Hi folks,
I thought that I would write a few lines on how relations are progressing with
the representatives of the Lincoln National Forest (LNF).
I have been maintaining a fairly regular routine of interfacing with the people
in the Guadalupe District office here in Carlsbad. I have also been
corresponding with Jacque Buchanan who is the LNF Superintendent.
The LNF now has filled the Head Ranger positions at the Guadalupe District
office in Carlsbad and the Smokey Gear District office in Ruidoso. It has been
over a year since they had a Head Ranger in Carlsbad. Both individuals have
been informed that cave resource management is a significant part of their
duties.
The FS has secured both approval and funding for two full time cave positions
in the Carlsbad office. The positions will be for: 1) a GS-11 District Cave
Specialist and 2) a GS-9 Cave Technician. These positions will be filled in
the October time frame. The positions will be advertised and applications
solicited from both within and outside of the FS.
Jerry Trout is currently assigned to the Carlsbad office until the end of July.
Jerry’s role is to revise some of the current cave related policies and to
assist in getting a national level cave position established in the Carlsbad
office.
Jerry is also revising the list of caves that are available for recreational
permits. Currently there are only nine caves available for permits. He has
stated the intention to increase the list to approximately 90 caves. By making
more caves available for recreational caving it takes a lot of the pressure off
the current nine.
I have expressed our frustrations over the fiasco that occurred at the Memorial
Day regional and the “closing” of Pinon Cave “if” a single bat was present.
This has caused an interesting reaction in the FS. The FS is now starting to
listen to us about what impact we would have on any bats present. They also
are starting to understand that we are an asset or resource to them in
collecting data on bat locations. I was requested to make another immediate
trip back to the cave to photograph the bats to see if there were any young and
to document that it was a nursery and not just a summer roost. I have informed
them that we did not have the resources to make this trip so soon and that
hiking that distance to just photograph the bats did not make sense. I also
said that we might attempt another trip to survey the cave in mid to late
August.
I have proposed to both Jacque and Jerry that the LNF and the SWR should have a
Cooperative Management Agreement (CMA) in place similar to the one the SWR has
with BLM. They were both receptive to the idea and I will be spending time
with Jerry in mid July to see if we can come to an agreement on what the CMA
should involve and see if we can finalize such a document between the two
organizations. This will help us maintain a consistent relationship when
personalities change on either side.
I believe that we are moving to a much more cooperative relationship between
us. There will be bumps and minor setbacks as we move forward and progress
from a confrontational relationship to a cooperative relationship. But I
strongly believe that both organizations can benefit from working together in
increasing our knowledge of the caves and their environments.
I will keep you posted if any new developments occur.
Ken
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - It's about dancing in the
rain.
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