Gee, Isn't it going to be hard to conduct these surveys if the caves are closed? Or, does this mean that the caves are closed to everyone except a few hand picked NPS personnel? This whole knee jerk "close the caves" reaction smells a little too much like the "nobody should go caving except us" syndrome that I have seen among certain cavers of the academic persuasion. Bill is obviously right in that nothing we do will alter what path WNS will take. It will not matter one whit whether all of us, or none of us, goes caving. WNS will complete it's own cycle. Why aren't we seeing some effort at proactive measures, like DNA preservation or maybe bat sperm and ova collection, instead of the "putting out fires" approach we are seeing now?
--- On Thu, 12/9/10, Andy Gluesenkamp <andrew_gluesenk...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Andy Gluesenkamp <andrew_gluesenk...@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] El Malpais To: "Mixon Bill" <bmixon...@austin.rr.com>, "Cavers Texas" <texascavers@texascavers.com> List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Thursday, December 9, 2010, 2:20 PM Bill, Blame the bureaucrats if you must but it sounds like they are taking steps to study the situation carefully. The NPS is conducting microbiological and other surveys of caves in the area, including those that are not occupied by bats. Simply stated: human entry into caves may complicate these studies. Stating that "nothing can be done" is giving up to soon. You may be correct that nothing can be done to prevent the spread of WNS, with or without cave closures. However, documenting bat populations and cave use as well as conducting microbiological and other surveys will at least provide information about what we may lose (have lost). This documentation is valuable, especially if we are facing the inevitable spread of a catastophic phenomenon like WNS. I view this as analogous to the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. Sure, the fire may have been unavoidable (try stopping Julius Ceasar and the Roman army) but don't you wish that someone had at least catalogued the collection before it was turned to ashes? Andrew G. Gluesenkamp, Ph.D. 700 Billie Brooks Drive Driftwood, Texas 78619 (512) 799-1095 a...@gluesenkamp.com From: Mixon Bill <bmixon...@austin.rr.com> To: Cavers Texas <texascavers@texascavers.com> Sent: Thu, December 9, 2010 2:03:32 PM Subject: [Texascavers] El Malpais No, closing those caves isn't a symptom of greedy biologists, but rather of bureaucrats who think they have to be seen doing something, even if there's no real justification for it. My solution would be to recognize there's nothing to be done and let things play out, as they will anyway. A whole lot cheaper and less wear and tear on the nervous systems, even of bat buffs. -- Mixon ---------------------------------------- All the world's a stage, but the play is badly cast. ---------------------------------------- You may "reply" to the address this message came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
