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News

Deadline for New Cave Report Forms & Location Updates – Sunday, May 6th, 2018

The deadline for turning in new cave report forms and location updates to make this year’s data listing is Sunday, May 6th. Please email report forms and updates to Brent Aulenbach at gssweb@bellsouth.net .

2018 GSS Annual Meeting Saturday, May 19th 10am ET at the SCCi’s Frick’s Cave Preserve plus Campout!

The Annual Meeting of the Georgia Speleological Survey (GSS) has been set for Saturday, May 19th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time at the Southeastern Cave Conservancy's Frick's Cave Preserve near LaFayette, Georgia. The GSS meeting will include an update on recent finds in Georgia, old & new business, and officer elections. Membership packages will be available and will include the 2018 GSS Bulletin & an updated cave data listing for 2018. Due to its sensitive nature, access to Frick's Cave will NOT be allowed. Participants should note that area residents have a "no dogs" policy so please leave your pets at home. The meeting will be held outside, so bring your lawn-chairs and appropriate clothing.

We also plan to have a campout both Friday and Saturday nights and will have some caving related activities planned for after the meeting. More details to come!

We hope to see everyone there!

For information on past meetings, visit the Meetings page.

All Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. Preserves/Caves now Require Permits for Visitation

Note that all Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. Preserves now require a permit for caving, hiking, and camping. These can be obtained online at https://permits.scci.org/new-permit.html . Note that while the website can provide same day permitting for many of the preserves, many other preserves requires requests to be made two or more business days in advance. Also, there are maximum limits on number of visitors and number of groups per day, so requesting your permit well in advance is suggested.

Most Georgia Wildlife Management Areas Require Hunting or Fishing Permits for Hiking & Caving

Most Georgia Wildlife Management Areas require either a hunting or fishing permit for for hiking and caving (for example, the cave-rich Crockford-Pigeon Mountain, Zahn, Otting Tract WMAs ). See http://georgiawildlife.com/LandAccess for list of which WMAs require a permit. You can purchase licenses online at http://georgiawildlife.com/licenses-permits-passes. Fishing licenses tend to be the most cost effective to purchase. Note that the Georgia Outdoor Recreation Pass (GORP) has unfortunately been discontinued.

Something is Killing our Bats! Information about White Nose Syndrome–Decontaminate your Caving Gear!

White-nose syndrome is a disease affecting hibernating bats, and has killed 5.7 million bats in eastern North America since it was first documented in 2006-07 hibernation period. It is named for the white fungus that is found on the muzzle, wings, and body of hibernating bats. It spread to North Georgia in the 2012-13 hibernation period and resulted in high bat mortality. One of the best sources of information is found at: https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org.

While it has been shown that bats spread the fungus, it is strongly recommended (please!) and required for visitation of some cave to properly and thoroughly clean (decontaminate) clothes and gear between visiting different caves to minimize the probability of human spread of the fungus between caves. The most up-to-date decontamaination protocols for cavers are available at https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/topics/decontamination.

The Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. (SCCi) has adopted a Cave Visitation Policy for WNS Concerns and is posted on the SCCi WNS News page at http://www.scci.org/clean-caving-procedures/.

Useful Information

Closed Cave Lists

Caves are closed to protect the cave, its formations, biota, and archeological resources, or because the owner does not want people on his/her property or in his/her caves for one reason or another. Some caves are always closed while other caves are open only at certain times of the year or with special permission or requirements of the landowner. These lists provided include many of the more widely visited caves and are by no means an exhaustive list of the open status of all caves in the southeast. You are ultimately responsible for obtaining proper permission from the landowner before entering their caves.

Closed and Limited Access Caves of TAG List of closed and limited access caves in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Maintained by the Dogwood City Grotto.

Significant Bat Cave List List of restricted access bat caves in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Maintained by the Nashville Grotto and the Central Basin Grotto.

Georgia Hunting Information

Hunting seasons vary greatly from one locale to another. For more information visit the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resource Division website or download the the most up-to-date hunting regulations at http://www.gohuntgeorgia.com/hunting/regulations.

Useful Links

GSS Membership/Sales information on how to become a member and GSS products for sale.

GSS Contacts Page information on current officers and positions and how to contact them.

Forms for Reporting Caves & Other Useful Information various reporting forms, information on Georgia geology, and latitude / longitude rulers.

Constitution of the GSS

NSS Affiliated Caving Grottos (Clubs) in or near Georgia

Other NSS Affiliated State Cave Surveys

Survey & Cartography Section of the NSS

Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc.

Go up to Southeastern Regional Association (SERA) Home Page

Go up to National Speleological Society Home Page

The URL for this page is http://www.caves.org/survey/gss/GSSWebsite/Home.html.
If you have any questions, comments, or corrections about this page, please contact the GSS website maintainer at gssweb@bellsouth.net.

Page last updated: Wednesday, 2 May 2018 bta