ACCA Cleanup Events Repost

[Taylor]

From Chris Clark, ACCA:

Hello Cavers and Bat Lovers~

The American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA) has set dates for cleanups and cave conservation projects. The Spring Cleanup will be held on April 21 in Hart County, Kentucky. The project will involve clean up of roadside dumping and cave entrance trash.

This year's big project will begin immediately after Convention this year. ACCA will be mounting yet another push on Mt. Trashmore in Saltpeter Pit, Kentucky. ACCA will be in the Somerset area for the month of August, in hopes of making a noticeable difference in the amount of trash filling the entrance pit. This project is an effort to restore the habitat for one the the world's largest colonies of Rafinesque's Big-eared bats. Last year's efforts saw nearly 200 cubic yards of trash removed and/or recycled. It also made Mt. Trashmore 10 feet shorter than the 43 foot mountain it was.

ACCA is always thankful for all the volunteer help we can get and look forward to meeting and working with cavers and bat lovers from all over. These two projects and a project for fall, yet be determined, make great opportunities for people to come out and help not only the environment, but to meet and work with some of the finest people on the planet, cavers. If you can volunteer any time to these projects, you can contact me at the American Cave Museum and Hidden River Cave, 270-786-1466; or by e mail at clark_c17(at)yahoo.com . In advance for your help in making our underworld home a little cleaner for the next generation of wildlife and cavers, Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Chris

Chris Clark
Program Coordinator
American Cave Conservation Association
270-786-1466-office
270-786-1467-fax

[Brian Roebuck]

I've seen some photos of this effort and it is an impressive undertaking. ACCA needs lots of help to accomplish this task. Hopefully they can get enough local cavers to get the job done in several more efforts.

It is so unfortunate that people used to think that throwing things away into sinkholes was an acceptable practice. Groundwater pollution is usually the result as well as unsightly mini trash dumps that may contain almost anything. When we eventually get all of these problems areas cleaned up the groundwater will be much cleaner as well as our Karst!

[Taylor]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Volunteers Still Needed for ACCA's April 21 Roadside/Cave Cleanup

We are still looking for volunteers for the April 21 Spring Cleanup in Hart County, Ky. The plan is to meet at the American Cave Museum around 8:30 AM Central time and caravan out to the site. We will work for 4 hours, if we see we can finish it with a hour or two longer, we will do that. After we will be heading back to the museum for lunch and afternoon caving at Hidden River Cave. So make sure to bring your gear.

Here is a description of the primary site. Property is locate on a high knob in Hart County. We will be working at cleaning up an old roadside dump and also the entrance to a sandstone cave. The majority of trash is located in the entrance. It does have a small pit inside the rock sheltered entrance. There is a slight hike to the top of the knob, roughly .9 of a mile. It does have some road, that is very rugged and only accessible by 4-wheel drive. Should the weather not cooperate, we will have an alternate sight for cleaning. If you are planning on coming into the area to help. please let me know by Wednesday April 18, 2007. I look forward to seeing and working with you all again. See you then.

Chris

Chris Clark
Program Coordinator
American Cave Conservation Association
270-786-1466-office
270-786-1467-fax