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For Cavers

Message to Cavers

The Service applauds the caving community's strong conservation ethic and long-time support of bat conservation. We appreciation your continued cooperation and assistance as we work together on the white–nose syndrome issue.

We request that cavers observe all cave closures and advisories and refrain from caving in WNS-affected states and adjoining states at any time (see the March 26 cave advisory, below). We also recommend refraining from caving anywhere during bat hibernation to minimize disturbance to bats.

Cave advisory March 26, 2009
FAQs on cave advisory

White-nose Syndrome Decontamination Protocols (March 15, 2012)

Cave Closure Information and Related Activities

• Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
• Arkansas Outdoors Weekly Newsletter

• Bureau of Land Management closes 28 caves in New Mexico (January 25, 2011)

• Illinois DNR Closing State Owned and Managed Caves: Move intended to help slow spread of white-nose syndrome killing bats in northeastern states and recently confirmed in the Midwest (April 26, 2010)

• Indiana DNR closes caves to slow bat disease spread (May 1, 2009)

• Iowa Department of Natural Resources
• Rapid Spreading Disease Prompts Closure of Caves Where Bats Hibernate (April 29, 2010)

• Mid-Atlantic Karst Conservancy

• Missouri Department of Natural Resources
• Most Missouri state park caves will close temporarily to protect bats from disease; major tour caves will remain open (May 6, 2010)

• National Park Service
  • Buffalo National River, Arkansas
  • Ozark National Scenic Riverways Closes Caves (May 2010)
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park Closes All Park Caves to Protect Bats (April 3, 2009)

• National Speleological Society
  • White Nose Syndrome Page

• National Speleological Society's District of Columbia Grotto
  • Cave Closures
  • White Nose Syndrome: A major problem for both bats and the caving community

• The Nature Conservancy
  • NC Nature Conservancy Takes Action to Protect Bats (May 26, 2009)

• Northeastern Cave Conservancy
  • Northeastern Cave Conservancy Closes Caves Until May 15, 2009 (March 29, 2009)

• Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
  • Bat hibernating sites in Forest & Westmoreland counties remain closed to visitors (April 28, 2009)

• Pennsylvania Game Commission
  • Game Commission Urges Closures to Prevent Spread of WNS (May 7, 2009)

• Southeastern Cave Conservancy

• Tennessee Valley Authority
  • TVA Asks Public to Avoid Caves on TVA-managed Land (Nov. 10, 2009)

• Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
  • State of Tennessee Closes All Public Caves to Protect Bats in Southeast (July 6, 2009)

• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• TPWD Restricting Cave Access on Agency Owned Land to Protect Bats" with date (August 6, 2010)

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• National Wildlife Refuge System (September 2, 2010)

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region
  • Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Complex cave closures (March 26, 2009)

• U.S. Forest Service
  • Rocky Mountain Region, caves and mines on national forests and national grasslands in CO, WY, SD, NE and KS (July 2010)
  • Forest Service Closes Caves and Mines to Protect Bats in Southeast (May 21, 2009)
  • Forest Service Closes Caves and Mines to Slow the Spread of White-nose Syndrome (April 24, 2009)
  • Shawnee National Forest, Harrisburg, Ill., Cave and mine closure (March 13, 2009)

• West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's West Virginia Field Office: Notice to Cavers No. 2 (16 June 2008), White Nose Syndrome - Update (PDF 32k)

• Virginia
  • Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
    • Recommended Measures to Reduce the Spread of White Nose Syndrome (WNS) in Virginia (April 15, 2009)
  • Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
    • Virginia Confirms Cases of White-Nose Syndrome in Bats: Asking Cavers, Owners of Caves to Help by Reducing Cave Traffic (April 2, 2009)