WCC has sponsored cave cleanup projects in Oregon, California, and Wyoming. Partnering with the Oregon High Desert Grotto portable sandblasting equipment has been purchased and a process developed to safely remove graffiti.
Cave graffiti has several defined impacts:
- Paint interferes with mineral deposition. Calcite and other formations may not be able to form and crystalize over painted surfaces.
- When paint is first applied there is off gassing and other chemical processes in cave. The impact on cave life is unknown. Paint applied directly to animals and invertebrates is harmful. Invertebrates can not respirate through paint. Bats have been found dead post spray paint application. Clean-up efforts do not undo this harm but may lessen the chance of further graffiti and future impacts.
- Paint is a visual impact to cavers and other visitors seeking a natural experience. Paint in the caves diminishes this experience and the respect that some people have for these unique natural environments. Removing these impacts may have a multi-generational improvement of how people view caves and the need to conserved them.
Spence and Spirit Caves, Wyoming
The work, a joint effort of Oregon High Desert Grotto, Bat Conservation International, Western Cave Conservancy, and Bureau of Land Management removed nearly all the graffiti in these two huge and remote caves. Spirit Mountain Cave is high on a remote mountain requiring advanced 4×4 access and a small army of volunteers to get the equipment in place and running. Spence Cave is on a giant cliff with no road access. We used a helicopter to drop the equipment on a knife blade ridge in 8 sling loads. This project was extremely complicated and fulfilling. Thanks to our amazing volunteers and donors!
Natural Bridges & Coyote Creek Restoration Project, California
Working in collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation’s New Melones facility, the WCC hosted an all-volunteer work weekend from April 25-28, 2024 to remove graffiti in the caves and canyon. This was a challenging project made harder by the healthy poison oak! This project was supported by a generous grant from the Teichert Foundation.
Malheur Cave, Oregon
The Malheur Cave Clean-Up Project took an amazing team of volunteers, hundreds of hours, and thousands of dollars (mostly for new hose) to complete. Every person who came out did an amazing amount of work and was vital to this project. Malheur Cave is graffiti free for the first time in decades. The owners have reopened the cave to caver and public visitation now with open dates through the summer. This was a joint project of the Western Cave Conservancy, Western Region NSS, Oregon High Desert Grotto, Willamette Valley Grotto, Oregon Grotto, Motherlode Grotto, Mazamas, Burns Masonic Lodge, and so many individuals for their support. Malheur Cave is back open 3 weekends a year to cavers after years of closure.
Empire Cave, California
Empire Cave is a beautiful marble cave in the Bay Area. The banded marble halls have been invisible for decades under layers of spray paint. The cave is now gated and managed under an agreement with the Western Cave Conservancy with access to the cave by permit. This project was another difficult one. The paint was so thick with graffiti over graffiti layer that removal was much slower than anticipated. The moisture in the cave led to challenges with the equipment and sand. The cave looks amazing again and is ready to impress!
Ape Cave, Washington
A broad team of cavers from all the Northwestern Grottos, Western Cave Conservancy and beyond came together to remove paint in this enormous lava tube in SW Washington. This cave is covered in biological slime requiring more gentle removal methods. Thankfully that slime and the moisture in the cave prevented the paint from good adhesion. We used spray bottles, brushes, and lower pressure battery pressure washers to remove the paint. This project took a small army of volunteers as well.
Boyd Cave, Oregon
Boyd Cave is a 1600 foot long mostly borehole lava tube outside Bend Oregon. This cave was coated in paint end to end for decades. Dozens of volunteers cleaned layer after layer of graffiti, often floor to ceiling out of the cave for 5 grueling days. We do a touch up in the cave about every 2 years to remove a few fresh tags. This year we removed all the graffiti accumulated in the cave in around 45 minutes.
Skeleton Cave, Oregon
Skeleton Cave is an 1800 foot lava tube near Bend Oregon. There are some branching passages and crawls making this project more difficult. We cleaned it end to end over 5 ½ grueling days.
Arnold Ice Cave, Oregon
This 3600 foot long lava tube near Bend Oregon has an enormous entrance chamber followed by a tight crawl and a climb up into more borehole and huge breakdown boulders. This ice cave often holds ice year-round. It was fully sealed with ice from ~1950 to 2011 with no way beyond. In 2011-2012 all the major ice melted out. Only seasonal ice remains. The cave quickly became overrun with visitors after melting open. Graffiti came in very quickly. We knew this cave would be a challenge to clean. We used cave rescue skills to bring thousands of pounds of equipment and sand through the crawl. Our wonderful volunteers got everything into place and got to work. We removed all the graffiti, restoring the cave. Three years post clean-up, we spent an afternoon removing some new graffiti in 2026.
Hidden Forest Cave, Oregon
Hidden Forest Cave is a massive collapsed lava tube with a mature Poderosa Forest growing inside. It is a special place loved by people for thousands of years. There is a large cave leading off the collapsed section. We have done several clean-ups there restoring the site around every 2-3 years.
Redmond Caves, Oregon
Redmond Caves are a cluster of small lava tubes near Redmond Oregon. These caves are managed as a public park on BLM administered lands. Graffiti regularly gets placed in these caves. The Conservancy does regular clean up projects out there to restore the caves. This was the first project we took on in 2011. While not the most difficult place, it is a very public spot right in town. We removed all graffiti in the caves in 2026 leaving only maintenance going forward.
Dillon Falls, Oregon
Dillon Falls is a beloved waterfall on the Deschutes National Forest passed by thousands of hikers a year. While not a cave site, we were happy to remove graffiti at the site to restore the natural beauty. A few days after the graffiti was placed there, we had it gone. It has stayed gone for several years now.
East Lake, Oregon
East Lake is a beautiful lake in the Newberry Caldera, a massive shield volcano. The caldera has towering cliffs jutting right down into the lake’s clear blue water. When the Forest Service reported new graffiti on these cliffs, we made a plan and got up there. Five volunteers cleaned up the graffiti in a few hours.
Wind Cave, Oregon
Wind Cave is a massive and challenging lava tube near Bend Oregon. Cleanup of this cave was completed over 3 days in 2026. Our project leader logged 27 miles in the cave doing laps with sand and equipment. Wind Cave was the last major cave graffiti site in Oregon. Through the dedication of the Western Cave Conservancy and our amazing volunteers and partners we have cleaned up almost every vandalized cave in Oregon! Thanks to Wanderlust Tours, Metolious Climbing, Deschutes National Forest and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office for your help and donations!