Hi all, Here is the latest information that I have on the status of the two cave poisitions in the Lincoln National Forest (LNF). Cave Technician GS 5/7/9 They have finally completed the rewrite of the SKE portion of the job discription and the position will be advertised toward the end of this month with a goal of having someone hired and in place by Early April of this year. This individual will be didicated full time to caving related efforts. The rewrite efforts were to insure that the selected individual has caving experieince and knowledge. This person will be assigned t the Guadalupe District office in Carlsbad. This will be the first time in eight years that the Forest Service has had a full time "cave" position in the LNF. Regional Cave Specialist GS7/9/11 This position has been put on hold for financial reasons. With the loss of Jacque Buchanan to push for this position there is probably little chance that it will ever be filled. Region Three management is skeptical of the requirements for cave related positions to start with and the current budgetary "crisis" is a handy excuse not to fill the position. There was also some disagreement on where the position should be located; Carlsbad or another location. Other developments: The agreement between the SWR and the LNF to conduct monitoring trips to the various caves has been finalized and is ready for signature. That means that we can soon move on to the planning phase of which caves need effrorts and what the efforts will be for each cave. Once we have a plan, I will be sending out notices requesting volunteers (from the list) to perform the trips and perform the needed activities. The initial trips wil probably be bat related, but the plans are still to be formulated. Region Three of the FS has not, as of yesterday, come up with a plan for dealing with caves, cave closings, etc related to WNS. While the local office had told me that they would be closing three caves due to bats and WNS (fears) they have not yet done so. The caves that they had planned to close were Cottonwood, Hidden and Sentinel. However, because they have not recieved any directive from Region Three the caves remain open and they will not be opening any other caves for recreational caving until they have clarification where Region Three management is going. I had been told that Region Three was going to leave the cave closure determinations up to the local districts, but apparently the local districts have not been informed of that. The biggest problem that I foresee is that, if, or I should say when, the first bat with anything that looks like WNS is found in NM, they may close everything as a knee jerk reaction. A single bat in Oklahoma caused an incredible over-reaction last year in areas to the north and west of there.
As I learn of new developments I will attempt to keep you informed. Ken Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - It's about dancing in the rain.
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