Colorado Cave Survey

The next Colorado Cave Survey general meeting will be at 7 pm on Monday November 7, 2022. It will be a virtual meeting using Google Meet. A meeting link can be obtained from any CCS representative. Update: Minutes are available here

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has announced that a bat at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site in Otero County outside of La Junta, Colorado has test positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome (WNS) in bats. The positive skin swab sample was collected on June 1 from a Yuma bat … [Read more…]

Idaho Fish and Game biologists have announced that Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes the deadly White Nose Syndrome disease in many bats, has been detected for the first time now in Idaho. Test results from Minnetonka Cave on the Caribou–Targhee National Forest in Dear Lake County, Idaho, showed six of 33 bats swabbed in … [Read more…]

Biologists doing an annual bat census study in May, 2022, at Azure Cave, Montana, found a 98% reduction in numbers of bats compared to previous years, caused by infection with White Nose Syndrome. Azure Cave is located on BLM land in the Little Rocky Mountains. It was a major winter hibernaculum site for several Myotis … [Read more…]

The next CCS meeting will be January 20th, 2022, at 6:30pm. The meeting agenda includes a long list of cave updates, project status changes, and officer elections. Because of the ongoing surge of Omicron COVID, the meeting will be held online. Contact your grotto CCS representatives for meeting contact information. Update: Meeting minutes are here.

Region 2 of the US Forest Service (which includes all of Colorado) has issued an updated order R2-2021-02 concerning prohibitions and restrictions on cave access. This mostly concerns seasonal cave closures to protect bats from spread of WNS. The text of the order is also available from the USFS web site.

The White River National Forest has announced that it has acquired the 488 acre Sweetwater Lake Ranch. The Colorado Cave Survey is working with the Forest Service to better understand and document the history and science of this area.

An updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the Colorado Cave Survey and the White River National Forest. This document states the shared goals of the two organizations and outlines a basis for continued cooperative work together.

The White River National Forest (WRNF) has installed a gate on the Coffee Pot Road at the Forest Service boundary just below Willow Peak.  The road, which is often used by cavers for access to many White River Plateau caves, will open on June 1 for travel as far as Crane Flats.  Travel beyond Crane … [Read more…]

Another state adjoining Colorado has now reported the confirmed presence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes the White Nose Syndrome disease that is wiping out bat populations across the US.  The BLM reports finding Pd on bats and cave walls in two caves in eastern New Mexico.  So far, Pd and WNS still … [Read more…]