Fox News Article today

[graytail]

I always love it when I read a national news story and know all the people mentioned.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518702,00.html

Dave

[graveleye]

The Forest Service order says people caught in a cave or mine face up to six months in jail and fines of up to $10,000. Ewing said Forest Service officials will enforce the bans.

This certainly doth not make a voluntary ban.

I think this is pretty excessive if you ask me and I'm actually thinking about doing a little letter writing on my own. Jail and $10k fines is way over the top for something they literally know nothing about.

[StevenSmith]

I find no information whatsoever on the USDA Forest Service Website after searching for nearly 10 minutes for WNS notices. I would think this should be easier to find, especially if they are threatening people with Jail time and Fines.

If their goal is to keep people out of caves then they need to post some information about it in a conspicuous place. If they are just wanting to fine and imprison people, then that's another story... Ignorance of the law is no excuse?

I have read the PDF notice pertaining to this but it was linked directly from the WNS page on Caves.org.

The article on Fox Website is not quite accurate. The closure order actually states that "Violation of these prohibitions set forth above is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than six(6) months, or both."

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/docs/apr_2009_caves_closed/closure_order.pdf

[cavergirl]

It only applies to the eastern region.
you have to click on "regions" on the homepage then go to eastern region
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/

[Mudduck]

It only applies to the eastern region.

Lets just hope it stays that way

[wyandottecaver]

posted elsewhere but region 8 (south) is also included in the USFS decision but the actual order won't come out until later this month. So you southerners need to cave those USFS caves while you can. Of some interest is that some individual Forests (like Shawnee in IL, region 9) are tailoring the order to their own circumstance. The Shawnee only restricts access to "Bat Caves". The Monongahela is soliciting suggestions for re-opening specific caves that would pose a minimal WNS risk.