Newsletter & Online Articles
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Bower Cave
A Journey from Private to Public Ownership
by Bruce Rogers and Pat Helton
Published: Spring, 2005

Bower Cave is one of the nearly forgotten caves of the Mother Lode. Long known to Native Americans, the cave has also had a convoluted history of use by Euro-Americans, and was the site of one of the first cave dives in the United States.

Eastern Nevada Caves in Trouble!
But You Can Help!
Published: Spring, 2005

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is proposing to drill over 100 wells, build over 400 miles of pipeline, construct pumping stations, water treatment facilities, support facilities, and install power lines to transport up to 200,000 acre-feet per year from Clark, Lincoln and White Pine counties to the Las Vegas area. The magnitude of the pumping would have huge impacts on area springs, wells—and caves!

Just a Thought - Planned Giving
by Bill Papke
Published: Spring, 2005

For some time now folks have been nagging me to get into a revocable trust and make out a will. Being single, this has been not without some frustration. Whom do I leave "it" to? So for the last five-to-ten years I have been trying to think of some creative way of disposing of my assets after I will no longer need them.

Cave Management Planning
Introducing the WCC's Stewardship Committee
by Joel Despain
Published: Winter, 2005

While buying caves is a very complex and time-consuming process, good stewardship of caves that we own or manage will be the long-term goal for the Western Cave Conservancy.

Holey Dung!
Can You Find Niptus?
by Rolf Aalbu
Published: Winter, 2005

As we wander and crawl through cave passages here in the West, on the ground we often see small, compact, elongated pellets of about 1/2 inch long by 1/8 inch in diameter. Most of us know that these are the droppings or dung of the packrat (Neotoma spp.), which regularly lives and nests in caves.

Five Kinds of Perspiration
Working Hard at Crystal Cave
by Martin Haye
Published: Winter, 2005

As a computer programmer, I spend my days staring at a glowing sheet of plastic. The 2004 Crystal Cave Restoration project gave me a chance to meet people and break my back with them, while perspiring in five interesting ways.

A Year of Conservation
Published: Fall, 2004

It's been a busy 2004. Through the generosity of our members, the WCC has built up a significant war chest, allowing us to move confidently when opportunities arise to protect threatened caves. We've worked hard to advance the projects we already had going (Rippled and M2), and have started several new projects.

The Uncommon and the Small:
Phosphate Cave Minerals in Rippled Cave
by Bruce Rogers
Published: Fall, 2004

In the natural world it is true that the closer one looks, the more complex things become. This is just as true in the world of caves. These darkened realms have many splendid vistas, lofty chambers, and gargantuan stalactites; however, when one looks closely, one finds more than first meets the eye.

A Brief History of Cave Conservation
by Bruce Rogers and Pat Helton
Published: Summer, 2004

By the middle 1870s, the human tide of the 1849 Gold Rush had ebbed and life regained a more normal pace. California's caves, however, had paid a terrible price. Many of the pristine caves had suffered through the "we selected good specimens and moved on" mentality and were shells of their former selves. We know even less about the biota of the caves, save it must have been a rude shock to the critters when some 90,000 miners roared into the region, tearing up the earth itself, all hell-bent on getting rich quick.