunnel's Cave" near Center.

It would seem the east Texas bats would have been the most to be affected.

How did bats evolve over the past 500,000 years had bats not been resistant
to viruses ?
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[Texascavers] White-Nose Syndrome in Texas

2017-03-23 Thread Robert B 
White-Nose Syndrome in Texas

https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/news/fungus-causes-white-nose-syndrome-bats-detected-texas
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Re: [Texascavers] FYI, NGWA Conference on Hydrogeophysics and Deep Groundwater with Andrea Croskrey

2017-03-23 Thread PRESTON FORSYTHE 
Three cheers and a hats off for Andrea. We are proud to have joined Andrea in 
surveys of a cold sink cave close to Hamilton Valley and another small cave in 
MCNP. 
Preston and Shari Forsythe, Browder, KY 

On Thursday, March 23, 2017 12:03 PM, Andrea Croskrey  
wrote:
 

 Thank you everyone for the well wishes! It is so great to have the support of 
my caver family.

I gave this keynote presentation on Monday and it was well received. It was an 
honor to give it.

Cavingly yours,
Andrea

> On Feb 10, 2017, at 8:17 AM, Geary Schindel via Texascavers 
>  wrote:
> 
> Folks,
> 
> FYI, our very own Andrea Croskrey, with the Texas Water Development Board 
> will be the Keynote presenter at an upcoming National Ground Water 
> Association conference on Hydrogeophysics and Deep Groundwater in Denver 
> Colorado.  Data of the conference is March 20-21. This is quite an honor and 
> congradulations to Andrea. She has done some mighty fine work. Here is the 
> title of her talk and a little bio.
> 
> Keynote presentation
> 
> 
> Mapping Brackish Aquifers: Future Water Resources
> 
> presented by Andrea Croskrey, PG, Texas Water Development Board
> 
> Andrea Croskrey has been mapping brackish aquifers in Texas as a member of 
> the Brackish Resources Aquifer Characterization System - otherwise known as 
> BRACS - since 2013. Prior to working for the state, she was a geologist for 
> the U.S. National Park Service. Croskrey holds a B.S. in comprehensive 
> geology from Northwest Missouri State University and an M.S. in geosciences 
> from Western Kentucky University.
> http://www.ngwa.org/Events-Education/conferences/Pages/5043mar17.aspx
> 
> Geary
> 
> [https://ucarecdn.com/cfe99bfa-9ee9-4330-862f-aee807af1b4c/-/resize/132x68/img.png]
> 
> Geary Schindel
> 
> Director/CTO, Aquifer Science
> 
> 
> 
> www.edwardsaquifer.org
> 
> 
> 
> 210.222.2204 ext 346
> 
> 
> 900 E Quincy
> San Antonio, TX 78215
> 
> 
> [https://app.zippysig.com/social-icons/24/55/03facebook.gif]
>   [https://app.zippysig.com/social-icons/24/55/03twitter.gif] 
>   
> [https://app.zippysig.com/social-icons/24/55/03youtube.gif] 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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[Texascavers] Fwd: [SWR CAVERS] P.d. detected in TEXAS

2017-03-23 Thread Charles Goldsmith 
FYI

-- Forwarded message --
From: Reichard, Jonathan 
Date: Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 11:58 AM
Subject: White-nose syndrome in the news today
To:

This is the first time that Pd has been detected in Texas.  It is also the
first time that Pd has been detected on cave myotis and on western
sub-species of Townsend's big-eared bat.  Both of these species have
extensive distributions in the western US, and cave myotis also extends
south through Mexico and into Central America.  We do not yet know how
western hibernating bat species will respond to Pd, but we cannot assume
that they will not be affected.  With this latest information, WNS is now
confirmed in 30 states and 5 Canadian provinces, and Pd has been detected
in 3 additional states: Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Texas.

www.whitenosesyndrome.org

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TPWD_ News Release_ March 23, 2017_ Fungus that Causes White-nose Syndrome in Bats Detected in Texas.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
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Re: [Texascavers] FYI, NGWA Conference on Hydrogeophysics and Deep Groundwater with Andrea Croskrey

2017-03-23 Thread Andrea Croskrey 
Thank you everyone for the well wishes! It is so great to have the support of 
my caver family.

I gave this keynote presentation on Monday and it was well received. It was an 
honor to give it.

Cavingly yours,
Andrea

> On Feb 10, 2017, at 8:17 AM, Geary Schindel via Texascavers 
>  wrote:
> 
> Folks,
> 
> FYI, our very own Andrea Croskrey, with the Texas Water Development Board 
> will be the Keynote presenter at an upcoming National Ground Water 
> Association conference on Hydrogeophysics and Deep Groundwater in Denver 
> Colorado.  Data of the conference is March 20-21. This is quite an honor and 
> congradulations to Andrea. She has done some mighty fine work. Here is the 
> title of her talk and a little bio.
> 
> Keynote presentation
> 
> 
> Mapping Brackish Aquifers: Future Water Resources
> 
> presented by Andrea Croskrey, PG, Texas Water Development Board
> 
> Andrea Croskrey has been mapping brackish aquifers in Texas as a member of 
> the Brackish Resources Aquifer Characterization System - otherwise known as 
> BRACS - since 2013. Prior to working for the state, she was a geologist for 
> the U.S. National Park Service. Croskrey holds a B.S. in comprehensive 
> geology from Northwest Missouri State University and an M.S. in geosciences 
> from Western Kentucky University.
> http://www.ngwa.org/Events-Education/conferences/Pages/5043mar17.aspx
> 
> Geary
> 
> [https://ucarecdn.com/cfe99bfa-9ee9-4330-862f-aee807af1b4c/-/resize/132x68/img.png]
> 
> Geary Schindel
> 
> Director/CTO, Aquifer Science
> 
> 
> 
> www.edwardsaquifer.org
> 
> 
> 
> 210.222.2204 ext 346
> 
> 
> 900 E Quincy
> San Antonio, TX 78215
> 
> 
> [https://app.zippysig.com/social-icons/24/55/03facebook.gif]
>   [https://app.zippysig.com/social-icons/24/55/03twitter.gif] 
>    
> [https://app.zippysig.com/social-icons/24/55/03youtube.gif] 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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[Texascavers] Paid Summer Internship - Edwards Aquifer Authority, San Antonio, Texas

2017-03-23 Thread Geary Schindel 
Folks,

The Edwards Aquifer Authority is offering a paid internship for the summer of 
2017 for a total of 20 hours per week. The position will assist in the 
collection and compilation of hydrologic data, assists with maintenance on the 
EAA's data collection equipment and systems.  Note that applications must be 
submitted by March 31, 2017.

You can visit the EAA web page at 
http://www.edwardsaquifer.org/about/eaa/employment for an application and more 
information on how to apply.

Thanks,

Geary Schindel, P.G.
Chief Technical Officer
Edwards Aquifer Authority
San Antonio, Texas
210.222.2204

EDWARDS AQUIFER AUTHORITY
JOB POSTING - PVA#: 06-17


POSITION:   Intern, Environmental Science 
(AS)

REPORTING SUPERVISOR:   Director/Chief Technical Officer

DIVISION:Aquifer Management Services

DEPARTMENT:  Aquifer Science

WORKING HOURS:   Flexible - 20 hrs a week

SEMESTER: 2017 Summer

BASIC FUNCTION:
Assists in the collection and compilation of hydrologic data; assists with 
maintenance on the EAA's data collection equipment and systems.

DESCRIPTION:
Assists in the collection and compilation of hydrologic data including water 
quality sampling of wells, springs, and streams; assists with measuring water 
levels in wells and discharge measurements in surface streams; assists with 
processing related data and files; assists with the maintenance of associated 
data files in the EAA's electronic data base system; assists with regulatory 
site inspections, and performs other duties as assigned by the assigned 
supervisor.

EDUCATIONAL/EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:
Two years (60 hours) of college coursework in a relevant degree plan with a 
minimum of twelve hours in geology, hydrology, chemistry, engineering or other 
science areas; some knowledge of computer system operations and database 
software preferred; ability to exercise initiative, independent judgment and 
responsibility; a valid driver's license; and the ability to operate a motor 
vehicle.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Job performance may require: listening, seeing, sitting, talking, reaching, 
pulling or pushing; frequent lifting, balancing, carrying, grasping, handling 
of items and equipment weighting up to 50 pounds; occasional walking, standing, 
stooping, bending and crawling in rough terrain requiring a high level of 
physical exertion; some irregular hours and long workdays, and moderate levels 
of stress.  Job may consist of up to 50% work in an office environment and 50% 
work outside that includes exposure to extremes in weather, rough terrain, such 
as brush, rocks, and hills, and may also include exposure to hazardous 
chemicals, insects, and snakes.  Performance may also include work around 
construction sites, work along roadways, well drilling or other similar work 
sites.



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