Meeting
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Marquette, Michigan

Minutes

Roll Call

Present:

Jim Kennedy Jim Goodbar Rane Curl Ron Kerbo Roger McClure Cheryl Jones   Absent: Heather Garland Dave Foster Gary C. Berdeaux Robert Currie Jim Miller

BCI BLM KWI NPS CRF NSS     TNC ACCA NCA USF&WS USFS

Acceptance of proxy(ies)

Jim Goodbar for Jim Miller
Jim Kennedy for Heather Garland
Ron Kerbo for Bob Currie
Roger McClure for Gary Berdeaux

Recognition of Guests

Mike Warner 2005 NCKMS Chariman
Pat Sizer - NPS

Minutes of the October 2003 meeting were approved by unanimous consent.

Reports

Cheryl Jones: Chairman's report

The Financial report is attached. The Steering Committee has about $14K in assets, including the outstanding 2003 Symposium seed money

Steve Omeroid: 2003 NCKMS update.
Attached
New, post 9-11 banking rules make opening an NCKMS account by the hosts difficult. This needs to be addressed in the Symposium guidelines.
Proceedings: Tom Rea will begin right after convention. The cost is expected to be well within budget.

Mike Warner: 2005 NCKMS update
Plans are progressing well. Sponsors are being sought. The web site is due up soon.
Sessions or workshops for conservancies are being considered for Sunday afternoon and Monday, to encourage representatives to attend for at least part of the symposium.

Mike Warner: 2004 National Cave Conservancies Forum

The forum went well and was very well received. NCKMS sponsorship appreciated
The workshop special publication was distributed to the Steering Committee members.

Doug Marchant: NCKMS Web site

Report read by Cheryl Jones
Log-in for 2005 symposium has been created, to enable the hosts to create the symposium web site.
Renewed NCKMS domain for 3 years
Annual hosting fee has been paid
Added link to History page

Business

none

Future Meetings

Tuesday, July 5, 2005
NSS Convention
Huntsville, Alabama

The meeting was adjourned

Actual Attendees: 67

Monday Field Trips:

Peacock and Ichetucknee Springs State Parks: 10 participants went to visit two of Florida's premier springs. Hosted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Ichetucknee Springs State Park.

Alachua Sink/Paynes Prairie - 12 attendees visited Paynes Prairie which drains into the Floridan Aquifer through Alachua Sink. Hosted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Payne's Prairie State Park.

Project Underground Karst Education Workshop, Carol Zokaites: 11 attendees

Papers Presented: 23

Poster Sessions: 3

All but two papers have been submitted to Tom Rea for the Proceedings and he will begin putting the Proceedings together after the NSS Convention.

Wednesday Field trip to Silver Springs State Park was attended by all registrants and included a presentation from the park on its history and a presentation from Fay Baird of Pandion Systems on the hydrology of the area and the efforts the Silver Springs Task Force have undertaken to protect the spring from the rapid urbanization of the Silver Springs/Ocala area.

Bat Conservation International Workshop, Jim Kennedy: 12 attendees Special Thanks to all our co-sponsors:
Coca Cola - Dannon, National Cave and Karst Research Institute, National Speleological Society, The Perrier Group, National Cave Association, American Cave Conservation Association, Florida Speleological Society, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Division of Recreation and Parks, Bat Conservation International, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Cave Research Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Karst Waters Institute, National Caves Association, National Park Service, National Speleological Society, NSS Conservation Section

Financially, the symposium did well. We took in approximately $16,900 in registration and sponsorship money. Costs so far are approximately $12,500 and we still have the seed money from the NSS and the production costs of the proceedings. We anticipate the symposium will break even in the final accounting.

Purpose: There is a need to train people in the specific concepts, laws, regulations, and management techniques necessary to fill in behind an ageing cave/karst workforce. These people would need to gain experience in real management settings across a broad spectrum of management programs to become knowledgeable enough to carry on the cave/karst management programs progressively and at a high level.

Concept: To train individuals to do this, it may be most efficient to develop a cave/karst internship program that would allow those existing cave/karst managers with the skills to mentor students through a program specifically designed for them to acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities, to begin successfully managing cave and karst resources at any level.

This internship program would take advantage of existing student programs such as the STEP program and combine it with undergraduate or graduate level field courses and distance learning courses. The student would have the opportunity to rotate their on-the-job experience between the different federal agencies (BLM, FWS, USGS, USFS, and NPS) and private sector cave/karst management partners (American Cave Conservation Association, ACCA; Bat Conservation International, BCI; Cave Research Foundation, CRF; National Speleological Society, NSS; Karst Waters Institute, KWI).

In addition to the specific hard line cave/karst materials the intern would be exposed to ancillary other programs that would enhance their ability to communicate cave/karst resource management demands and needs. These programs could include different forms of communication media, GIS, GPS, and Arcview skills.

During each on-the-job semester the student would be given a meaningful project by the agency they were working with. This project would tie back to their academic program thereby allowing them to earn college credit through specially designed distance learning courses.

Funding: Funding could come from a number of different sources. The National Cave and Karst Management Symposium steering committee has a small amount of funds that could be leveraged against other matching funds or in-kind offers such as academic assistantships or scholarships. Private organizations such as BCI, CRF, and the NSS could provide grant or special funding through their existing financial programs. The federal agencies could provide funding through their support of the STEP programs.

Desired Outcome: (1) When we are gone we will have trained competent individuals to take our place. (2) We will have developed a system to provide a unique educational and training curriculum that will give the participant a detailed understanding of interagency cave/karst resources management practices, needs, and challenges. The program will also introduce them to our major constituent groups and partners and give them an opportunity to begin developing their own working relationship with these support organizations.

Implementation: Each agency can supply one seasons funding. Funding can be from 10 weeks as a temporary or up to 12 months as a temporary. Amount of funding depends on the grade level at which the student will be brought on board. A position description that is acceptable to the agencies should be developed. Recruitment of potential students should be done by the interagency team.

Email the webmaster