The Western Cave Conservancy Protecting the West’s Last Frontier Vol 2 No 2 Spring 2005 Eastern Nevada Caves in Trouble But you can help! Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is proposing to drill over 100 wells, build over 400 miles of pipeline, construct pumping stations, water treat- Photo: Matthew Leissring ment 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! A recent USGS study, “The Suscepti- bility of Water Resources in Great Ba- sin National Park to Groundwater Pumping in Adjacent Valleys” to be published later this year, shows that the pumping will affect several watersheds in the park, including the Lehman Cave Whipple Cave, one of the spectacular Nevada caves potentially threatended by the area, Baker Creek Cave System, Snake proposed water projects. Creek Cave, and areas outside the park, like Indian Burial derground and not easily seen doesn’t mean they should Cave, Forgotten Cave, and others. In addition, the proposed be ignored. pipeline has conduits into Cave Valley (Cave Valley Cave) What can you do? Send your comments to: Bruce Flinn, and White River Valley (Whipple Cave area). Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Clark, Lincoln, and Without water in the Baker Creek cave system, many cave White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project, biota species, in- HC33, Box 33500, Ely, Nevada 89301-9408. IN THIS ISSUE cluding endemic In May 2006, a draft Environmental Impact Study (EIS) species like the will be written and distributed for public comment, fol- EASTERN NEVADA CAVES IN TROUBLE....1 newly discovered lowed by the final EIS in May 2007. A concurrent USGS RECOMMENDED READING...... 2 springtail in Model study about the hydrology of the area is also due out in JUST A THOUGHT...... 2 Cave, could disap- May 2007. BOWER CAVE...... 3 pear. In addition, APRONS AND NOTCHES...... 4 cave-forming pro- It is very important to get as much public input as possible ABOUT OUR WEBSITE...... 5 cesses could greatly about how we want the resources we care about to be pro- WCC AT THE SPELEO ED...... 6 be reduced in all of tected. If you’d like to learn more about this issue, you UPDATE: M2 AND RIPPLED CAVES...... 6 these areas. Just be- may contact Marianne Russo: [email protected] cause caves are un- (916) 663-2571. continued on page 2 1 Eastern Nevada Caves, continued from page 1 RECOMMENDED READING http://www.nv.blm.gov/ely/SNWA_GWProject/snwagp_intro.htm Kirby, Stefan, and Hugh Hurlow. 2005. BLM EIS site. Hydrogeologic setting of the Snake Valley Hydrologic Basin, Millard County, Utah, and White Pine and Lincoln Counties, Nevada http://geology.utah.gov/utahgeo/water/index.htm#resources Implications for possible effects of proposed water wells. Utah Geological Survey Report of Inves- tigation 254. 39 pp. http://www.NVgroundwaterproject.org Southern Nevada Water Authority Groundwater Project Website. 213 ELM STREET

SANTA CRUZ, CA 95060 http://nrwrt1.nr.state.ut.us/

T EL 831-421-0485 Utah Division of Water Rights. This website is particularly informative, with publications avail-

FAX 831-421-0485 able about the Snake Valley area and meeting minutes, powerpoint presentations, and questions and answers for the March 2005 meeting with the Utah State Water Engineer. On the web at www.westerncaves.org email [email protected] Just a Thought Board of Directors DR. ROLF A ALBU For some time now folks have been nagging me to JOEL DESPAIN get into a revocable trust and make out a will. DON DUNN MARTIN HAYE Being single, this has been not without some frus- DR. JERRY JOHNSON tration. Whom do I leave “it” to? So for the last BRUCE ROGERS five-to-ten years I have been trying to think of some MARIANNE RUSSO creative way of disposing of my assets after I will President no longer need them. MARIANNE RUSSO The nagging continued and I guess it was finally Vice President DR. ROLF A ALBU the time to bite the bullet and do it. So on the advice of a friend I found myself an estate lawyer, Secretary sat down, and made out a revocable trust and will. DANIEL SNYDER Treasurer Now why am I telling you this? Well, the caving MARTIN HAYE community has given me a great deal of pleasure Webmaster and friendship over the last 40 plus years and with MATT BOWERS the creation of the Western Cave Conservancy, I Newsletter Editor thought, “what better place for some of my as- HEATHER MCDONALD sets.” So now the WCC is included in my will. Photo: Kip Baumann

The Western Cave Maybe some of you have already done this too. Conservancy is a Califor- Think about it. If you have enjoyed cavers and caving as much as I have, what better place to put nia public benefit some bucks. After all, the caves will be there long after we’re gone and new cavers will come to corporation and is tax- take our places. So let’s leave them something to keep the spirit of caving alive in the future. I exempt under section realize there might not be many virgin passages in the caves we preserve, but who knows? It’s 501(c)(3) of the Internal just about the best that we can do for future and present day cavers. Revenue Code. Contribu- tions to WCC are Tax- Of course, if I live long enough, there may not be much left in the trust. But it is the thought that deductible. counts. And you can be in on it as well.

ALL NEWSLETTER CONTENT COPYRIGHT © 2005 Bill Papke WESTERN CAVE CONSERVANCY

2 “Shore” went looking for lost horses and above the pool, a high ledge was festooned Bower Cave: reported finding a large spring in a lime with white stalactites, flowstone, and deposit along the North Fork of the draperies. A Journey from Private Merced River. He also mentioned that he to Public Ownership found and explored “a very remarkable Jon paddled around a bit, then, chilled by cave” in the ledge, christening it Marble the 50°F water, returned to the Outer by Bruce Rogers and Pat Helton Springs Cave. (Jean-Nicolas Perlot, a Vault. The organizers were delighted, and newspapers ballyhooed his dives across Bower Cave is one of the nearly forgot- Belgian gold seeker, may have found the California. ten caves of the Mother Lode. Long cave at about the same time, but his re- membrance of dates is somewhat suspect.) known to Native Americans, the cave has On later dives, Jon, along with Sterling also had a convoluted history of use by Lacking modern vertical gear, Shore shin- nied down one of the immense maple trees Pierce of the Western Speleological Insti- Euro-Americans, and was the site of one tute, explored inwards for nearly 350 ft. of the first cave dives in the . covering the “Outer Vault,” as the col- lapse sinkhole was called. to a depth of 124 ft. Art Lange used their notes and sketches to draw a detailed The cave consists of a collapse sinkhole block diagram of the cave. in marble, nearly 100 feet in both diam- A long series of owners, many immigrant Frenchmen and Germans, subsequently eter and depth, with a small pool at its Jon Lindbergh faced a complex series of bottom. Formerly, a “bower” of maple bought, commercially developed, and sold the cave over the next 100 years. obstacles in his dives. No one had any trees partly canopied this large roofless idea of the length or depth of the sub- chamber. Several short, decorated pas- Nearly everyone suspected the cave ex- merged cave passage, and little was sages can be reached by exciting climbs tended underwater, but only brief glimpses known at that time about in up the walls. An enormous submerged were possible of a darkened hole leading general. He used the best gear he could passage only accessible by cave diving down through the pellucid waters. But in muster, but still it was ill suited to cave leads over 800 feet into the hillside bor- March 1953, Jon Lindbergh (son of diving. The single tank and regulator were dering the Merced River, dropping to at , the first Trans-Atlan- standard scuba issue, though Jon also had least 240 feet deep. The cave continues tic flyer) brought some new fangled Aqua- a pair of small “bail out” bottles. inward and downward, but to follow it Lung gear to Bower Cave. Jon studied at Lindbergh used a single electric lantern. would require extreme cave diving exper- and had used Scuba tise. equipment for several years. He’d met A length of rope tied around Jon’s waist functioned as a return line for exiting the The early human history of the Bower Ray deSassure and other members of the now near-mythical Stanford Grotto there cave: important, since no one knew if sedi- Cave area has been difficult to unravel. ment might be kicked up, blotting out vis- At least 3,500 years ago, the area was and was persuaded to visit Bower Cave. Although the use of Scuba was beginning ibility. The line could also be used for occupied by people who roamed both the body recovery (politely not discussed at Great Central Valley and the Sierra Ne- to be common in open water diving, few dared enter caves. Jon Lindbergh’s dive the time), and provided some idea of the vada foothills. These folks were truly the length of the passage. first California cavers, burying their dead was the first cave dive in the west (and came shortly after the first US cave dive, in many other Mother Lode caves. While On his second dive into the cave, he car- in Florida in late 1951.) we know little about their culture, they ried a small life raft. Upon arrival in the probably viewed the cave as a “portal to Donning his thin “” suit and interior chamber, he pulled the inflation the Otherworld.” It is likely that they ex- single air tank, he dove into the frigid cord and the raft ballooned up like a sau- plored the cave, but left no evidence of waters of the cave. Swimming under a sage, as the carbon dioxide bottle was their passing. natural bridge of jagged ceiling pendants, meant for a raft twice this size. Jon real- ized this as he surfaced and frantically The northern Me-wuk arrived in the area Jon swam into the cave some 39 ft., then gradually descended nearly 121 ft. to a valved off “quite a bit of ,” hop- about 1,200 years ago. Though the tribe ing the raft wouldn’t explode. feared caves, they called this one “Oo- mud-covered breakdown floor, then fol- lowed his air bubbles up about 65 feet tins” and considered it to be one of the He returned to the Outer Vault to warm into a blackened void. Breaking the places from which humans emerged into up, then dove into the lake again, this time water’s surface, he found himself in a the world. with a camera and flashgun wrapped in large chamber some 46 ft. in diameter and plastic bags. He awkwardly climbed into nearly 60 ft. high, unfortunately without The recent history of Bower cave began the raft—no mean feat in the darkness. any beach or landing spot. The domed just after the Gold Rush of 1849. On Unfortunately, he also shipped a great deal ceiling rose up out of sight. Some 20 feet March 19, 1851, a miner known only as of water into the raft, and ripped a large continued on page 4 3 Bower Cave, continued from page 3 hole in his suit. He used his mask to bail his nose (remember that broken mask?), ton Sport Divers in the late 1960s, but the boat until the thin glass faceplate broke he calmly swam back out into the light. little came of them. in two, and then unlimbered his camera After one last dive to retrieve the raft, Enthralled by Jon’s discoveries, cave gear and proceeded to take nearly a whole Bower Cave lapsed into obscurity. De- owner James Rice wanted to make the roll of black-and-white photographs. This spite closure in 1955 (due to the demise hidden chamber accessible to visitors. His done, he rewrapped the camera and of an unauthorized visitor who got too scheme of pumping out the cave was photoflash gun, geared up, and started close to the sinkhole edge and fell to his scrapped after it was politely pointed out back. He felt a bit dizzy from nitrogen death) more dive attempts were made by he would have to lower the regional wa- narcosis and cold due to the hole in his Cave Research Associates and the Stock- ter table. He then suggested blasting a low suit. Grasping his photo bag and holding tunnel into Lindberghs Room, but fortunately this Aprons and Notches plan never came to fruition. The Speleogens of Bower Cave In 1969, a San Francisco The southeast wall of Bower Cave’s Outer Bay Area group became Vault has an outstanding record of the interested in diving Lilburn cave’s geologic history on display. Faint Cave in Kings Canyon traces of the originally horizontal bed- National Park. Though ding of the Paleozoic age marble are vis- they were highly experi- ible as nearly vertical bands along the overhanging part of this wall. Their enced ocean divers, they skewed and folded orientation reflects lacked experience diving in the nearly quarter billion years of inexo- caves. I suggested they first rable tectonic crumpling the rocks train in Bower Cave. Dur- of the Sierra Nevada along the west coast ing the next four years, the of California. Bower Stacked notches, vertical walls, and (BCDG, as I christened aprons reflect the slowly and sometimes them) plumbed the frigid no so slowly dropping ground water that depths of the cave on a bi- dissolved out this huge cavern. The older overhanging walls record a steady en- weekly basis, pushing the largement as the ground water began to limits of Bower Cave and drain from the cave’s uppermost cham- their gear. ber we now call the Outer Vault. Sections of vertical wall are the result of steady They found a huge passage lowering of the ground water. Narrow, beyond Lindberghs Room horizontal slots reflect short stops in the nearly 100 feet in diameter water’s withdrawal, allowing deeper lat- that sloped down to the eral of the marble. The lower Photo: Bruce Rogers walls are made of several narrow and one east. Piles of slabby break- very wide aprons formed as the water fell at a rapidly increasing rate—probably caused by en- down were scattered over trenchment of the adjacent Merced River—and solution slowly waned. the silty floor and a clutter The massive dripstone in the background frames the entrance to The Bat Roost, a domed room of artifacts, including old now reoccupied by Pale Townsend’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii pallescens). These ale and champagne bottles, decorations date from when the cave chambers breached the surface. After this momentous event, cascaded down from the the cave atmosphere equilibrated with the outside and seeping waters dropped their mineral shoreline. One still-sealed load. As the ground water providing buoyant support for the roof drained away, the roof itself ale bottle was retrieved and collapsed, leaving the table-sized, moss-covered breakdown blocks littering the floor. Red terra a diver volunteered to rosa soil has cascaded down through fissures, appearing as a reddish “river” at the far end of the largest apron. sample it. The bottle was carefully cleaned, the stop- Originally, four huge Broad-leaf/Big-leaf Maple trees (Acer macrophyllum) grew in the Outer Vault. per gingerly removed, and, These were used by the first Indian and White explorers of the cave to negotiate the overhanging 30-meter drop into the Outer Vault. Only one remains, visible at the upper left of this photograph; with a grand flourish, the a relic of years long past. Mosses, ferns, green algae, and a host of other moisture-loving plants diver quaffed a mouthful of cover the walls and floor during the wet winter season. California’s best ale of 1880...and immediately spat out the vile-tasting

4 fluid. ing only one restroom. Linkletter had decided to sell the land, but didn’t want the ranch and cave to be de- The BCDG decided to make a movie on Extreme depth, frigid waters, and the limi- veloped for summer resorts or made into Super-8 film, the best they could afford. tations of compressed air diving eventu- an underwater Disneyland for sport That type of film required lots of light, so ally halted progress at 1,387 feet of pas- divers. He began negotiations with the a rig was concocted using a 12-volt auto- sage at a depth just over 262 feet. In ad- U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to transfer mobile headlight and needing vast dition to a wealth of artifacts strewn along ownership to them. amounts of amper- age. We christened In April of 1990, the it “The Water loosely affiliated Heater,” and sealed “Friends of Bower the mighty battery Cave” held a pack into a large fundraiser to pur- aluminum cylinder chase Bower Cave attached between and give it to the ’s twin air USFS. Nearly 300 tanks. people ran amuck on the tract, trampling On its initial use, the grounds. Enter- the diver plum- tainment of “old time meted to the bottom music by Sorenson’s in a flurry of Cave Dwellers” was bubbles, and lay a picnic highlight. flailing about like Picture: Art Lange an upended beetle. Art Lange drew this beatifully illustrative cross section of the outer vault and Today the cave qui- Upon hauling him Lindberghs Room in the early 1950s. etly slumbers. Since up, we were as- the bottom of the Outer Vault, a troglobitic its purchase by the tounded to find that the rig weighed over amphipod—Stygobromus wengerorum USFS in 1991, Bower Cave has been 180 pounds. But the Water Heater did give (Wenger’s Cave Amphipod)—was found. managed in a “benign neglect” mode, with a tremendous amount of light and gave This amphipod is listed as a California permission to view the entrance sinkhole the divers some idea of the size of the cave. “Special Animal” and was formerly a readily given by the District Office. In And true to its name, divers could toast Category 2 candidate for federal endan- reality, few apply; but then, few know of their hands nearly a foot away from the gered species status before the C2 list was the cave’s existence. Once again the squir- lens (even through gloves.) Their eliminated by the Fish and Wildlife Ser- rels and bats have free reign of Oo-tins, film, by the way, garnered several awards. vice in 1996. and little has changed since old “Shore” first shinnied down a tree trunk over 150 The BCDG also discovered four more air After BCDG moved on to diving Lilburn years ago. pockets along the tunnel-like passage. The Cave, the bats, salamanders, and cryptic small pocket just beyond Lindberghs invertebrates had Bower Cave mostly to Room was decorated with two large themselves for almost 17 years. Be sure to check out the Western shields and patches of helictites. The Cave Conservancy website: shields were partly submerged, indicat- In February of 1981, the property was http://www.westerncaves.org. ing a lower water level sometime in the sold to Jack Linkletter (son of entertainer past. Attempts to climb the walls of Art Linkletter) and his wife Barbara. Jack It’s the place to go for all the latest infor- Lindberghs Room were made, all ending was an avid diver, and the following year, mation about WCC acquisitions, activi- in spectacular splashes back into the pool. with a party of Mariposa County Sheriff’s ties, and history, and it boasts a gallery of Unfortunately, no cameras recorded these Deputies, dove as far as the portal to photographs of threatened, protected, or fountaining water belays. Lindberghs Room. They knocked loose otherwise interesting caves. great amounts of silt that nearly blotted Our thanks to webmaster Matt Bowers, The group found, to its dismay, that the out their vision. “It got a little scary down [email protected], for both host- water was grossly polluted with “sewage- there. For a while I couldn’t see. It was ing and managing the site, and Peri type coliform bacteria.” Several trips were very disorienting,” remarked Jack. The Frantz, [email protected], for content cut short due to the entire team having group was cool-headed but overwhelmed coordination. extreme lower GI tract distress and hav- by the immensity of the cave. By 1983,

5 WCC Goes to the Western Region Speleo Ed The Western Cave Conservancy has estab- The kitchen was at the entry way to the lished itself as the meal purveyor of choice seminar rooms, making it convenient for at several recent National Speleological attendees to peek in. Though nearly every- Society (NSS) Western Regional activities. one offered to help, the small kitchen could We promise the fastest food, the widest only accommodate a few people. Thanks to choice of libations and boundless quanti- the hard-working kitchen crew: Pat Helton, ties. This April at the Western Region Bruce Rogers, Peri Frantz, John Speleo Ed was no exception. Hargreaves, Morley Hardaker, Marianne Photo: Morley Hardaker Russo, Don Dunn, Martin Haye, and of Chief Cook vided a keg of his homebrewed ale. Finally, course Eileen Belan! Eileen Belan attendees tossed $21.00 into a donation cup.

Photo: Morley Hardaker Morley Photo: graciously do- A special thanks is also owed to Ben WCC President Marianne Russo decorated nated time that Robinson, who thinks big! He hauled a com- a beautiful cake with a design inspired by would have plete kitchen stove up from Modesto so we the WCC logo. otherwise gone would have an oven to toast the bread in to the cooking and enough burners to heat up all that sauce. channel. She The crowd of 75 diners poured into the personally cre- double lines for spaghetti, salad, corn, gar- ated six batch- lic bread, and many beverages. All alcoholic es of home- beverages were donated by Marianne made spaghetti Russo, Eileen Belan, Dan Snyder, Martin sauce from a secret recipe. Batches of meat Haye, Bill Frantz, Mark Scott, Doug sauce, vegetarian sauce, and hot sausage Bradford, and Fetzer Wineries. Dan, Mark, were simmered until they were just right. and Martin donated Black Oak Porter and

Onsite cooking began in the early afternoon. Thunderhead Amber and Bill Frantz pro- Photo: John Hargreaves

During dinner, Marianne introduced the Update: M2 and Rippled Caves first slide show of caves the WCC wants to WCC has various projects throughout the Several excellent conservation options re- save. Many of these slides will be part of West, and we will occasionally use the email main for M2, and WCC is working with the the WCC’s presentation program that will discussion list to tell our members about owners to find a way to protect the cave while begin touring to interested groups this year. news or projects that are just in the begin- still satisfying their needs. Related to that, Hats off to Dan Snyder and Bill Papke for ning stages or are too sensitive to mention we’re arranging a trip to the cave and plan bringing the show to life. in our public newsletter. If you want to join to invite Conservancy members and cavers this members-only moderated discussion list, from the northwest to join us for a weekend Bern Szukalski donated a copy of the ESRI send email to: [email protected]. of caving, camping, and working at M2. To Arcpad software for an ad-hoc auction. The highest bidder, Steve Hobson of the Here are the two publicly announced projects: address some of the owners’ concerns, we need to establish the precise relation between Shascade Grotto, purchased it for $250.00. M2 Cave (southern Oregon) the cave and the surrounding rock, and other Thank you Bern, ESRI, and Steve! Progress continues in the effort to preserve work projects are also being discussed. Later in the evening, Marianne Russo’s tra- this beautiful and important cave. Mike Watch the email list for an announcement ditional Schnapps tasting and wallet emp- McNichols, an Oregon caver, lawyer, and when trip details are finalized. tying ensued around the campfire. The lively conservationist, has taken a lead role in this Rippled Cave (central California) project, and his first task was to contact the group joined in “drinking for charity,” rais- Though progress is slow, it is steady. As federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ing $120.00 for the Conservancy. mentioned in previous newsletters, we have to gauge their interest in arranging a land a basic agreement with the property owner, Once again, cavers of the Western Region swap to acquire the cave and the property but some family matters had to be taken care have shown their generosity. The reason- around it. Mike found the right people to of first. Most of these appear to be resolved, ably priced ten-dollar meal was a great talk to and learned that a BLM land swap is and we are optimistic that we can soon com- moneymaker. After expenses, the Conser- unlikely. In recent years they have identi- plete our first cave purchase. vancy earned just over $500.00 on the din- fied high priority target areas such as the ner alone. All activities combined raised Rogue River Valley. The BLM has been Thanks for your support. Our members $870.00 for the WCC. aware of M2 cave for many years and the give us the financial and moral support we topic of a land swap has come up before, but need to keep our spirits up and our patience Special thanks to all the contributors and at this time they probably won’t approve a intact during these long negotiations. You helpers who made this a wonderful project outside their target areas. make WCC’s work possible. fundraiser.

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