Here is a post from TAG NET on November 20, 2012...
3) Lost Creek Cave and FWS involvement
By: David Pelren (Cookeville, Tennessee)
pelren@charter.netI'm a biologist with the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), and I should
clarify a point or two about Lost Creek Cave (LCC) in White County,
Tennessee. You may be aware that the Tennessee Dept. of Environment and
Conservation (TDEC) recently acquired the cave. While we at the
Tennessee Ecological Services Field Office hope that enforcement action
there will not become necessary, I can't speak for the FWS's Law
Enforcement division in this regard. Our law enforcement folks enforce
the Endangered Species Act on all types of property. I should emphasize
that this enforcement involves ensuring that individuals do not "take"
endangered species, including disturbance of resting animals. The
federally endangered Indiana bat and gray bat have both been documented
to use LCC in recent years, and anyone venturing into the cave during
hibernation season would very possibly affect the species' ability to
adequately regulate its caloric reserves in surviving through an entire
winter. This is especially important during a time when white-nose
syndrome might be present in LCC and causing stress to bats there.
TDEC is preparing a management plan for LCC, and the FWS will provide
input to this process. I prefer to focus on the actions that can be
implemented through this plan for wise use of the cave - rather than
focusing on possible enforcement actions. While a strict moratorium on
any visitation of LCC might be preferred by many, I realize that many
others will continue to enter the cave if nothing is done to inform them
about the situation. As Chuck Sutherland indicated, I talked with
several groups of people in the LCC parking area during the last few
weeks about bats and LCC visitation. The overwhelming majority of those
people were interested to hear about the need to refrain from disturbing
bats during hibernation and associated "swarming" activities (from about
September 15 to April 15). While I threw an unexpected wet blanket on a
few people's party, I was encouraged to hear words of cooperation from
almost everyone there.
I appreciate the spread of this information to people that might be
considering caving at LCC, especially between Sept. 15 and April 15. In
the meantime, the management plan will be developed with cavers in mind.
While I can't promise that summer visitation will be a part of the plan,
I believe that this option (with proper decontamination and regulation
of the numbers of cavers using LCC) will be discussed. It is possible
that the FWS will support such an option.
If you've made it this far, thanks. Please spread the facts.
-Dave Pelren