WNS makes the NY Times; bad caver press continues.

[hewhocaves]

Yaay! WNS makes the times! Yaay! Cavers suck!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/us/27 ... ef=science

Yellow journalism at its finest. Fortunately it was buried on page A-16.

From the article:

The Fish and Wildlife Service made the request to guard against the possibility that people are unwittingly spreading the mysterious affliction when they explore multiple caves. There is no evidence that the disease is a threat to people.

White-nose syndrome is named for the sugary smudges of fungus on the noses and wings of hibernating bats. White-nose bats appear to run through their stores of winter fat before spring.

The disease was confirmed in eight states this winter from New Hampshire to West Virginia and there is evidence it may have spread to Virginia, said a wildlife service spokeswoman, Diana Weaver.

Some estimates of deaths are as high as 500,000 bats. Researchers worry about a mass die-off of bats, which help control the populations of insects that can damage wheat, apples and dozens of other crops.

The advisory seeking a voluntary moratorium on caving would also cover states adjacent to affected states, Ms. Weaver said. That swath stretches from Maine south to North Carolina and west to Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio.

Recreational cavers, who have supported past efforts to control white-nose syndrome, seemed bewildered by the breadth of the request.

Peter Youngbaer, white-nose syndrome liaison for the National Speleological Society, said the advisory covers tens of thousands of caves and would affect a large array of activities including organized caving events and equipment sales.

“The ramifications are mind-boggling, and I guess we’re all just trying figure out what to do,” said Mr. Youngbaer, who is based in Vermont.

Ok.. so what does the article suggest, re: the caving community:

1) That cavers have suddenly and bewilderingly changed their attitiude about supporting WNS.
2) The NSS is a recreational organization with no mention of support for WNS research in the past.
3) Caving events and equipment sales are much more important to us than bats.

Oh, this is great press. And don't blame Peter Youngbear - I've been interviewed twice by the NYT. They get it wrong just as frequently as your local rag. They just use bigger words than we do. The NYT has some good journalists, but I'm sure that they are off covering more important things.

[batrotter]

This same article was on Fox News. I don't know who the original author is but all media reports are suspect. The main stream media don't even want us on government(federal, state, county, local) property. They think it belongs to the "government".