Colorado Cave Survey: 26 September 2005 The 26 September 2005 meeting of the Colorado Cave Survey was held at Carl and Amy Bern's home in Lakewood, Colorado. The meeting was very well attended, with representatives present from all Colorado Grottos, as well as a number of additional cavers. The following are notes which I recorded during the meeting; please contact me if you have any corrections - Stuart Marlatt. o Lasunder Cave Management Plan Following years of interaction between the Cave Survey and the BLM, a management plan for Lasunder Cave has finally been approved and is expected to go into effect in the next few months. While the text of the plan was not available for review, the following items were discussed: - Cave visitation will be limited to 12 trips per year. Note that this does not necessarily imply one trip per month, since the cave is inaccessible for much of the winter. (Additional trips may be approved by the BLM, but the CCS must be consulted). - The back portion of the cave, past the Tight Spot, remains closed. No trips into that region are permitted without the explicit direction of the BLM. - Digging and exploration must be pre-approved by the CCS and BLM. - Trips to the cave must be led by a designated trip leader. - All cavers must sign a liability waiver. Access to the cave is still waiting completion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the BLM and CCS. Details yet to be worked out are the specifics of a key distribution/return system, etc. (Please contact your Cave Survey representative for more details. A Lasunder Cave webpage will be added to the CCS website once these details are finalized.) o Groaning Cave The survey discussed an incident earlier this summer in which a group of cavers attempting to leave the cave were unable to open the gate and were forced to saw through one of the locks. It was noted that a new hacksaw blade - and HANDLE - were in the register tube. Some discussion commenced about the lock rotations and what can be done to prevent future incidents like this. The condition of the register was discussed and a suggestion was made to replace the registers with "Rite-in-the-Rain" paper. Ed Larock is working on updating the waiver list. Anyone with waivers in their own possession should give them to Ed. o Red Mountain Ranch Park Gypsum Karst The subject of an area of gypsum karst in the future Red Mountain Ranch Park (in Larimer County) was discussed. This karst area has a sinking stream and has the potential to be the longest gypsum cave in Colorado (admittedly, a not overwhelming designation); this sink was first noted by Donald Davis in the late 1950s, but there was no open entrance at that time. Apparently, a Larimer Co. park administrator (Jerry White?) consulted with a CSU geologist, who pronounced the insurgence too dangerous to enter, and the cave is currently closed. Members of the Cave Survey may propose a scientific investigation of the site, and have suggested that a dye trace be done. Certainly, an understanding of the hydrology of this area will be required for park management planning. o Fly & Marble Caves Fly and Marble Caves are now open. Fred Luizer is in the process of planning and constructing gates for the caves, and will be visiting the caves in the near future with Kirk Novo to assess bat access. Although a Fly/Marble Cave webpage, with a downloadable waiver, is up (linked from the CCS website), no waivers have been filed yet. A key transfer system was discussed, including the possibility of keeping a key in a lock box within sight of the property owner's home. o Cave Access Database Update Rick Rhinehart discussed progress on the Colorado Cave Access database. He is looking for information regarding Cave of Gold, Porcupine Cave (in particular, any information about a BLM landswap), and caves in the Beulah area. o Colorado Cave Surveyor Database Stuart Marlatt discussed progress on the Colorado Cave Surveyor database. He noted that he has a good start on the list, largely from data mined from Compass data files as well as from emails sent to known cave mappers. A number of suggestions were made for other cavers to contact. o Hubbard's Cave Road Adoption The Rising Sun 4WD club has been seeking a new sponsor for the road leading to Hubbard's Cave, and it was proposed that the Colorado caving community "adopt" the road, under the auspices of the CCS. The survey has agreed to undertake this effort; road maintenance weekends are expected to be scheduled for the spring (probably with a BBQ and caving trips as incentives). o Anvils Points Claystone Cave A recent large collapse in the Anvils Points cave was discussed. No cavers were present at the time, but the collapse now prevents a through trip. Although there has been recent gas well drilling in the near vicinity, Donald Davis does not believe that this would have contributed to the collapse. o Etc. - It was noted that Blane Colton and Tom Taylor both have some quantities of Colorado Cave Survey archives, including maps and data files. The CCS needs to recover these items and merged them with the CCS library (currently being housed by Bruce Albright). o Next Meeting The next meeting will be held in Monday, 30 January 2006, at Carl & Amy Bern's home.