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The
Cave Research Foundation
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Cave Research Foundation Operation Areas
and Projects
Most of Cave Research Foundation's work is conducted through five
different operations areas which operate primarily on state and
federal lands that contain caves and karst. Projects are done under a
nationwide Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of the
Interior, a Memorandum of Agreement with Bureau of Land Management, or
through local working agreements depending on the requirements of each
area.
There are multiple Operations Areas that focus on different areas of
the country and t hey are listed below. (Click on an area's
name for additional information).
Eastern
Operations Area
CRF's Eastern Operations Area encompasses the area east of the
Mississippi River. The primary focus is the Mammoth Cave National
Park, where the Foundation has been mapping and studying the world's
longest cave since CRF's inception in 1957. The Foundation works
closely with Park management on numerous other projects of varying
length and complexity.
Eastern Operations also has projects in southwest Virginia at the
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and in the Monongahela National
Forest in West Virginia.
Eastern Operations Projects:
- Mammoth Cave Cartographic Program
- Chief Cartographer, Bob Osburn: The objectives of the cartographic
program are to collect detailed geographic data from the caves of
Mammoth Cave National Park, to produce cartographic interpretations of
the data in the form of various types of maps, and to incorporate that
data into a master data archive system. Copies of data and maps are
provided to the Division of Resource Management at Mammoth Cave
National Park.
- Small Caves Inventory/Data
Management
at Mammoth Cave National Park
- Project Coordinator, Bill Copeland: A cooperative program between CRF
and Mammoth Cave National Park carries out a comprehensive resource
inventory of less-extensive caves within the Park. Caves are located,
brass caps are installed, and locations are determined by Global
Positioning Satellite (GPS) equipment. The caves are mapped and data
about the contents, suitable for use with a geographic information
system (GIS), are recorded. An additional product of this study is a
separate database that contains general information about the cave.
- Cumberland Gap National
Historical
Park (Gap Cave) Survey Project - Project
Coordinators, Bob Alderson and Charles Finney. CRF studies caves and
karst in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, an area rich in early
settler and Civil War history. Gap Cave is the largest cave in the
park. CRF is mapping Gap Cave and the other caves within the Park.
Another focus is on documenting the cultural resources inside the caves.
- Cave Hollow-Arbogast Cave Survey
Project - Project
Coordinator, Dave West. Cave Hollow-Arbogast Cave is a significant site
for endangered bats in Monongahela National Forest. In cooperation with
the United States Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and the West
Virginia Department of Natural Resources, CRF and the West Virginia
Association of Speleological Studies are surveying the cave system to
provide an up to date map with supporting data.
Ozark Operations
Area
- Ozark National Scenic Riverways (NPS -
Missouri)
- Missouri Department of Conservation (Missouri)
- Mark Twain National Forest, Pioneer Forest (Missouri)
- Buffalo National River (NPS-Arkansas)
- Russell Preserve Survey Project (Oklahoma)
Ozarks Projects:
- Missouri Cave Inventory/Data
Management Program
- Program Coordinator, Scott House: Cave mapping, resource surveys, and
biologic inventory are conducted in the Ozark National Scenic
Riverways, on Missouri Department of Conservation lands, in the Mark
Twain National Forest and in privately-owned Pioneer Forest. Work is
done under cooperative agreements between CRF and Federal/state
agencies who administer the lands.
- Buffalo National River Cave
Inventory/Data Management Program -Cave mapping, inventory, and
biological monitoring are conducted on Buffalo National River lands
under a cooperative agreement and scientific research permit with the
NPS.
Sequoia/Kings
Canyon Operations Area
As the name implies, the Sequoia/Kings Canyon Operations
areaincludes the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in
California's Sierra Mountains. The largest cave in the parks is
Lilburn Cave with over 20 miles of surveyed passage. Survey and
scientific work is done both in Lilburn and in numerous other caves in
the parks.
Sequoia/Kings Canyon Projects:
- Lilburn Cartography Project
-
Chief Cartographer, Jed Mosenfelder: The project began in 1980 with the
goal of adding more detail to some of the main passages. Since then the
7.8 miles of known cave has been resurveyed using modern sketching
techniques and standards and 13.8 miles of survey has been added to the
known length making it the longest cave in California at 21.6 miles.
For cartography, the passages are split out into quadrangles and
drafting is done on computer. As quadrangles are completed, copies are
provided to survey teams who then field check the maps.
- Redwood Canyon Sediment Studies
- Principal Investigator, Dr. John Tinsley: This research measures rate
of sediment yield and rates, and processes of sediment transport among
the karst features of Redwood Canyon (CA) in order to (1) improve
understanding of the karst and its physical system and (2) to gain
insight into the region's natural history using a sedimentological
perspective.
- Mineral King Project Area
-
Project Coordinator, Elaine Scott: Started in 1993, work in the
Mineral King area involves inventory and survey of the area's caves.
- Lilburn Restoration Project
-
Project Coordinator, Bill Frantz: Over its long history of use, some of
the formation areas of Lilburn Cave have suffered damage. Fortunately,
there is little formation breakage, but the very muddy nature of some
passages has resulted in dirty formations. In 1993, the Lilburn
Restoration Project was initiated to try to undo some of that damage
and to prevent further problems. Restoration efforts have been
dedicated to cleaning formations, flagging trails and installing
direction signs.
Southwest
Operations Area
The Southwest Operations area is focused primarily on Carlsbad Caverns
National Park where CRF personnel are assisting with the ongoing
mapping of Carlsbad Caverns and other caves in the Park. The
Foundation also assists with other projects, notably including periodic
work sessions to restore areas of the cave that have been damaged by
foot traffic or trail building activities.
Other projects on government land in the Carlsbad area are also ongoing.
Northwest
Operations Area
The Northwest Operations Area (NOA)
was designated in 2019 by the CRF Board of Directors and presently is
comprised chiefly of several Federal jurisdictions and some private
lands. The new NOA designation succeeds and expands the Lava Beds
Operations Area (LABE) that formerly housed CRF operations at Lava Beds
National Monument and the adjacent Modoc and Klamath National Forests
from 1988 to present. Thus, the new NOA CRF Operations Area
(2019-present) boasts 3 highly productive, major projects. These
projects are located at Craters of the Moon National Monument, in
Idaho’s famed Snake River Plain; the Klamath Mountains area including
the McCloud Limestone, a project coordinated by Joel Despain, Heather
Veerkamp and Niles Lathrop; and finally the Lava Beds project
(1989-present) located on the north slope of Medicine Lake Volcano in
Lava Beds National Monument, coordinated by John Tinsley. Each project
seeks to locate and map and inventory the caves within its geographic
purview and conduct and facilitate scientific endeavors as
opportunities arise. Craters of the Moon and Lava Beds projects address
chiefly lava tube caves; the Klamath project is more broadly based and
includes both epigene and hypogene solution caves within a variety of
geological settings ranging from the Lake Shasta area westward to the
coast and north to Oregon. Brief descriptions of each project follow.
- Craters of the Moon, Idaho (CRMO):
This CRF project addresses the hundreds of lava tubes located in
Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. The goals are to
produce an accurate list of lava tube locations, detailed maps of the
tubes, and inventory the biological, geological, and cultural phenomena
found in the tubes. This project is coordinated by Mark Jones. The
project heretofore plans extensive fieldwork in the month of September
annually; this schedule is almost certain to change as the project
grows. In 2025, more than 100 caves were mapped at CRMO.
- Klamath Mountains Project, northern California:
This CRF project is coordinated by Joel Despain, Heather Veerkamp, and
Niles Lathrop. The geographic scope is broadest in the NOA and includes
caves in the Klamath, Shasta-Trinity, and Mendocino and Modoc National
Forests as well as privately-held lands containing cave and karst
features in the Klamath Mountains geologic province of northern
California and beyond. The CRF Klamath Mountains project is based in
the rugged terrain of northwest California. Here lie 10,000 square
miles of accreted-terrane, marine rocks with large areas of granitic
plutons and ultramafic rocks. The Klamaths as a geologic entity include
many separate ranges, such as the Sisikiyou, Trinity, Trinity Alps,
Scott, McCloud and the Marble mountains. Elevations range from near sea
level to approximately 9,000 feet in several ranges. Niles Lathrop
(2025) completed his Master of Science thesis at Western Kentucky
University (advisor = Pat Kambesis) and presented strong evidence for
both epigene and hypogene cave genesis processes in the McCloud
Limestone. The prospects for continued discoveries, mapping of new and
known caves, inventory, and other scientific studies are seriously
stout.
- Lava Beds National Monument (LABE)
project, coordinated by John Tinsley, includes lava caves on the north
slope of Medicine Lake Volcano, in the adjacent Modoc National Forest,
and likely soon will include selected caves of the newly minted Sáttítla Highlands National Monument
which includes most of the other lava areas near LABE. The Lava Beds
project was initiated by Janet Sowers in 1988-89 and anchored by
cartography, inventory and monitoring activities as well as classical
scientific studies has flourished for more than 3 decades. There are
plenty of caves left to map and to study.
Additional CRF
Projects
Some CRF projects are not specific to any single operations area. These
include:
- Educational Outreach Program:
Caves are a fragile and complex resource. CRF wants to educate today's
kids so they are aware of how caves are formed, their importance to
humans, how to preserve them, and how to enter them safely. The primary
vehicle for this educational program is support for the CaveSim Project
that uses a portable simulated cave to provide school-age kids with an
immersive "caving" experience that teaches them about caves and cave
science in a fun, hands-on way.
- USGS National Spacial Data Infrastructure Project:
In 1996, a grant was awarded to CRF by the U.S. Geolgoical Survey for
the development of tools that contribute to the USGS National Spacial
Data Infrastructure. CRF, in cooperation with Mammoth Cave National
Park, The American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA), and Kentucky's
Barren River Area Development District (BRADD), have developed and
proposed a minimal content standard for the collection of cave survey
data on federal lands.
- China/USA Caves Project and Exchange:
Project Director, Ian Baren: This project promotes the joint
exploration, mapping and research of the caves and karst of China and
the U.S. The sponsoring entity from China is Guizhou Normal University.
Project activities have been focusing on the caves and karst of Guizhou
Province. In return for sponsoring CRF/NSS cavers in China, CRF and the
NSS sponsor and host 3 to 5 Chinese researchers to the NSS convention.
Project trips run every other year with the exchange taking place
during intervening years.
- GIS Resource Development Program:
Project Directors, Aaron Addison & Bernard Szukalski: In 1997,
recognizing that GIS technology was rapidly becoming one of the most
effective approaches to cave and karst resource management, the Cave
Research Foundation established a GIS Resource Development Program. The
goal of the program is to assist CRF personnel, federal agency staff,
and other researchers access and utilize spatial data, GIS
applications, and other software tools for the purpose of cave and
karst resource management. A longer-term goal is to use GIS to develop
a collective knowledge and support base for cave conservation,
protection and management.
- Educational Resource Development Program:
The purpose of this program is to make information about cave and karst
resources more widely available through the development of audiovisual
and multimedia educational materials. Hardware and software, utilizing
digital video, digital still and computer graphics and animation
packages are available to create presentations that can be rendered in
standard VHS, CD-ROM, and World Wide Web formats. The program has two
primary goals: 1) The development and dissemination of educational
resources (primarily multimedia and audiovisual) and, 2) the provision
of assistance to federal agencies who want to create interpretive
exhibits and displays for the general public. Projects are currently
being developed.
- Galapagos Project:
Project Coordinators: Aaron Addison and Elizabeth Winkler: This
project's objectives include, but are not limited to, Exploration,
documentation and mapping, biological and paleontological inventory and
monitoring and partner education. Cooperating partners include
the Parque Nacional Galápagos (PNG) , Universidad de
Especialidades Turísticas, Ecuador (UDET), California Academy of
Sciences, National Speleological Society (NSS),and the Charles Darwin
Foundation (CDF).
Page
last updated or validated on October 12, 2025