Post by Sharon Faulkner on Jul 20, 2007 8:59:56 GMT -5
For Immediate Release
Further Information: Thomas Lera
July 6, 2007
WISE, VA – Efforts of the Virginia Cave Board to protect sensitive resources of Powell Mountain's Rocky Hollow Cave have taken a positive turn, according to Thomas Lera, Cave Board Chairman. A local Wise County resident admitted causing damage to cave formations has agreed to work with local authorities and the Cave Board to repair serious damage to the cave caused by spray paint on important cave features. The local resident’s July 3rd trial was continued by the courts. If by the next trial date, Jan. 8, 2008, the damage to the cave has been repaired, the court will dismiss the charges, Lera explained. The suspect’s identity is being withheld pending the outcome of the January trial.
The vandalism, a misdemeanor under Virginia state law, carries a maximum penalty of twelve months in jail and a fine of $2,500. Wise County Sheriff Ronnie Oaks supported the Cave Board by enforcing this law, and is assisting with public education concerning the seriousness of such vandalism, Lera said.
The cave, whose precise location is guarded, is important because it contains several vertical drops and pits, large gallery-type passages and multilevel developments. Some 3,500 feet of passages have been explored. It contains a small stream on its lower level. At some point in the past, probably during the Civil War, it was mined for saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder. In addition to the endangered Indiana bat, there are several cave-adapted invertebrate animals known only from the Powell Valley of Virginia, including flatworms and amphipods.
This is the Cave Board’s first involvement in legal action in Wise, Lera explained. “We are making every effort to educate and inform the public about the importance of preserving the cave’s natural features as well as the endangered Indiana Bat that roosts there,” he said. Rocky Hollow Cave has been named a “Significant Cave” by the Virginia Cave Board, which means that it deserves special protection for its historic, cultural and biological resources. The cave was gated by the U.S. Forest Service in cooperation with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, The Nature Conservancy and Bat Conservation International in the late 1990s.
Further Information: Thomas Lera
July 6, 2007
WISE, VA – Efforts of the Virginia Cave Board to protect sensitive resources of Powell Mountain's Rocky Hollow Cave have taken a positive turn, according to Thomas Lera, Cave Board Chairman. A local Wise County resident admitted causing damage to cave formations has agreed to work with local authorities and the Cave Board to repair serious damage to the cave caused by spray paint on important cave features. The local resident’s July 3rd trial was continued by the courts. If by the next trial date, Jan. 8, 2008, the damage to the cave has been repaired, the court will dismiss the charges, Lera explained. The suspect’s identity is being withheld pending the outcome of the January trial.
The vandalism, a misdemeanor under Virginia state law, carries a maximum penalty of twelve months in jail and a fine of $2,500. Wise County Sheriff Ronnie Oaks supported the Cave Board by enforcing this law, and is assisting with public education concerning the seriousness of such vandalism, Lera said.
The cave, whose precise location is guarded, is important because it contains several vertical drops and pits, large gallery-type passages and multilevel developments. Some 3,500 feet of passages have been explored. It contains a small stream on its lower level. At some point in the past, probably during the Civil War, it was mined for saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder. In addition to the endangered Indiana bat, there are several cave-adapted invertebrate animals known only from the Powell Valley of Virginia, including flatworms and amphipods.
This is the Cave Board’s first involvement in legal action in Wise, Lera explained. “We are making every effort to educate and inform the public about the importance of preserving the cave’s natural features as well as the endangered Indiana Bat that roosts there,” he said. Rocky Hollow Cave has been named a “Significant Cave” by the Virginia Cave Board, which means that it deserves special protection for its historic, cultural and biological resources. The cave was gated by the U.S. Forest Service in cooperation with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, The Nature Conservancy and Bat Conservation International in the late 1990s.