National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Great Basin National Park Lehman Caves Management Plan June 2019 ON THE COVER Photograph of visitors on tour of Lehman Caves NPS Photo ON THIS PAGE Photograph of cave shields, Grand Palace, Lehman Caves NPS Photo Shields in the Grand Palace, Lehman Caves. Lehman Caves Management Plan Great Basin National Park Baker, Nevada June 2019 Approved by: James Woolsey, Superintendent Date Executive Summary The Lehman Caves Management Plan (LCMP) guides management for Lehman Caves, located within Great Basin National Park (GRBA). The primary goal of the Lehman Caves Management Plan is to manage the cave in a manner that will preserve and protect cave resources and processes while allowing for respectful recreation and scientific use. More specifically, the intent of this plan is to manage Lehman Caves to maintain its geological, scenic, educational, cultural, biological, hydrological, paleontological, and recreational resources in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and current guidelines such as the Federal Cave Resource Protection Act and National Park Service Management Policies. Section 1.0 provides an introduction and background to the park and pertinent laws and regulations. Section 2.0 goes into detail of the natural and cultural history of Lehman Caves. This history includes how infrastructure was built up in the cave to allow visitors to enter and tour, as well as visitation numbers from the 1920s to present. Section 3.0 states the management direction and objectives for Lehman Caves. Section 4.0 covers how the Management Plan will meet each of the objectives in Section 3.0. Topics include improving safety; maintaining and updating cave infrastructure; expanding interpretive opportunities both in and out of the cave; protecting biological, cultural, and geologic resources, and more. This section contains the majority of the management recommendations for the cave. Section 5.0 covers surface management such as development and herbicide use above caves. It includes a map of no-retardant areas near Lehman Cave. Fire retardant dropped in this area could have negative impacts on various cave biota, especially the Model Cave amphipod, which is currently only known to exist in one cave in the world. Section 6.0 lays out how the plan can be changed. Section 7.0 specifies plan updates, Section 8.0 contains literature cited, and Section 9.0 lists the plan preparers. Appendices and Standard Operating Procedures follow the main document. Please cite this publication as: Great Basin National Park. 2019. Lehman Caves Management Plan. Great Basin National Park, Baker, Nevada. ii Contents Page Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................viii Acronyms .............................................................................................................................................. ix 1.0 Introduction & Background ............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose and Need ........................................................................................................................... 1 Background..................................................................................................................................... 1 Relationship to Other Park Laws, Regulations, Policies, and Plans............................................... 2 2.0 Natural and Cultural History of Lehman Caves ............................................................................... 8 2.1 Geology .................................................................................................................................... 8 Geology Overview..................................................................................................................... 8 Lehman Caves Speleology ........................................................................................................ 8 Lehman Caves Hydrology ....................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Discovery ................................................................................................................................ 14 Maps ........................................................................................................................................ 16 2.3 Development of Trails ............................................................................................................ 20 Main Trail ................................................................................................................................ 20 Talus Room ............................................................................................................................. 22 Roads ....................................................................................................................................... 27 2.4 Visitation ................................................................................................................................ 29 2.5 Lighting .................................................................................................................................. 31 2.6 Other Cave developments/infrastructure ................................................................................ 33 Staircases and Platforms .......................................................................................................... 33 Tunnels .................................................................................................................................... 33 Cave entrance .......................................................................................................................... 34 2.7 Interpretation .......................................................................................................................... 36 Names ...................................................................................................................................... 36 Tour routes............................................................................................................................... 37 Sizes of tours ........................................................................................................................... 37 Candlelight tours ..................................................................................................................... 38 Spelunker tours ........................................................................................................................ 38 2.8 Paleontology ........................................................................................................................... 39 2.9 Cultural Resources.................................................................................................................. 42 Prehistoric ................................................................................................................................ 42 Ethnography ............................................................................................................................ 42 Historic .................................................................................................................................... 43 2.10 Biology ................................................................................................................................. 45 Bats .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Invertebrates ............................................................................................................................ 45 Other Vertebrates..................................................................................................................... 47 Microbes .................................................................................................................................. 48 Plants, Lichens, Mosses, Fungi ............................................................................................... 48 2.11 Cave climate ......................................................................................................................... 49 Temperature and humidity ...................................................................................................... 49 iii Airflow .................................................................................................................................... 51 Radon ....................................................................................................................................... 51 Other cave atmosphere ............................................................................................................ 52 2.12 Research 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