The Northeastern Cave Conservancy (NCC) will be holding a Barn Dance on October 17th, 2009 at the Octagon Barn on Middle Road, Knox, NY to celebrate it's 30th Anniversary and to raise money for the purchase of Merlin's Cave.
 
All are welcome! Please see the barn dance webpage for more information!

The Northeastern Cave Conservancy (NCC) announced today it is again closing three of its caves for the winter, effective October 1, to protect hibernating bats in response to the continuing White Nose Syndrome crisis.
 
The affected caves are Knox Cave, Crossbones Cave, and Ella Armstrong Cave, all in New York State. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the caves will re-open in the spring.
 
The other caves owned and managed by the NCC will remain open for visitation under regular visitation policies. Details about all NCC caves and visitation may be found on the NCC web site at www.necaveconservancy.org.
 
Action by the NCC parallels that of the National Speleological Society, which is also closing its three New York cave preserves October 1 – Schoharie Caverns, Gage Cave (Barton Hill Preserve), and McFail’s Cave.
 
The vote to close these caves was taken at the NCC’s quarterly meeting Sunday, at Sam’s Point Preserve, in Cragsmoor, NY. NCC Board member, Al Hicks, bat specialist for the NY Department of Environmental Conservation, advised that closing later would subject bats already gathered for hibernation to unnecessary disturbance.
 
The NCC also heard from Carl Herzog, also with NYDEC, on the results of summer acoustical monitoring surveys. These surveys showed that certain bat species affected by White Nose Syndrome – Little Brown Bats, Northern Long-Eared Bats, Tri-colored Bats (Eastern Pipistrelles), and Indiana Bats – are virtually gone from the region due to WNS.
 
NCC President, Robert Addis, said, “Closing these particular caves in conjunction with the National Speleological Society caves, will allow us to study the continuing impact on the bats in these affected sites, and hopefully permit the remaining bats to begin to recover their historic numbers.” Bats typically give birth to only one pup a year, so population recovery will take years. White Nose Syndrome is believed to have killed well over a million bats. It has now been documented in nine states. Experts predict it will spread to more this winter.
 
The NCC advises all cavers to clean and decontaminate their gear and clothing according to the protocols found on the US Fish and Wildlife web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/whitenosemessage.html. In addition, any gear and clothing used here should not be taken out of the region, in an effort to contain the disease.
 
The Northeastern Cave Conservancy is committed to the conservation, study, management, and acquisition of caves and karst areas having significant geological, hydrological, biological, recreational, historical, or aesthetic features. The NCC owns and manages nine non-commercial caves in the northeast.

Schoharie, New York - The Northeastern Cave Conservancy on Sunday voted unanimously to close all of its caves until May 15, 2009. Caves immediately affected include Clarksville, Onesquethaw, and those on the Selleck's Preserve. Other NCC Caves have been closed for the winter to protect hibernating bats.
 
The NCC action follows Thursday's call by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for a moratorium on caving to reduce the risks of further spread of White Nose Syndrome, which has been killing bats across the northeast and now spread to the Middle Atlantic States.
 
In addition to closing its caves until May 15, the NCC action called for the Conservancy to "in the interim work with the USFWS to improve the efficacy of their cave advisory of March 26, 2009 toward our common goal of limiting the spread of White Nose Syndrome."
 
NCC President, Robert Addis, said, "The NCC has been deeply involved in the investigation and management of White Nose Syndrome since its discovery, and we want to do everything we can to continue to help. We look forward to discussing with the USFWS how best to do this," he added.
 
The meeting was attended by cavers and conservancy members from throughout the northeast, as well as at least one adjoining landowner. They and NCC board members raised specific concerns about several components of the USFWS advisory.
 
The concerns included potential vandalism and other damage to NCC preserve and adjoining landowner properties if the caves were closed for an extended period of time.
 
Others raised issues about the loss of educational opportunity about White Nose Syndrome for the thousands of people who routinely visit the NCC caves. Others were concerned about the financial impact on the primary mission of the NCC of raising money to acquire and protect significant cave and karst resources.
 
"As experienced cave managers since 1978, we have some additional considerations that need to be balanced in the context of helping to contain the spread of WNS," Addis said.
 
"We hope to be able to work with the USFWS to refine and improve how our shared goal is met."

Al Hicks (DEC) has asked for cavers to help with NY bat counts this year. The list of caves to be counted and the survey form is can be found here. Please be sure to follow all landowner rules.
 
The DEC has 2 cameras that cavers can borrow if they need them (Albany area DEC). As soon as you know which cave(s) you would like to do or have done please send contact Christa Hay at ChristaHay@yahoo.com or C.Hay@ctmale.com so that the number of duplicate trips can be minimized.

The Northeastern Cave Conservancy (NCC) announced today it is closing three of its caves for the winter, effective October 1, to protect hibernating bats in response to the continuing White Nose Syndrome crisis in the northeast.
 
The affected caves are Knox Cave, Crossbones Cave, and Ella Armstrong Cave, all in New York state. The caves are scheduled to re-open May 15, 2009.
 
The other caves owned and managed by the NCC contain few or no bats, and will remain open for visitation. Details about all NCC caves and visitation may be found on the NCC web site at http://www.necaveconservancy.org.
 
Action by the NCC parallels that of the National Speleological Society, which is also closing its three New York cave preserves for the winter – Schoharie Caverns, Gage Cave (Barton Hill Preserve), and McFail’s Cave.
 
Knox, Schoharie, and Gage Caves were three of the initial “ground zero” sites where White Nose Syndrome devastated bat populations over the past two winters, including the federally-endangered Indiana bat.
 
White Nose Syndrome remains a mystery. Caving organizations, scientists, and wildlife officials have been coordinating activities in an attempt to find what caused hundreds of thousands of bats to literally starve to death. Researchers are currently examining bats as they prepare to go into hibernation to see if they have adequate stores of body fats necessary to survive the winter.
 
NCC President, Robert Addis, said, “Closing these particular caves in conjunction with the NSS and Fish and Wildlife officials, will allow us to study the continuing impact on the bats in these affected sites, and hopefully permit the remaining bats to begin to recover their historic numbers.” Bats typically give birth to only one pup a year, so population recovery will take years.
 
White Nose Syndrome has affected virtually every cave and mine used by bats within an 80-mile radius of the initial sites, including in NY, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Cavers and other visitors to any caves in the northeast are asked to avoid visiting any caves with bats during the hibernation season.
 
In addition, anyone visiting caves outside the region or moving from an affected site to a clean site is asked to clean and decontaminate their cave gear and clothing according to protocols found on the US Fish and Wildlife web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/whitenosemessage.html The Northeastern Cave Conservancy is committed to the conservation, study, management, and acquisition of caves and karst areas having significant geological, hydrological, biological, recreational, historical, or aesthetic features. The NCC owns and manages nine non-commercial caves in the northeast.
 

The nine New York caves owned and managed by the Northeastern Cave Conservancy will open for summer visitation as scheduled on May 15. Caves are open according to the normal conditions, which may be found on the NCC website: http://www.necaveconservancy.org.
 
These caves include the highly popular Clarksville Cave and Knox Cave, used by many youth groups. Also opening are Onesquethaw Cave, Crossbones Cave, Ella Armstrong Cave, Ladder Cave, Selleck’s Cave, Cave 575, and Levy’s Cave.
 
Cavers are asked to continue the decontamination of clothing and gear according to the protocol advisory issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. These may be found at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html
 
The NCC caves had been closed since February 10, due to White Nose Syndrome, which is responsible for the deaths of thousands of bats in the Northeast. The NCC has been collaborating with the NY Department of Environmental Conservation and the US Fish and Wildlife Service with investigations and bat surveys over the winter.
 
May 15 marks the historical end of hibernation in this region, and the bats will have gone to their summer roosts. There is no evidence that WNS is harmful to humans. There is also no evidence at this point that humans are responsible for spreading WNS, but scientists are not ready to completely rule it out, and continue to be extremely cautious about the potential for WNS to spread beyond the northeast region of the US.
 
There is general consensus that there is no reason to restrict cave visitation in the NCC caves for the summer, as long as decontamination protocols are followed. Detailed instructions on the proper sanitation of various types of equipment are provided on the USFWS web site (see above). Alternatively, individuals should dedicate separate sets of equipment for use in affected and non-affected caves.
 
A letter is going out to more than 80 groups who have historically used the caves to explain the visitation process and decontamination protocols.
 
Cavers and the public are advised that the caves will remain open for the summer months, provided no evidence is found that cave access by humans during this time period is having a negative effect on the bat populations.
 
While no decision has been made at this time, it is possible that caves in the Northeast harboring bats, which are usually open for visitation in winter, may close this year by October 15th. This is the accepted standard date for the beginning of winter hibernation season in the northeast.

Press release can be found at: http://www.necaveconservancy.org/files/press_release/NCCWNSmediarelease.pdf

During the winter of 2006-2007, a large number of dead bats were discovered in 4 Albany NY area caves (Hailes and Knox Caves, Schoharie and Gages Caverns ). Although it has not yet been confirmed, it seems likely that this event was related in some way to a fungus that was observed around the noses of roughly half the bats in Hailes Cave (see attached photograph). None of the many bat researchers that were sent the photograph had seen anything like it before.

We do not yet understand exactly what happened, or why, and are not even sure that the fungus and the mortlaities are related. We do know that bats died by the thousands and that there is a chance that this problem can be carried to other sites by either bats or cavers.

We need your help. We ask that when caving, each of you keep an eye out for bats exhibiting this white nose condition or any unusual numbers of dead bats. If you encounter either situation, please call Alan Hicks at the NYSDEC as soon as possible (cell 518-451-4632, office 518-402-8854).

 
Recent News on the White Nose Syndrome (WNS):

• http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html
• http://www.dec.state.ny.us/press/41621.html(1-30-2008)
• http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/Detail.cfm?Agency__ID=1273 (1-30-2008)

Your donations to the NCC are tax deductible and particularly useful to those who itemize their returns. Letters thanking you for your 2007 donations will be sent out in early January and if you don't receive it, email emily@Speleobooks.com to request one. Due to their travel plans, the second wave of donation letters will come out late January or the first part of February in plenty of time to include in your taxes.

General permit information for all the NCC managed caves can now be found on the resources page of the website.