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On June 13th another preserve is to be dedicated. It will be called the Headwaters Wildlife Management Area. According to the letter I received
from the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation, this preserve will be almost 1000 acres on Short Mountain in Cannon County. Hunting,
hiking and watching wildlife are mentioned activities available. And as usual, nothing is mentioned about caving, even though there are caves
on Short Mountain. I do not know which part of the mountain will be part of the preserve, so I don't know if it includes any of the caves or not.
I'm glad land is being preserved, but I find it annoying that caving is not allowed on land that in most cases is at least partially paid for by tax
payers.

I wonder if the bible camp sold some of their property, I also wondered how much they own. I am assuming the camp is still there.

This doesn't give exact boundaries but does give more info about it - http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120 ... ented-deal

Thanks Joe,
That Tennessean article provides a lot more information and I look forward to seeing the boundaries on a map some day.

The short answer is that this 1,000 acres was confiscated from a drug dealer growing marijuana on it.

Blue Crystal Well, Melton Hole, and Youngs Pit are all located on the side of Short Mountain. If they are on this property, they are now CLOSED !!!

Larry E. Matthews
NSS #6792-F

Larry E. Matthews wrote:The short answer is that this 1,000 acres was confiscated from a drug dealer growing marijuana on it.

Blue Crystal Well, Melton Hole, and Youngs Pit are all located on the side of Short Mountain. If they are on this property, they are now CLOSED !!!

Larry E. Matthews
NSS #6792-F

Larry, I think those pits were already closed because they are on the Bible Camp Property which I'm pretty sure is not part of the new preserve.
The Bible Camp is still open for religious visitors.
BTW, I saw today that the state has posted property boundary signs near Lost Creek Cave. They own it now. I did not walk down to the cave
to see if it is posted as being closed. There were people camping at the campsite though, so I know that camping is still allowed.

If you happen to find out about Lost Creek Cave could you pass along the info to me please? We have been wanting to go up there and it's kind of a long haul for us. Thank you:) All my contact info is in the NSS directory
Misti Cardin
NSS # 63875

spelunkerchic wrote:If you happen to find out about Lost Creek Cave could you pass along the info to me please? We have been wanting to go up there and it's kind of a long haul for us. Thank you:) All my contact info is in the NSS directory
Misti Cardin
NSS # 63875

Last I heard the State was trying to work with two local grottos up there - one of them I think is Spencer Mountain Grotto. Anne Elmore created a group on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/245202642239929/) to keep up with updates but nothing has been posted lately so you may wish to contact her to find out more details. I believe the State was trying to work out a visitation plan. Cavers and local spelunkers have been going there for so long I think they would have a hard time keeping anyone out of it. We actually visited there back at the end of March and did the Ben White thru trip, which is pretty fun!

Kelly
^V^

This article about the WMA dedication does have a link to a map of the tracts - http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120 ... d-parkland

http://www.tennessean.com/assets/pdf/DN190693614.PDF

spelunkerchic wrote:If you happen to find out about Lost Creek Cave could you pass along the info to me please? We have been wanting to go up there and it's kind of a long haul for us. Thank you:) All my contact info is in the NSS directory
Misti Cardin
NSS # 63875

Misti,
I drove by Lost Creek Cave TN today (Saturday) and walked down the trail to the cave. As of 6-16-2012 there is no sign posted anywhere declaring
the cave closed or off limits. Several vehicles were parked in the parking area as well. The land is posted with park boundaries but nothing
else.

Maybe the Gonk Hole will be included...

Awesome! I appreciate all the resp
onse:) hopefully we will be able.to go soon

Lost Creek has been acquired by the State of Tennessee and is CLOSED. Blue Crystal Well and Melton hole is owned by the Short Mountain Bible Camp and has been CLOSED. Youngs Pit is part of the seizure property now owned by the State of Tennessee and is CLOSED.

innermostphoto wrote:Lost Creek has been acquired by the State of Tennessee and is CLOSED.

And where exactly did you get that information? I talked with Park ranger Stewart Carroll extensively about this issue in Nov. at the Tennessee Bat Working group meeting and he empatically stated that the park has no intention of closing Lost Creek cave. In fact the original landowner specified, in turning the cave over to the state, that it would remain open to caving.The state is working on a management plan that will allow for caving and also afford protection to the Indiana bats during the hibernation season. If the cave has been closed since the meeting I am sure Stewart would have informed us about it.

Here is a post from TAG NET on November 20, 2012...

3) Lost Creek Cave and FWS involvement
By: David Pelren (Cookeville, Tennessee)
pelren@charter.net


I'm a biologist with the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), and I should
clarify a point or two about Lost Creek Cave (LCC) in White County,
Tennessee. You may be aware that the Tennessee Dept. of Environment and
Conservation (TDEC) recently acquired the cave. While we at the
Tennessee Ecological Services Field Office hope that enforcement action
there will not become necessary, I can't speak for the FWS's Law
Enforcement division in this regard. Our law enforcement folks enforce
the Endangered Species Act on all types of property. I should emphasize
that this enforcement involves ensuring that individuals do not "take"
endangered species, including disturbance of resting animals. The
federally endangered Indiana bat and gray bat have both been documented
to use LCC in recent years, and anyone venturing into the cave during
hibernation season would very possibly affect the species' ability to
adequately regulate its caloric reserves in surviving through an entire
winter. This is especially important during a time when white-nose
syndrome might be present in LCC and causing stress to bats there.

TDEC is preparing a management plan for LCC, and the FWS will provide
input to this process. I prefer to focus on the actions that can be
implemented through this plan for wise use of the cave - rather than
focusing on possible enforcement actions. While a strict moratorium on
any visitation of LCC might be preferred by many, I realize that many
others will continue to enter the cave if nothing is done to inform them
about the situation. As Chuck Sutherland indicated, I talked with
several groups of people in the LCC parking area during the last few
weeks about bats and LCC visitation. The overwhelming majority of those
people were interested to hear about the need to refrain from disturbing
bats during hibernation and associated "swarming" activities (from about
September 15 to April 15). While I threw an unexpected wet blanket on a
few people's party, I was encouraged to hear words of cooperation from
almost everyone there.

I appreciate the spread of this information to people that might be
considering caving at LCC, especially between Sept. 15 and April 15. In
the meantime, the management plan will be developed with cavers in mind.
While I can't promise that summer visitation will be a part of the plan,
I believe that this option (with proper decontamination and regulation
of the numbers of cavers using LCC) will be discussed. It is possible
that the FWS will support such an option.

If you've made it this far, thanks. Please spread the facts.

-Dave Pelren