Bill, you're right that I only included a few bits of the NSS as it related to
the T-Organizations. The NSS internal structure was beyond the scope of my
article, and would be a great follow-up article for you to write!
I do know more of the details of the NSS (but apparently not as much as
you...hint hint). However, my article's focus was just the T-Organizations
(TSA, TSS, TCMA, TCC, TCR) and a few facts that people seem to have confused,
like Spring Convention is hosted by the TSA, not the TCMA despite the TCMA
auction also being at Spring Convention.
I even read the link you mentioned while researching my article. Yes, the NSS
recognizes the TCMA and TCC as cave conservancies (keyword recognizes) and the
TSS is an NSS project, but they are independent of the NSS. The NSS' website
even specifically states on that link that the organizations are independent
organizations and operate with autonomy from the Society leadership (exact
quotes). In contrast, the other organizations mentioned in my article _are_
dependent on the NSS. Thus, the NSS can (and does) mandate that all Grotto
officers must be current NSS members, but it cannot mandate that, say, all TCMA
Directors must be NSS members because the TCMA was formed completely outside
the scope of the NSS and afterwards recognized as a cave conservancy--a loose
affiliation but not a part of the NSS. I didn't touch on affiliations like
that because my focus was the actual hierarchy, not the spaghetti of loose
affiliations.
So I think my article was spot-on, but if anyone has specific errors, let me
know! Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to reading an article on the internal
workings of the NSS. There's still plenty that I can learn about that.
--Bennett
-Original Message-
From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of
Mixon Bill via Texascavers
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 1:56 PM
To: Cavers Texas
Subject: [Texascavers] Texas cave organizations
Thanks to Bennett Lee for the article in the new Texas Caver summarizing Texas
caving organizations. However, the TSS, TCMA, and TCC are no more independent
of the NSS than grottos and regions are. The organization of the NSS is
confusing, in that there are Internal Organizations and there are
Activities. See http://caves.org/info/nss-orgs.shtml. IOs are grottos
(chapters), regions, sections, surveys, and a mysterious entity called an
affinity group. Activities are projects, cave conservancies, expeditions, and
conservation task forces. To add to the confusion, a number of actual surveys
are NSS projects (Activities), not NSS surveys (Internal Organizations). This
all badly needs to be rationalized, and Bennett can easily be excused for not
knowing the details. The new NSS members manual for 2015 contains lists of
projects and CTFs but not other Activities, for some reason.
Neither IOs nor Activities get NSS funding automatically, but of course they
can apply for various grants. Activities are, however, a bit more closely
related to the NSS than IOs are, in that the NSS office can accept donations
earmarked for Activities on their behalf. This means that donations to
Activities that do not have their own tax-deductible status can be run though
the NSS's books, in case the IRS questions them. You'd have to dig pretty
deeply into the members' area on the NSS web site to discover this.
Anyway, the Texas Speleological Survey is a project of the NSS (as is the
Association for Mexican Cave Studies in Austin), and both the Texas Cave
Conservancy and the Texas Cave Management Association are conservancies of the
NSS. -- Bill Mixon
The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.
You may reply to the address this message (unless it's a TexasCavers list
post) came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu
AMCS: a...@mexicancaves.org or sa...@mexicancaves.org
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