Mammoth Cave NP Issues WNS Response Plan

[PYoungbaer]

Mammoth Cave National Park has issued its WNS Response Plan. There is a tremendous amount of information about the park, its caves, its bats, and its approach to responding to the threat of WNS. Information is here for cavers, tourists, researchers, and employees. The arrival of WNS is considered by the plan to be imminent. Pre-WNS and post-WNS strategies are detailed. Here is the link:

http://www.nps.gov/maca/parkmgmt/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=330269

[David Grimes]

Once again I love how decontamination is adequate to keep Mammoth Cave open to visitors but when it comes to caves only "cavers" would enter, it suddenly is too much of a risk. This whole thing is turning into more of a power trip by the USFWS than doing what is best for the bats.

[self-deleted_user]

Nono see? Mammoth will get WNS and then they'll figure out that people who have never been in a cave before ever and never possibly exposed to gd spread it! And then they'll close all the public caves and then all the public caves will sue and then we'll get open caves back!

...or something like that.

...probably not.

[David Grimes]

I would lean more towards the probably not lol. So far since the start of this whole WNS outbreak they have managed to make excuses why keeping commercial caves open is not a real risk for the spread of WNS only the relatively small number of wild cavers out there pose a risk of spreading WNS (not the thousands of visitors from around the world that visit commercial caves).

[self-deleted_user]

Yeah. THe only shot would be if they did decide to start forcing public cave closures and then the industry got PO'd and decided to sue or whatever.

[Jon]

Yep money talks and cavers walk........above ground. Ma and Pa Kettle can wear the same cloths in Howe cave and 2 days later in Carlsbad and that's not a problem but a responsible caver having done proper decon can't visit any two caves ever with the same gear. Go figure. Maybe we need to do something about GPC syndrone. Government paycheck syndrone. Once you've had one, you can't get another until you prove you deserve it.