USFS Southeast Region 8 Extends Closure Order

[PYoungbaer]

After some inquiry, the USFS Region 8 has confirmed that it extended its cave closure order until May 21, 2014.

Observant cavers had noted that the previous order had expired on May 21 of this year, and no subsequent order took its place. We checked their website, and can still not find either the expired order, or the new one.

Some of the US Forest Service units have their own closure orders (e.g. Mark Twain National Forest, whose order runs until 2016). The Daniel Boone National Forest has a link to the order extension, and you can read the order here:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_032408.pdf

Other Forest Service units, as well as the Region 8 site, have no mention of closure orders, so it's hard to understand how the public, much less the caving public, would know that such a restriction existed.

However, I was sent a copy of the order today, and we will be posting it on the NSS' WNS website shortly.

[tncaver]

If a region or forest has no "in effect" closure order for caves, then why remind them? If there is no order in effect, then the caves are legally open I would assume. A legal loophole. Maybe that would have been a good thing.

[PYoungbaer]

It wasn't reminding them - they had already effectuated the closure extension - they just hadn't told anyone. That would have left cavers exposed to legal action with no warning.

[GroundquestMSA]

It wasn't reminding them - they had already effectuated the closure extension - they just hadn't told anyone. That would have left cavers exposed to legal action with no warning.

If the old Order expired and no new one was publicized, could cavers facing legal action use that negligence in their defense?
I know of a couple of caves in this region that are regularly visited by cavers who are either unconcerned about possible prosecution or assume that the closures have expired (though the caving was ongoing even before May 21, 2013).

[PYoungbaer]

Groundquest - just to be clear, are you talking about Region 8 (southeastern U.S.) or Region 9, which includes Ohio? Region 8 is covered by the extension of the order. And ignorance of the law offers no protection from prosecution. In Region 9, closure orders are by Forest Service unit, not a blanket regional closure, so check with your local National Forest website or other contact.

I will make no representation as to how cave visitors violating the order would be treated, but I expect the response would vary according to the level of offense, and possible the attitudes of the parties involved. In Region 2, the USFS stated that it didn't have the resources to fully enforce and expected voluntary compliance. That said, the potential consequences are significant: punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual, or $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

Those amounts are set in federal statute, and are identical for all the closure orders. They have no flexibility to state anything differently. That said, those are maximums. I expect warnings would be the first step, then ramp up from there.

[GroundquestMSA]

Groundquest - just to be clear, are you talking about Region 8 (southeastern U.S.) or Region 9, which includes Ohio? Region 8 is covered by the extension of the order. And ignorance of the law offers no protection from prosecution.

I'm talking about region 8. Ignorance is no defense legally, I understand. Since you suggest that each case will likely be handled differently, depending on the individuals involved, it seems that the lack of available information concerning closure renewals could have an impact in discussions between law enforcement and offending cavers. I'm not saying that closures should be ignored because people can get away with it, I'm just sympathizing with cavers who were/are caving under the assumption/hope that the orders are expired and could be potentially prosecuted.