fireman1904 wrote:if it weren't for cavers no one would have even known all the bats were dying. And certainly would have never known why.
This simply isn't true, but I hear your frustration.
While bats dying from WNS were first discovered by cavers in NY, it quickly spread to other caves and mines that are gated and protected and regularly monitored and surveyed by wildlife biologists and other academic researchers. Plus, the public at large reported many instances of bats out on the winter landscape when they shouldn't have been. My point is, we all would have known sooner or later.
"Why" the bats were dying took years of scientific research to eliminate some hypothetical causes and to isolate the cause of WNS as the novel (newly described) fungus,
Geomyces destructans That research has been conducted by a huge group of people: cavers, caver scientists, academic researchers, wildlife biologists, and state and federal agency researchers.
It's been all of these people, working together, that have moved the investigation forward. That said, there are still many unanswered questions. Just one example is that while we know the fungus is responsible for killing the bats, we still don't know exactly how. Nor do we know yet why some species are affected and others not, nor why even within affected species, some bats are resistant, and others are showing signs of resilience.
When I read new stories coming out of the western states that wildlife managers don't know where their caves or bats are, but no mention of asking the organized caving community, I get as frustrated as the next person that this obvious resource is untapped. That's not true everywhere, but far too often. There are many excellent examples of cavers assisting and even leading in the work.
The NSS has for decades had Memoranda of Understanding with various federal agencies: U.S. Forest Service, BLM, US Fish and Wildlife, etc. Under these umbrella agreements, local regions, grottos, conservancies, and groups like CRF have formed partnerships through specific agreements to assist in the management of cave and karst resources. This includes far more than just bats. But these agreements enable budget-starved and personnel-short agencies to include an army of conservation -minded cavers in working with the resources they are responsible for managing.
What better time than now for our local and regional entities to form new agreements? This collaboration can only help, not only with WNS, but will all cave and karst management issues. Many of the agency personnel responsible for managing these resources are not cavers, and aren't comfortable underground. We can provide that expertise.
The science of speleology begins with discovery and exploration, surveying and mapping, and cavers identifying potential needs for further scientific investigation. This is when the specialists are called in: geologists, archaeologists, paleontologists, hydrologists, and biologists. In many cases, the cavers are also the scientists, and the NSS's proud history includes over seventy years of peer-reviewed scientific publication in our own Journal of Cave and Karst Studies (formerly the NSS Bulletin).
Blanket cave closures are not stopping WNS from spreading, but they are souring many cavers from collaborating where we otherwise would be and should be. That needs to stop - and it will take change on both ends.
The NSS's early agency agreements were earned and built on personal relationships and demonstrated quality work. Many of the cavers and officials who forged them are no longer around. Perhaps that bred some complacency and the taking of some things for granted. This is no time for complacency. We need to be actively engaged at all levels. Building or rebuilding those relationships is hard work, but it pays long-time dividends on many levels.