wyandottecaver wrote:We all laud the NSS for cave conservation and it's sound science ethic....until it interferes with our personal appeasement.
they are closing non-bat caves because.....
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Caving is fun and no one wants to stop, many people just wan't to do their own thing regardless. Until the what how and why of this pathogen are understood you may be helping to exterminate bats in the U.S. every time you enter ANY cave in the east.
You do have a valid opinion, but I must respectfully disagree with your blanket solution theory.
Of course I support the decision by the NSS to close their cave preserves in the northeast for the remainder of the winter. I'm all for listening to the experts and heeding good advice. However your advice is to bar human entry to every single cave in the Eastern United States. Do you really think this is prudent, practical, or even remotely possible? And by your reasoning these thousands of caves should remain closed indefinitely, until such time as exhaustive studies are complete and the all-clear has been given? What about the bats? When spring comes, should we find a way to prohibit them from moving between caves too?
Consider the facts. White Nose Fungus was known about last winter, in four fairly popular northeast caves. This year, two more northeast caves have been added to the list. This is of course a major concern for us all. Should appropriate precautions be taken to minimize further spread? Of course. Should priority be given to getting to the bottom of this and finding out all the hows and whys? Naturally. From all indications, is this a rapidly-spreading epidemic of catastrophic proportions? You may think so, but I would disagree. Let's not walk the path of blind paranoia which Teresa mentioned in
this related thread. Consider the many people who have been out caving in different regions this past year, after caving in the northeast. Pardon my bluntness, but where's the trail of destruction? The NSS Convention was in your neighborhood last summer. I was there, and so were a lot of other northeastern cavers. How's your local bat population doing?
And as for lauding the NSS for cave conservation and science ethics only if it doesn't interfere with our own appeasement... maybe you're right. I guess you could say some of us get involved in mapping projects, digging trips, cave cleanups, archaeology surveys, bat counts, rescue training, and so forth just for our own selfish enjoyment. Not to mention all those recreational trips where some unsuspecting new folks might actually discover a passion for caves and caving, and help perpetuate our continued interest in caves. It's true. Those trips are all about appeasement.
I suppose in an truly ideal cave conservation world, caves would be off-limits to all and none of us would be here.