SCCi Announcement and Action on WNS

[roger_haley]

SCCi Announcement and Action on WNS

Dear SCCi member,

I am writing to share some important information with you about the
SCCi's response to white-nose syndrome (WNS), and to ask for your help.
WNS poses a serious threat to hibernating bats in caves throughout the
southeastern U.S., including several that the SCCi owns or manages. The
SCCi Board of Directors takes the WNS threat very seriously and
continues to closely monitor the situation, work with our partners, and
communicate with our members, and take steps that are consistent with
our goals of cave conservation and protection.

The SCCi is acting to protect bats. The SCCi Board has recently taken
precautionary action to help protect bats from WNS by temporarily
closing several SCCi caves. We are working closely with specialists at
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partner organizations to
make sure we are aware of all current WNS information. We will reopen
our caves as soon as the Board determines that it is safe to do so.

As of April 10, 2009 the following caves have been closed:

- Anderson Cave and Fern Cave (Fern Sink Entrance and Surprise Pit)
in Alabama;
- Fricks Cave in Georgia;
- Frenchman Knob Cave and Logsdon Cave in Kentucky; and
- Gourdneck Cave, Hardins Cave, Holly Creek Cave, Rattling Cave, Sinking
Cove Cave Preserve caves, Snail Shell Cave, South Pittsburg Pit, Swirl
Canyon Cave and Wolf River Cave, in Tennessee.

The SCCi has a unique history and expertise at successfully balancing
conservation and access interests. The board believes that our highest
responsibility is to exercise sound stewardship of our caves and karst
lands. This is our duty to the members and donors. While we recognize
and sincerely regret that these closures may inconvenience those who
would like visit these caves, we are very concerned by the possibility
that visitors could inadvertently introduce WNS to SCCi caves and the
bats that rely on them for critical habitat.

We need your help. As cavers, we all have a responsibility to help
protect the fragile ecosystems in the caves that we enjoy visiting. The
SCCi needs your help in three ways:

- Please continue to support the SCCi financially. In the current
economic climate, SCCi needs the ongoing support of all of its members
in order to continue its mission of acquiring, managing, and
protecting caves. With your support, the SCCi protects and manages 63
caves, with more to come.

- Please abide by all cave closures, and consider following the
guidelines outlined in the USFWS Cave Advisory for other caves. Be
sure to check the USFWS and SCCi web sites regularly for updates.

- Please share information about WNS. If you have friends and colleagues
who may visit caves but are not members of SCCi or other organized
caving groups, please let them know about WNS and the need to take
appropriate measures to avoid contributing to its spread.

We need your input. The SCCi board will be reviewing and discussing
these actions at our upcoming quarterly board meeting and annual
members' meeting, both of which will be held on May 16, 2009. I invite
you to attend these meetings and share your comments and concerns. The
meeting times and locations may be found at our web site, www.scci.org,
as well as in a postcard being mailed to members this week.

Why we're concerned. While many of you have no doubt been following the
WNS issue closely over the past year or more, I would like to share
some background information that should help to explain why this
situation is so serious to SCCi caves and the bats that depend on them
for their survival.

- WNS is lethal to hibernating bats. According to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, White-nose syndrome has killed an estimated 400,000
hibernating bats since it was first detected in New York state in late
2006. In affected caves and mines, WNS has decimated bat populations,
with reported mortality rates in the range of 80 - 100%.

- The cause of WNS is poorly understood. Despite intensive research
efforts over the past two years, scientists still don't know for sure
what causes WNS. The most likely cause appears to be a white fungus
found on the surface of bat tissue (hence the name). In January 2009,
the U.S. Geological Survey reported that they had identified this
fungus as a previously unreported species related to a group of fungi
common in soils that are members of the genus Geomyces. Unfortunately,
fungi are notoriously hard to kill, especially in their spore form,
which can easily become airborne.

- WNS is rapidly approaching the southeastern U.S. After having steadily
but slowly spread throughout New York and New England over the
previous two winters, this winter WNS spread rapidly toward the south
and west. In the past two months, WNS has been confirmed for the first
time in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and most recently in several caves in
West Virginia and Virginia. As of March 18, 2009, the southernmost
cave known to be affected by WNS, Clover Hollow Cave in Giles County,
Virginia, is only 120 miles north of the Tennessee border.

- Cavers may be unintentionally contributing to the spread of WNS. The
bulk of available evidence points to bat-to-bat transmission as the
primary method by which WNS is spreading. Earlier this year, however,
WNS appeared in caves hundreds of miles beyond its previous southern
extent, and was detected only in popular recreational caves, while
surrounding, less visited caves remained unaffected. This new pattern
suggests the possibility that cavers may be contributing
unintentionally to the spread of WNS.

- The stakes are high. Caves in the southeastern U.S. represent critical
habitat for at least two endangered bat species - the gray bat and the
Indiana bat. Significant populations of these two endangered bat
species are found in several SCCi caves, including over 1.5 million in
Fern Cave alone. Given the high mortality rates associated with this
condition, WNS has the potential to not only dramatically reduce bat
populations, but also could lead to the extinction of these and other
bat species.

- The WNS situation is evolving rapidly. On March 26, 2009, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for enforcing the
terms of the Endangered Species Act, issued a Cave Advisory, in which
they requested that cavers voluntarily suspend all caving activities
in nine states, including the southeastern states of Virginia and West
Virginia, known to be affected by WNS as well as in eight adjacent
states, including the southeastern states of Kentucky and Tennessee.
When visiting caves outside of these states, the Advisory requests
that cavers use only gear or clothing that has not been used in a cave
in any affected or adjacent state within the past twelve months.

To stay updated on the latest developments regarding SCCi caves, please
check our web site at www.scci.org regularly. For more information on
White Nose Syndrome, please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service WNS
page at www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html, or the National
Speleological Society's WNS page at www.caves.org/WNS/WNS Info.htm.

Thank you again for your continued support of the mission of the SCCi.

Sincerely,

Brian S. Krebs Chair, CEO, Southeastern Cave Conservancy Inc.

[ek]

I suggest that this thread be moved (by moderators) into the WNS subforum.

[Anonymous_Coward]

Very well worded announcement. If only the USFWS moratorium could have been prepared with as much care. Funny, this one presents virtually the same information, yet I don't feel defensive or angry after reading it.