Caving Conservation

Cave conservation takes on many forms such as:

•Restoration projects – The cleaning and restoring of caves to get them as close as possible to their original state.

•Survey projects – The process of mapping and inventorying caves for documentation purposes.

•Establishing land owner relations – Working with private land owners to educate them about caves found on their property and to assist in protecting them.

•Cave protection – Construct gates when necessary, not publishing GPS coordinates of cave entrances, and opposing sales of speleothems.

The Lubbock Area Grotto stands by the beliefs of the NSS which state:

•Caves have unique scientific, recreational, and scenic values

•These values are endangered by both carelessness and intentional vandalism

•These values, once gone, cannot be recovered

•The responsibility for protecting caves must be formed by those who study and enjoy them.

Accordingly, the intention of the Society is to work for the preservation of caves with a realistic policy supported by effective programs for: the encouragement of self-discipline among cavers; education and research concerning the causes and prevention of cave damage; and special projects, including cooperation with other groups similarly dedicated to the conservation of natural areas. Specifically:

All contents of a cave -- formations, life, and loose deposits -- are significant for their enjoyment and interpretation. Therefore, caving parties should leave a cave as they find it. They should provide means for the removal of waste; limit marking to a few, small, and removable signs as are needed for surveys; and, especially, exercise extreme care not to accidentally break or soil formations, disturb life forms or unnecessarily increase the number of disfiguring paths through an area.

Scientific collection is professional, selective, and minimal. The collecting of mineral or biological material for display purposes, including previously broken or dead specimens, is never justified, as it encourages others to collect and destroy the interest of the cave.