Newstalk Our On-Line News

ID: 96  Artcle By:  Rob Jarboe         Web Service Delay *5-8-12 Up-Date

 Our testing servers remain shut-down for another week, however, everything else is completely operational including memberships, data requests, and support. (As our Photo Galleries reside on the Testing Server, they will not be on-line until the testing server is restored).

ID: 95  Artcle By:  Rob Jarboe         2 Years in the Making!

 Two years after the Library Up-Grade was started, it is finally finished. All of the surveys and articles have now been moved to the new format. The "Old Library" links will soon go away. The next up-grade (Integration and Linking) is in the design process... but, will not affect library visitors (such as the last up-grade did).

ID: 94  Artcle By:  Rob         Library Up-Grades Near Completion

 With only 300 or so maps left to up-load, the library upgrade started in 2011 will be complete later this month. The old library pages will be deleted, increasing the speed of our library. The next library up-grade is in the planning stages. It will not affect the library usage as this last major upgrade did. Some of the 2012 changes include linking the Maps to Photo's, trip reports, trip registers, and more. It is not known when these changes will begin, as the planning stages are only starting now that the current upgrade is nearing completion.

ID: 93  Artcle By:  IKC         Indiana Karst Conservancy Acquisition Announcement

 The Indiana Karst Conservancy is excited to announce that it has acquired its sixth cave/karst preserve. The 50.3-acre tract is located in Lawrence County, just south of Spring Mill State Park. The property contains the most-upstream entrance to the 5-mile-long Shawnee Cave System, which consists of Donaldson, Bronson, Lower Twin, and Upper Twin caves. The majority of Upper Twin Cave lies outside and to the south of the park and the IKC’s entrance provides the best access to the majority of Upper Twin. The preserve is tentatively named the Shawnee Karst Preserve (SKP). The entire Shawnee Cave System has significant biological diversity including a large population of the northern cavefish, a state listed species, and several other rare invertebrates. Acquiring the property will help protect the watershed that supports this cave’s ecosystem. These factors allowed us to partner with The Nature Conservancy, with TNC providing nearly half the funding. The property has many other natural features including numerous large sinkholes, a sinkhole pond, and a limestone glade. The only negative is that the property was timbered approximately two years ago and will take some time to recover. Upper Twin is mostly a single passage stream cave with swimming or flotation devices required in some places. It will not be a novice cave. We have not broached the subject with the DNR on the potential for accessing the section of the cave under park property (when they are not conducting boat tours). By DNR regulations, Upper Twin is the only DNR cave not closed for White-Nose Syndrome containment. Regardless, the IKC will require all visitors to follow responsible decontamination procedures, just as it does at its other preserves. While the Management Plan has yet to be formulated; in addition to caving, there will likely be opportunities for primitive camping, trails for hiking, and native area restorations. We will also need to provide some physical infrastructure improvements (e.g. a hardened lane and parking area) before general visitation is encouraged. To learn and see more about our newest preserve, you can go to the SKP’s web page at ikc.caves.org/shawnee/shawnee.htm Finally, land is not cheap and we will need financial support from individual and groups within the caving community to pay off this project. Donations can be made by credit card via the IKC’s website, or checks can be mailed to: IKC, PO Box 2401, Indianapolis, IN 46206. All donations will be acknowledged on the SKP’s donors web page and are tax deducible. Questions regarding this latest project can be directed to President Jerry Lewis at LewisBioConsult@aol.com

ID: 92  Artcle By:  Rob Jarboe         .PHP Library Conversion

 The ICCA Library has been converted from the MS Access Database to MYSQL, and added as tables to our existing database - 1 database for all. The pages to access the library have been converted to .php for added security, and faster page loads. Library access is determined by USERLEVEL, which is determined by the database depending on the Membership Level, and rights to add, delete, edit or otherwise modify is set by the database USERLEVEL.

ID: 89  Artcle By:  ICCA         Re-Opened after 30 Years!

 The Thunderhall Barrel entrance to Queen Blair Cave has been re-opened after 30 years of closure. The steel drums were replaced with a large, heavy duty PVC pipe, and a seal-tight gate (To keep the cave from drying, as a draft gets created when both ends are open). Although reports are still being investigated, the opening has been confirmed. Credits for re-opening will be listed when more details are confirmed.

ID: 88  Artcle By:  IDNR         IDNR Press Release - WNS in Indiana

 http://www.caves.org/WNS/Indiana press release.pdf

ID: 87  Artcle By:  Indy Channel - News 6         Deadly Bat Fungus confirmed at Ind. Cave

 COPY AND PASTE INTO YOUR BROWSER http://www.theindychannel.com/news/26696889/detail.html

ID: 85  Artcle By:  Rob Jarboe         Deer Creek FWA

 The State of Indiana has made a recent deal to trade land at Atterbury in Johnson County for Land in Putnam County from the Indiana State Farm Correctional Facility, forming the Deer Creek FWA. We are excited to see this land become available for public use. Although surrounding a penal facility, we believe the land will be of much value to the recreational user. Strict tresspass laws will be enforced by the correctional facility. This land is in the northern Karst Region... Plans to check many of our "future hike locations" are now underway!!!

ID: 77  Artcle By:   By Chad Ryan - Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel         DNR closes caves to protect bats

 In an attempt to protect Indiana bats from the spread of a deadly fungus, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources closed access to all public caves, sinkholes, tunnels and abandoned mines on DNR-owned properties from May 1 through April 30. Though the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, which is responsible for killing more than a half-million bats from Vermont to West Virginia, has not been found in Indiana caves, the DNR took the proactive step under the consultation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Twin Caves at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, about 30 miles south of Bloomington, is the lone DNR property that will continue to allow cave access. According to the Indiana Cave Conservation Association, most of Indiana's caves are located on private property in the southern part of the state. While the DNR closure has affected only about one third of the state's caves and pits, private owners are joining in to help prevent the transfer of the fungus, which can be spread by recreational cavers. “The impact of white-nose syndrome has definitely affected recreational caving, including that on private property,” ICCA president Rob Jarboe said in an e-mail. “Private cave owners have closed a few caves due to white-nose syndrome; however, many remain open as they did prior to WNS. “Some landowners have taken steps to allow visitors, so long as decontamination procedures outlined by the National Speleological Society and other cave-related groups are followed. This helps prevent the spread of WNS, if indeed it does find its way to Indiana.” Bruce Silvers, vice chairman of the Northern Indiana Grotto of the NSS in Fort Wayne, said the closures affect many recreational cavers, especially in northern Indiana, because the public-owned properties offer ease of access that most private properties do not. “Some people will let you go on their (private) property, some people just say flat, ‘No,'” Silvers said. “Others, if you know them, will let certain people on their property, so it's definitely going to affect (recreational caving trips.)” According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, white-nose syndrome was first noticed in 2006 outside Albany, N.Y. Bats appeared to have an “unusual white substance” covering their muzzles. The disease has spread through many northeastern states, and mortality rates for some bat hibernacula are believed to be between 90 and 100 percent. Numerous laboratories and state and federal biologists have been unable to determine the cause of the bats' deaths, but the U.S. FWS said the recent identification of a “cold-loving fungus” has raised hopes for getting closer to an answer. Despite the concerns over white-nose syndrome, some caves remain open to recreational caving. Those interested in learning more about caving or joining the local grotto can find more information about the Northern Indiana Grotto at www.caves.org/ grotto/nig/.