The Wisconsin Speleologist

The Science of Caves

June 2008 The Wisconsin Speleologist Page 1

Wisconsin Speleological Society

WSS Executive Officers: Table of Contents

Chairman: Kasey Fiske No Crevice too Narrow; No Tunnel Too Deep 2 Written by John H. Broihahn

Vice Chairman: Treasurer/Secretary: David Sheffer Scott Moll Geologic History of New Hope Cave, 7 Manitowoc County Wisconsin Board of Directors: Madison Chapter Board Written by John Luczaj and Ronald Stieglitz Members: Profiles in Maribel New Hope Cave 18 Bob Bultman Larry Buchholz Gary Emerson Photos by: Letha Welch Dave Gramling Jennifer Schehr Allan Schema Model Cave Protection Act 21 Written by Henry L. Welch

The Wisconsin Speleologist Published by: Front Cover: Scott Moll Henry Welch and JD Skattebo in Maribel New Hope Cave 8031 S. Forest Meadows Dr. Photo by Letha Welch Franklin, WI 53132 [email protected] Back Cover: Photos and Text by Letha Welch

The Hollow Earth News is the official monthly newsletter of The WSS usually meets at 11:00 a.m. on the 3rd Saturday of the Wisconsin Speleological Society, a grotto of the National every month at the Ledge View Nature Center at W 2348 Speleological Society. Exchanges and inquiries, as well as Short Road Chilton, Wisconsin, 53014. This schedule some- articles for publication, should be sent to the editor’s address times changes and WSS meetings are held at other locations. listed above. Please refer to the latest issue of The Hollow Earth News for updated information. The Madison Chapter of the WSS nor- WSS web page: http//www.caves.org/grotto/wss mally meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Middleton Public Library in Middleton, Wisconsin Annual membership in the WSS is $12.00 per individual and unless otherwise noted. Visitors and guest are welcome to $15.00 per family. The WSS Membership Year begins on the attend. The WSS strongly advocates safe caving and caving 1st of June and ends on May 31st of the following year. related activities. However, neither the WSS nor its members Please prorate and pay accordingly so that your membership can guarantee the safety of anyone participating in these ac- ends in May: Individual $1 per month, Family Membership tivities and are not responsible for injuries, illnesses, deaths or $1.25 per month. Include your NSS number and any informa- financial losses during to such participation. The WSS and its tion that you want in the WSS database and printed in the members do not necessarily endorse or agree with the opinions annual Membership List. and articles in The Hollow Earth News and the Wisconsin Speleologist, or with opinion and articles presented in any Send remittance and changes of address to other WSS publications and cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of them. WSS c/o Scott Moll 8031 S. Forest Meadows Dr. Franklin WI 53132

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No Crevice too Narrow; No Tunnel Too Deep

John H. Broihahn ( [email protected] ) State Archeologist 816 State St. Madison, WI 53706-1482

Archaeologists as well as cavers and historians have long known about the importance of caves, especially “dark zone” caves, in North American history. Archaeological investi- gations have been carried out in caves since the 1960s, but they have been limited in their nature and extent. As all of you know, caves are, or certainly can be, challenging places to explore and to carry out recording and mapping. In 1996, archaeologists from the University of Tennessee formed the Cave Archaeology Research Team (CART) to identify and document evidence of human use in a large numbers of caves, particularly “dark- zone “ caves. What they have discovered is that no crevice seems too narrow, nor tunnel too deep to have gone unexplored by someone hundreds, and often thousands, of years ago.

CART explorations have revealed that American Indians ventured into caves to make rock art, perform rituals, mine and quarry chert and minerals, live, explore, and bury their dead. By-and-large these evidences of use have been identified in dry caves, i.e., caves where water erosion is no longer active.

Perhaps the most dramatic and thought provoking evidence of human presence are the myriad of images carved and painted by the American Indian explorers. The images you see illustrated in the accompanying panels are a representative sample of the type of art you may have encountered in Wisconsin rock shelters and caves. Rock art has been identified most frequently on sandstone, but we suspect you may also see the art on limestone. In the caves of the Appalachians, images have even been seen that were carved into the clay adhering to the ceilings, walls, and floors of caves. Mud glyphs have not yet been identified in Wisconsin.

Both carved and painted images have been recorded on rock in Wisconsin. The carving (petroglyphs) was done with bone, stone, wood, and antler tools. Pigments for the paint- ings (pictographs) were derived from galena, charcoal, hematite/limonite, limestone, clay, and other materials. These pigments may have been mixed with a binder, to help it stick to the rock, or in other cases, may have been applied directly to the stone. They were applied with bone or antler “brushes,” twigs, or fingers. Both types of rock art can be easily damaged; simply brushing or rubbing against a panel can remove the art. Mud glyphs are even more fragile.

American Indians in Wisconsin began making rock art at least three thousand years ago to communicate with the spirit world, with each other, and with other groups. Interpret- ing rock art is still a “new science.” Some of the shapes and images are obvious. We can identify deer, bows-and-arrows, and people or spirit beings. But what stories they tell, what meaning, or meanings, they covey and why they were painted and carved remain a mystery.

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In addition to rock art, you may come across evidence of earlier exploration in the form of torches, smudging, wall scarring, and tracks. Birch bark torches, and in one case a moccasin, have been recovered from dark zone caves in Wisconsin. The torches may be preserved along the edges of caves near where the walls and floor join. Smudging could be present on the ceilings or walls. Scratches and scrape marks may be present in tight spots.

American Indians used flint or chert, galena, hematite, and other minerals for thousands of years in Wisconsin. Some of these materials were simply collected after they were loosened and exposed by natural processes. In other cases, however, American Indians actively mined and quarried for the materials they wanted. Chert was the most widely used tool stone in Wisconsin. Sandstone was used for grinding tools and abrading other materials. In places where the sandstone contains much greater amounts of silica and is extremely hard (it is classified as a quartzite), it was quarried and used to make a variety of stone tools. The quartzite and chert occur in lenses in the bedrock and as nodules. Evidence of quarrying should appear as ham- mer and pounding marks, as battering, and possibly as scraping on the walls and floors of caves. Evidence of quarrying may also be seen in the form of broken nodules and chips and smaller broken pieces of stone. These chips may occur in tight clusters and piles.

People do not seem to have lived, or spent extended periods of time, in deep caves. You may still find hearths, charcoal, burned wood, burned and broken rocks, or some evidence of camping, but it seems people more often lived in the entrances to caves. In some cases, the crevice cave may seem too small for camping, but careful examination may reveal pieces of pottery, stone tools, chips, and food debris.

Human burials do occur in rock shelters and caves in Wisconsin. They have most frequently been exposed by archaeological excavations, but they have also been exposed through erosion or rodent digging. They may also occur on the surface. If you encounter human remains, leave them in place and notify the local authorities (police or sheriff). They can take the lead in deciding if it is a forensic case, or if they need to call the Wisconsin Historical Society at 1-800-342-7834.

As you might guess, rock art sites, quarry sites, campsites, and burials in caves are extremely rare and fragile. Wisconsin currently has 152 recorded rock art sites, most in southwest Wisconsin, an area with many exposed bedrock outcroppings. The rock art sites and campsites have been identified most frequently in rock shelters. Sites located deeper in caves are extremely unusual and warrant special consid- eration.

Protecting these non-renewable resources starts with identification. One of the things you can do to ensure the long-term preservation of these types is to report them. We have included a form in the newsletter. In addition to the locational information, a sketch map pinpointing the location of the site in the cave is important. The verbal description and the map should be sufficient to enable someone else to return to the site location. And of course, pictures of the site are invaluable.

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Including something for scale in the images is always helpful.

In order to protect these sites, we do restrict access to the information, so the report- ing of a site in a special cave or passage way will not become widely known. In a limited number of instances, access to caves and shelters has been limited as a protective meas- ure. We have used this approach cautiously, however, recognizing the effect this can have on recreational activities.

Thunderbird

Deer

Diamond and Dot

Buffalo

X Form

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Turkey Track Lines Chevron

Human

Roche a Cri

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Profiles in Maribel New Hope Cave Photos by: Letha Welch

SE Profile #2 ~ 9/19/06 ~

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SE Profile #3 ~ 9/24/06 ~

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SE Profile #4 ~ 10/08/06 ~

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Model Cave Protection Act Written by Henry L. Welch

Background

This model cave protection act was prepared as part of a law review article published in the January 2008 Environmental Law Reporter. That article discusses existing federal and state laws protecting caves and provides detailed justifica- tions and explanations for the various elements of the cave protection act included below. A full reprinting of that article is inappropriate in this forum for reasons of both length and audience (the article was written for attorneys and legal scholars).

This statute relies heavily on the cave protection statutes already in place. Cur- rently caves are protected, to some extent, by federal law and laws in 29 states, including Wisconsin which only protects rock art. (For a mostly complete listing of existing cave protection laws see the NSS list at http://www.caves.org/committee/conservation/www/a_law/laws.htm) The cave protection law included below differs significantly from most of the existing laws in that it is generally more detailed and reflects the often complicated is- sues surrounding cave activities (e.g. one shouldn’t burn things in caves, but carbide lamps should be permitted).

Under most cave protection laws, the land owner of the ground above the cave has nearly unlimited discretion on what to do with the cave (unless stopped by some other environmental laws protecting endangered species, ground water, etc.). The proposed cave protection act addresses this issue by classifying activities that affect caves into two categories: Minor Impacts – that are consistent with responsible visitation and Major Impacts – that result in significant altera- tion to the cave and should require oversight by someone in addition to the land owner.

My goal in developing this cave protection act and the affiliated law review article was to raise awareness of the unique risks to which caves are subject and to develop a more mature framework for providing legal protection. Hopefully oth- ers will take up the call and begin lobbying their state legislature to update their existing state laws to provide better protection for caves.

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The Model Cave Protection Act

Caves.1. Short Title

This Act shall be known and cited as the Cave Protection Act.

Caves.2. Declared Purpose for this Act

The Legislature values the following findings. Caves are uncommon geologic phe- nomena, and the minerals deposited therein may be rare and occur in unique forms of great beauty that are irreplaceable if destroyed. Also irreplaceable are the cultural resources in caves, which are of great scientific and historic value. Further, the organ- isms that live in caves are unusual and of limited numbers, and many are rare and endangered species, and caves are a natural conduit for groundwater flow and are highly subject to water pollution, thus having far-reaching effects transcending manmade property boundaries. It is therefore declared to be the policy of the state of _____ and the intent of this Act to protect these unique natural and cultural resources.

Caves.3. Definitions

The following words and phrases when used in this Act shall have the definitions provided to them in this section, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Board" means the Cave Board.

"Cave" means any naturally occurring void, cavity, recess, or system of interconnect- ing passages beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge including natural subsurface water and drainage systems, but not including any mine, tunnel, aqueduct, or other manmade excavation, which is large enough to permit a person to enter. The word "cave" includes or is synonymous with cavern, sinkhole, natural pit, grotto, and rock shelter.

"Cave life" means any animal, plant, or other life form which normally occurs in, uses, visits, or inhabits any cave or subterranean water system.

"Commercial cave" means any cave utilized by the owner for the purposes of exhibi- tion to the general public as a profit or nonprofit enterprise, wherein a fee is collected for entry.

"Cultural resource" means all or any part of any archaeological, paleontological, bio- logical, or historical item including, but not limited to, any petroglyph, pictograph, basketry, human remains, tool, beads, pottery, projectile point, remains of historical mining activity, or any other occupation found in any cave.

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“Department” means the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Historical Conservation, or both as is consistent within the context in which the term is used.

“Educational purpose” means activities undertaken by museums, nature centers, and similar persons with the intent to prepare displays and exhibits for education of the general public.

"Gate" means any structure or device located to limit or prohibit access or entry to any cave.

“Hazard” means a risk of serious physical harm to persons or property.

“Major impact” means any significant impact to a cave that is generally done with a reckless or willful purpose. This includes, but is not limited to: converting a cave passage or room for commercial use and excavating more than a few cubic feet of material.

“Minor impact” means any incidental impact made to a cave that is consistent with responsible visitation and exploration. This includes, but is not limited to: the leav- ing of foot prints, disturbing loose materials as a result of passage, smoothing of non-speleothem rock surfaces caused by passage, introducing survey marks, plac- ing climbing bolts for safety, installing cave gates, disturbing for scientific or educational purposes, and excavating a few cubic feet of material to make a passage passable.

"Owner" means a person who owns title to land where a cave is located, including a person who is a lessee of such land, and including the State and any of its agencies, departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, or authorities, as well as counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions of the State.

"Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, association, trust, or corporation or other legal entity.

“Rescue personnel” means any police officer, fire fighter, paramedic, or recognized volunteer who is acting in response to an emergency or believed emergency.

“Scientific purposes” means research, or exploration, or both, conducted by persons affiliated with recognized scientific organizations with the intent to advance knowl- edge and to publish the results of exploration or research in an appropriate me- dium.

"Sinkhole" means a closed topographic depression or basin, generally draining un- derground, including, but not restricted to, a doline, uvala, blind valley, or sink.

"Speleogen" means an erosional feature of the cave boundary and includes or is synonymous with anastomoses, scallops, rills, flutes, spongework, and pendants.

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"Speleothem" means a natural mineral formation or deposit occurring in a cave. This includes or is synonymous with stalagmite, stalactite, helectite, shield, anthodite, gypsum flower and needle, angel's hair, soda straw, drapery, bacon, cave pearl, popcorn (cave coral), rimstone dam, column, palette, flowstone, et cetera. Speleothems are commonly composed of calcite, epsomite, gypsum, aragonite, celestite, and other similar minerals.

Caves.4. Vandalism

It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally, willfully, or recklessly: (1) Break, break off, crack, carve upon, write, burn, or otherwise mark upon, remove, or in any manner destroy, disturb, deface, mar, or harm the surfaces of any cave or any natural material which may be found there, whether attached or broken, including speleothems, speleogens, sedimentary deposits, and cultural resources.

(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply to minor impacts for which express permission has been received in advance from the cave owner.

(3) The collection of samples for scientific or educational purposes requires that a permit be obtained from the Department or other agency as required by any other chapter in these statutes or by the United States Code. Break, force, tamper with, or otherwise disturb a lock, gate, door, or other obstruction designed to control or prevent access to any cave, even though entrance thereto may not be gained unless express permission has been received in advance from the cave owner.

Remove, deface, or tamper with a sign stating that a cave is posted or citing provisions of this Act unless express permission has been received in advance from the cave owner.

Excavate, remove, destroy, injure, deface, or in any manner disturb any cultural resource unless express permission has been received in advance from the cave owner and a permit has been obtained from the Department.

Make a major impact to a cave unless express permission has been received in advance from the cave owner and a permit has been obtained from the Department. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the removal of unavoidable hazards provided they are mitigated with minimal impact to the cave.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to rescue personnel in response to an emergency, believed emergency, or other rescue.