Popular cave in Sequoia National Forest vandalized

A photo released Wednesday, June 5, 2013, of Packsaddle Cave
shows stalactites, some of which were recently damaged in a case
of vandalism.

A popular cave in the Sequoia National Forest has been vandalized.

U.S. Forest Service officials said Wednesday that stalactites were broken off in the cave. The stalactites take at least hundreds of years to form and are irreplaceable, according to officials.

The vandalism occurred inside Packsaddle Cave on the Kern River Ranger District of the Sequoia National Forest. The cave is a popular hiking destination for people visiting the Upper Kern River.

If caught, vandals can be fined up to $5,000.

District Ranger Al Watson is asking anyone with information on the vandal or vandals to call (760) 376-3781 or 379-5646.

Brazil Expands Mines to Drive Future, but Cost Is a Treasured Link to Its Past

A speleologist from Vale, the Brazilian mining giant,
in October at a cave in the Carajás Mountains,
where it plans to expand an iron-ore mining complex

Archaeologists must climb tiers of orchid-encrusted rain forest, where jaguars roam and anacondas slither, to arrive at one of the Amazon’s most stunning sights: a series of caves and rock shelters guarding the secrets of human beings who lived here more than 8,000 years ago.

An iron-ore mine in Pará. Scholars say the caves there tell the story of early humans of the Amazon and should be saved.

Almost anywhere else, these caves would be preserved as an invaluable source of knowledge into prehistoric human history. But not in this remote corner of the Amazon, where Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, is pushing forward with the expansion of one of the world’s largest iron-ore mining complexes, a project that will destroy dozens of the caves treasured by scholars.

The caves, and the spectacular mineral wealth in their midst, have presented Brazil with a dilemma. The iron ore from Carajás, exported largely to China where it is used to make steel, is a linchpin of Brazil’s ambitions of reviving a sluggish economy, yet archaeologists and other researchers contend that the emphasis on short-term financial gains imperils an unrivaled window into a nebulous past.

Limestone ecosystem threatened as demand for cement grows

Bats hang from the ceiling of the Moso cave in Hon Chong,
Vietnam. Hundreds of species live in the limestone caves
yet their habitat is being blown apart in the name of making
cement.

Hundreds of species live in the limestone caves of Hon Chong in southern Vietnam, and many of them are found nowhere else on Earth. Yet their habitat is being blown apart, chunk by chunk, in the name of making cement.

One reason, biologists lament, is that these are creatures no one would want to hug, and many would want to stomp.

Spiders. Mites. Millipedes.

People who have been trying to save them from extinction for more than 15 years have found few allies in government, industry or among local residents.

"The problem is that limestone caves do not (have) any charismatic animals or plants that would melt people's hearts if they died out," Peter Ng Kee Lin, a biologist at the National University of Singapore, said by email.

The degradation of Asia's vast but fragile limestone ecosystems is continuing apace as the region's demand for cement grows along with its economies. Limestone is a key ingredient in cement, the second-most consumed substance on Earth after water, and is used to build desperately needed houses, roads and bridges.

Lascaux 4 plans axed in €1bn cuts

Plans to help fund a giant facsimile of the Lascaux caves in the Dordogne have been scrapped under government cuts - but local councillors say they will save the €50million project.

Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti said that several cultural projects announced by the previous government - totalling almost a billion euros but mostly unbudgeted - would be scrapped, delayed or postponed.

These included the Lascaux 4 reconstruction near Montignac, the Maison de l'Histoire de France national history museum, a reserve art store for the Louvre at Cergy-Pontoise, and an extra theatre for the Comédie-Française.

Ms Filipetti said that Lascaux 4 was "not a priority project" but Bernard Cazeau, president of Dordogne conseil général, said that was "surprising" as the plans to safeguard the hillside above Lascaux were laid under instructions from the government and Unesco.

Tabon Cave in Palawan declared National Cultural Treasure

Tabon Cave, the Philippines Cradle of Civilization, was recently declared a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines.

The declaration followed a long process of study and examination by the National Museum of the Philippines pursuant to provisions of Republic Act No. 10066 also known as the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.

The Act defines National Cultural Treasure as a unique cultural property found locally, possessing outstanding historical, cultural, artistic and/or scientific value which is highly significant and important to the country and nation, and officially declared as such by pertinent cultural agency.

The formal declaration was led by Dr. Jeremy Barns, director, and Angel Bautista, chief of Commission on Museums, Cultural Property Division of the National Museum witnessed by archaeologists from Thailand, Indonesia, France, Belgium, USA and a UNESCO representative.

Charina Cabading, executive director of Culture & Arts Division of the provincial government represented Palawan Governor Baham Mitra in a simple ceremony at the formal declaration made at the Tabon Cave Complex in Quezon town.

Tabon Cave is famous as the site where the earliest evidence of man in the Philippines was discovered in 1962. Dubbed as the Tabon Man, its discovery was made by a National Museum team led by Dr. Robert B. Fox.

The fossil, composed of human skull, jaw bones and teeth, found in the cave date back to about 22,000 to 23,000 years making it the most important archaeological discovery in the country.

Another important discovery in the cave complex is the world-renown burial jar, the Manunggul Jar, featured in the 1,000 peso bill. The jar is also a National Treasure.

Tabon Cave Complex is 138-hectares of rugged cliffs and deep slopes in Lipuun Point in Quezon municipality located about 145 kilometers southwest of Puerto Princesa City.

Source: PIA

Wang Besar Cave Needs Restoration, Says Mohd Radzi

The Wang Besar river cave in Bintong here, which used to be a famous picnic area and a source of water supply for the local people, needs restoration, Kangar member of Parliament Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said.

As such, he said he would try to apply for an allocation to implement the restoration works on the area.

He said apart from getting their water supply, local people also used to flock the water catchment area in the cave to bath and wash their clothes because the water was so clean and never dried up.

Mohd Radzi said he was introduced to the cave when he followed his late father Tan Sri Sheikh Ahmad Mohd Hashim, who was the first Menteri Besar of Perlis, on his visits to the villages, including Wang Besar.

He said with serious restoration and conservation works, the cave, which now covered with bush, could re-emerge as a popular picnic area and tourist destination.

Meanwhile, Wang Besar Village Development and Security Committee chairman Ahmad Hussin also lauded Mohd Radzi''s idea to restore the cave.

Kampung Wang Besar, which has over 100 houses with about 450 residents, is one of the most visited villages in Perlis.

Recently, the village was also selected as the overall champion to receive the Excellence Village Award and cash prize of RM10,000 from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry and Social Development Department.

Source: Yahoo News

Cave systems help protect, sustain environment

Cave ecological systems are very important to protect and sustain an environment, Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology personnel Dr Wasantha Sena Welianga said.

“The project to map out caves in the country and to introduce cave tourism to Sri Lanka has already in progress over the past two years. By now, the group of cave explorers has so far studied the eco - systems of 52 of the country’s caves,” Dr Welianga said.

This project is being launched under the guidance of Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology Dr Wasantha Sena Welianga.

“Around 10 out of the 20 caves so far mapped out are situated in the in the Monaragala District,” he said.

“These caves were believed to be inhabitated by the Veddha community in the past,” he said.

“Other inspected caves are located in the Rathnapura, Badulla and Gampaha Districts. Numerous caves are hidden sites.

Damage fears for popular caves

There is concern an increase in the number of people exploring the Mole Creek caves in northern Tasmania may be damaging the fragile area.

The Mole Creek cave system sits at the foothills of the Great Western Tiers.

It is considered one of the most spectacular in Australia and is home to over 400 caves.

Tour guide Debbie Hunter says an increasing number of curious amateurs are exploring the cave system and accidentally damaging the fragile environment.

If dirty hand and foot prints are not cleaned off, spectacular calcite deposits can be permanently stained.

"With the recent increase I'm noticing that every trip I take in here, I'm always getting my water bottle and soft brush out," she said.

The Parks and Wildlife Service is considering installing information booths at the popular sites to minimise the damage done by the increase in foot traffic.

Spokesman Chris Emms says the booths would be aimed mainly at large groups.

"It's about educating those people who aren't experienced on what they can do, not only from a safety point of view but also for an environmental point of view, to improve their experience but also to minimise their impacts."

Source: ABC

Damaged Lava Caves in Iceland to Be Closed

Víðgemlir. There are also ice formations inside the cave.

The Icelandic Speleological Society would like 15-20 caves in Iceland to be fenced off in the next few years to prevent them from being damaged any further. At the same time, access to the caves should be improved so that they can be observed safely.

Guðni Gunnarsson, chair of the Icelandic Speleological Society, told Morgunblaðið that he can name many examples of damaged caves, including Víðgelmir in west Iceland, which has practically been stripped of its stalagmites and lava straws.

Similarly, the appearance of Leiðarendi in south Iceland has undergone drastic changes since its discovery 20 years ago.

“It is very sad what happened with Leiðarendi. It was very beautiful when it was found but in the past 15 years everything has been removed from inside it. One of its most magnificent lava formations, a large stalagmite, was taken in 2007, even though it was clearly fenced off,” Guðni said.

Some caves have been closed already, both to cave expeditioners and others, such as Jörundur in south Iceland.

New Technology Could Help Save Glenwood Caverns

Since opening over a decade ago, the Glenwood Caverns above Glenwood Springs have given visitors the opportunity to go deep underground inside the Rocky Mountains. But the lights that allowed people to see where they’re going started causing some damage to the caves.

New technology is now saving a work of art millions of years in the making.

Inside the dark, deep, damp world of the Glenwood Caverns the old incandescent lights started becoming a big problem.

“Over the years in certain areas … we started to see some drying out,” Glenwood Caverns owner Steve Beckley said. “A lot of it was in the light bulbs and stuff because we have 300 light fixtures under the cave.”


The problem in the cave with keeping the incandescent light is that the rock formations grow very slowly over time and without a change they would have become extinct.


“The formations are still active and still growing,” Beckley said. “But if the cave dries out the formations are done growing and basically the cave becomes dead.”

So a few years ago Beckley started looking for an alternative.

“As soon as we found out that the caves had 75 to 100 watt incandescent bulbs, and 300 plus of them, we knew this was going to be an easier opportunity than maybe some of the others,” Erica Sporhawk with Garfield Clean Energy Challenge said.

With the help of the Garfield Clean Energy Challenge, they found the answer was LED lights. They cost up to $50 each, but use 80 percent less energy, last a few years longer than incandescent lights, and emit significantly less heat, helping the cave stay moist and the owner a little richer.

Protect our ground water

Libar

Protect mountain barangays, Cebu City officials urged

Phillipine Cebu city officials should first prioritize the protection of five mountain barangays that are being eyed for eco-tourism before allowing any investments there, an ecology group said yesterday.

George Chu of the Cebu Biodiversity Conversation Foundation said they were surprised that city officials were more focused on finding potential eco-tourism sites for an enterprise rather than protecting existing watersheds in the city.

A Singaporean investor is reportedly studying five barangays for their eco-tourism potential , said Giovanni Stephen Romarate, Cebu City Zoo manager who’s helping scout for sites.

Chu cited in particular a cave in barangay Tabunan which he said should have a good management plan.

He said caves should be classified to protect tourists and ensure that the caves are garbage-free.

He said caves that are classified as extremely hazardous shoud be limited to research but off limits to the public. There are also caves open to experienced cave explorers and to visitors with guides.

Caves are “fragile” and dependent on the presence of trees, said Chu and that developers hoping to set up base camps and zipline tours should “consider the habitat of birds, bats and other species” there.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) earlier confirmed that parts of the five barangays of Sudlon 1, 2, Tabunan, Tagbao and Taptap fall wtihin watersheds and are part of the Central Cebu Protected Landscape.

Baha Mar golf course to include pre-Columbus cave

Exclusive Baha Mar Resorts

A cave containing artifacts stretching back hundreds of years will be incorporated into Baha Mar's new 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course ( http://www.nicklaus.com/design/Baha-Mar/ ).

The historic site, discovered years ago when the $2.6 billion development performed a survey of the land, rests near Lake Cunningham on the resort property. After some extensive investigations, the items in the cave have been catalogued and date back to the pre-Columbus era.

According to Laura Pinder, the environmental monitor for Baha Mar, the site will be made a "point of interest" on the golf course.

"It will be part of the golf course experience," she explained. "We'll develop interpretative materials and signage. As you walk the trail of the golf course, you'll see the signs. They'll be a buffer between the cave and the course. But it will explain the history of the cave, and what is interesting about it and how it relates to the culture of The Bahamas."

The attraction is sure to make the Jack Nicklaus course one of the more unusual golf experiences in the world.

New cracks found at Ashland's Devil’s Den

New cracks found below Devil’s Den have some fearful the cave is yet again in danger of collapsing, and have prompted the Historical Commission to take matters into its own hands.

Field Study Committee member Mark Juitt told the School Committee on Thursday that workers at the field complex construction site recently found deep cracks beneath the cave, from blasting.

“Unfortunately the rock underneath…does not look like it’s supportive enough to support that area,” Juitt said.

Devil’s Den is a rock structure some claim is historic, located near the athletic field construction site, on a hill behind the high school. Damage to the cave earlier this year during construction infuriated some residents and prompted the town to modify construction plans to save the cave.

Assistant Town Manager Mark Purple yesterday said there are cracks below the cave, but it is too early to guess whether they might endanger the den until a geotechnical engineer studies the area.

“It may look fractured but it may be stable,” he said.

Purple said workers have excavated to ground level but still need to dig down another nine feet to install pipes and electrical wires.

Field Study Committee Chairman Dave Barrett said the committee will meet on Wednesday night before Town Meeting, but won’t make decisions about the cave until they get a report from the geotechnical engineer.

“It’ll be up to the geotech to decide what impact these cracks have,” Barrett said.

Treyarnon Bay sewage opponents gather at cave

Cornwall councillors visited the Treyarnon Bay
as part of a site visit for the proposed plans

Nearly 100 people against plans for treated sewage to be deposited into a cave at a north Cornwall beach gathered nearby as councillors visited the site.

The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) wants to install a £250,000 system to discharge wastewater into Long Cave at Treyarnon Bay.

The objectors gathered at the cave as the councillors visited to raise health and reputation concerns.

Cornwall Council will make a final decision on the plans at a later date.

YHA, which has been in the area for 60 years, said its current system was defective and the proposed system would carry treated sewage from the hostel down to the cave on the beach.Businesses 'will suffer'

It said the waste would undergo "physical, biological and UV treatment" before being discharged in high tide at night.

There would be facilities to store waste for 48 hours and a back-up system in case of error.

But resident Julie Spicer said: "Two days is not enough because there will be five or six days when the tide will go nowhere near the cave.

"It's soft sand, children play there, people build sand sculptures which last for several days."

St Merryn Parish Council said: "Trying to maintain the image that Treyarnon is a clean and safe beach will not be an easy task.

"Public perception is likely to focus on the fact that there is now an outfall present and other businesses such as shops, vendors and even the YHA itself will surely suffer."

The Environment Agency has issued a permit allowing the treated sewage to be discharged at high tide during the night.

YHA said the alternative of running a pipe half a mile to connect to the mains sewer was not a viable option.

Source: BBC

Work under way on Nevada's first wind energy farm

The settlement of a lawsuit filed by environmentalists is allowing turbines to go up at Nevada's first wind energy project.

The 7,500-acre Spring Valley Wind farm in White Pine County, just west of Great Basin National Park, is set to start providing power to northern Nevada this July, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported ((http://bit.ly/HWvHAg ).

San Francisco-based Pattern Energy plans to install 66 turbines to generate 150 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply about 45,000 homes.

NV Energy has agreed to buy power from the wind farm for the next 20 years.

The Western Watersheds Project and the Center for Biological Diversity sued last year in an effort to block the $225 million project, claiming the U.S. Bureau of Land Management skirted environmental regulations to fast-track it.

The National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Nevada Department of Wildlife also expressed concerns over the project.

The conservation groups and company entered settlement talks last year after a federal judge refused to stop work at the site to allow more study of how the turbines would affect bats and sage grouse.

Under the settlement approved March 29 in U.S. District Court in Nevada, Pattern agreed to expand its program for tracking bird deaths associated with the project.

The company also will pay for a $50,000 study of nearby Rose Cave, where as many as 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost during their fall migration.

Mining threatens ancient cave site in Kashmir

Two ancient caves in central Kashmir’s Badgam district Thursday became the focus of a group of migrant Kashmiri Pandits seeking preservation of ancient, heritage sites in the Kashmir Valley.

The caves, known as “Abinavagupta caves”, are located 40 km from here and are sacred to local Kashmiri Pandits. They are also archaeologically important as ancient sites in the valley.

“These caves are known as Abinavagupta caves after the 11th century Kashmiri philosopher, mystic and aesthetician who would retire to these caves for meditation. Legend has it that Abinavagupta meditated inside these caves along with 1,200 of his disciples when he was about to leave this world in 1020 AD,” said Vir Saraf of NGO Searching for Roots in Kashmir.

Saraf, who visited the caves Thursday along with some locals, said stone mining has been going on around the caves, which is threatening the heritage.

“These caves are not only sacred to Kashmir Pandits, but are essentially of great historical and heritage value for everybody. If properly exploited, the cave site would become a major heritage tourism destination,” Saraf said.

The officials of the local geology and mining department said mining of stones has been allowed in the area some 150 feet away from the cave site, but Saraf who visited the place Thursday said, “I have seen trucks removing stones from near the cave site and this is definitely a great threat to the ancient caves.”

Abinavagupta is regarded as the greatest teacher of Kashmir Shaivism, an ancient Hindu school of thought for which Kashmir is famous the world over.

Source: Hillpost

Black mark for cave biocides: Identifying cave fungi with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

Painting of an auroch (ancestor of
domestic cattle) in Lascaux cave.

Black stains
The use of biocides to control a fungal outbreak in the Lascaux cave in France, home to some of the best known Paleolithic cave art, probably just made the problem worse, conclude European scientists. Rather than controlling the outbreak, the biocide treatment merely encouraged the growth of fungi that are now covering the cave in black stains, they say.

Discovered by a group of teenagers in 1940, the Lascaux caves contain hundreds of paintings, comprising a mix of abstract symbols, human figures and animals such as horses, cattle, birds and felines, estimated to be over 17,000 years old. The cave soon became a popular tourist attraction, but this changed the microclimate in the cave and caused green algae to start growing on the walls. As a consequence, the cave was closed to the public in 1963.

Nevertheless, the cave was still open to scientific visitors and in 2001 it experienced an outbreak of the fungi Fusarium solani, which was controlled with a benzalkonium chloride (BC) biocide. Soon afterwards, black stains started to appear in the caves. These stains have since spread over many of the ceilings and walls, and now present the main threat to the cave's paintings, as biocides have failed to control them.

Finding the culprits
So scientists are now hard at work trying to determine exactly what fungal species are responsible for the black stains. A recent study identified two new species of the fungal genus Ochroconis in the stains, but now a team of scientists led by Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez at the Spanish Institute for Natural Resources and Agrobiology in Seville show that this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources wants R7 caves protected

There are 352 caves recorded in Central Visayas since 1994 and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 wants them to be well protected.

DENR 7 Executive Director Maximo Dichoso said the caves contain unique mineral formations and are home to highly diverse plant and animal species.

He said the caves have educational, cultural, historical and aesthetic values that must be preserved.

“Caves serve special purposes, such as sites for educational tour, exploration, survey and mapping, scientific research and venues for cultural and religious practices,” he added.

The DENR’s Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone and Management Services (PAWCZMS) said 352 caves have been recorded since the implementation of the Caves Management and Conservation Program in the region in 1994.

Bohol has the most number of caves with 190 or 53.98 percent, followed by Cebu with 146 caves or 41.48 percent. Siquijor has 10 and Negros Oriental has six recorded caves.

Republic Act 9072 or the National Caves and Cave Resources Management and Protection Act requires the DENR to “formulate, develop and implement a national program for the management, protection and conservation of caves and cave resources.”

The protection and management of caves should be implemented in cooperation with the National Museum, National Historical Institute, the Department of Tourism and concerned local government units.

Dichoso warned people against “destroying, disturbing, defacing, marring, altering, removing or harming” any part of a cave or extracting plants and animals within it.

He said gathering, collecting, possessing, consuming, selling or exchanging any resource from any cave is prohibited by law.

Source: Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on April 01, 2012.

BLM and Utah Cave Conservancy Offer Reward for Crystal Cave Vandals

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Salt Lake Field Office (SLFO), and the Utah Cave Conservancy are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators of a recent break-in at Crystal Cave in Box Elder County. The break-in and vandalism occurred sometime between April 2011 and February 2012. Unknown persons broke through the gate, destroyed government property, and caused resource damage within the cave.

Significant caves on public lands are protected by the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act. Crystal Cave is managed by the BLM to preserve sensitive cave formations, protect bat habitat, and ensure public safety. Visitors to the cave are required to obtain a permit.
The BLM encourages anyone that has information about who was responsible for this break-in to contact SLFO law enforcement officers at 801.977.4300. All contacts will remain confidential. The cash reward will be payable based on the value of the information and outcome of the case.

Source: Bureau of Land Management