The parcel of slightly more than a half-acre, known as Gregory Entrance, is one of three entrances to the 4,800-foot-long cave, which attracts college students and adventurers from throughout the United States. The county is conveying the parcel free of charge.

"Northeastern will take title to the parcel and will produce a public use plan that includes everything from parking to safety provisions," said Mark Fitzsimmons, director of the County Department of Economic Development, Conservation and Planning.

The cave conservancy, based in Schoharie County, will work with the Albany County Land Conservancy in ensuring the long-term integrity of the natural resource, the resolution states.

"We put the land in the hands of those who are experts in caving and the long-term or perpetual protection of the land in the hands of the land conservancy, and that is the best of both worlds," Fitzsimmons said.

The cave is considered "one of the most actively used noncommercial cave systems in the country making it both a significant geologic and recreational resource," Fitzsimmons said in a written request for the legislature to act.

The entranceway is off of Delaware Turnpike in the hamlet of Clarksville in the town of New Scotland. The NCC will now control "what used to be unregulated and unrestricted access," Fitzsimmons said.

The conveyance will be the second time in two months that the group has acquired land. In September, it closed on 11 acres that included the cave which runs underneath the acreage, as well as Wards Entrance, another entrance, Northeastern President Bob Addis said.

The group bought the cave, discovered in the early 1800s, for $50,000 from the Alberts-McNab family, who owned it for more than 50 years, he said. The family "faithfully maintained the long tradition of keeping the cave open to the public." Money was raised through the caving community and other groups.

It is the most popular in the Northeast, Addis said, adding that it attracts a few thousand a visitors a year. The group can't put an exact number on how many venture in annually, but "now that we own it, we'll start counting noses or helmets. We do require people have safety helmets," he said. The third entrance is privately owned on a "a friendly neighbor's land," he said.

The organization plans to post trained volunteers on the property during peak visitation hours. The cave's air temperature is constant at 46 year-round; the water is 43.

The cave has posed a danger at times. In late February 2001, RPI student Robert Svensson, 23, became trapped and died while caving with three fellow students. The air supply he was carrying for an underwater expedition ran out. Initial rescue efforts were made by his friends, but when unsuccessful, they made it out and called for help.

Numerous explorers have become wedged in the cave. In the last 14 years, some 15 people have been rescued.

The 0.6 acres that the county is giving the organization is an area where a stream comes out of the cave and forms a pool near the entrance. The pool was used by the Onesquethaw Fire Department to fill water tank trucks, Addis said. The county owned the plot, which had been foreclosed, for roughly 25 years and kept it for the water source. In the last 10 years, Clarksville has put in a piped water system and trucks no longer use the pool, he said.

The group is thrilled about acquiring Clarksville Cave.

"We see this as a great opportunity to reach first-time cave explorers," Addis said. "Our motto is 'protect the unique underground wilderness, cave safely and have an enjoyable trip.' "

Carol DeMare can be reached at 454-5431 or by e-mail at cdemare@timesunion.com.