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Check out Chouteau's webpage:
http://www.missouri.edu/~ccmikew/chouteau.html
Webmaster: Michael Wardin @ wardinr@missouri.edu
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Contents:
1. Looking ahead... (upcoming grotto events)
2. Regional / National: (upcoming events)
3. Recent events (what we did last month)
4. In the Media
5. "The year in review" story by Daryl Greaser
6. Did you know? Bat facts from BCI
7. Committees / Officers
January 10th: Grotto Trip: Devil's Icebox. This is a multi-disiplinary research
trip that will
require "sherpa" support. The trip will involve local biologists, geologists, and
possibly other
scientists. This trip will be up the main passage, possibly to the second water
crawl but at least
to Chert Bridges. Depending on the number of scientists and their objectives, this
trip may
divided into two groups, with one group on a shorter trip. This trip will be
through the prettiest
sections of the cave. Expect a long and strenuous trip, lasting anywhere from 8-12
hours.
Interested? Contact Rick Walk at 442-2660, or email: aneswalk@tranquility.net,
ASAP
February 6th: Photo Instruction Trip: Devil's Icebox. Here's your chance to learn
the basics of
cave photography. Expect the trip to be long and strenuous, lasting anywhere from
8-12 hours.
Space is limited, so sign ASAP by contacting Rick Walk.
2. Regional / National
January 16th: Fall meeting of the Missouri Speleological Survey, to be held at the
DNR Division
of Geology and Land Survey Building in Rolla. Morning open session to start at 10
a.m.
Displays, publication sales, discussion groups, slide presentations, cave mapping
projects, video
presentations, cave files, something for everybody. More TBA. Board of Directors
meeting to be
held at 1 p.m. Contact Daryl Greaser for details.
Janurary 23,24: Restoration Field Camp at Mammoth Cave. FMI contact Norm Rogers @
309-
682-1570 or, nrogers1@juno.com Visit the Restoration Camp web site at:
http://oldsci.eiu.edu/physics/len/mammoth/mcrp0.html
February 24-27: Central Region -NCRC will offer a level 1 modular training.
Attendance at all
three
weekends is required, in Bloomington, IN. Cost: $150 if received by 1/15/99, $160
after that
date. Please
contact Anmar Mirza at 812-339-1506, amirza@indiana.edu or Allen Hutchison at
812-856-5057,
hutchiso@indiana.edu for further information or to request registration forms.
February 24-27: Symposium on Karst Modeling:
Conceptual, geochemical, digital, and statistical models of karst development, and
methods of
acquiring karst and field data, Charlottesville, Virginia, sponsored by the Karst
Waters Institute.
Contact Arthur N. Palmer, Dept. of Earth Sciences, State University of New York,
Oneonta, NY
3820-4015, or palmeran@oneonta.edu or phone: 607-436-3064 or fax 607-436-3547.
Web site: www.uakron.edu/karstwaters/kwi.html
3. Recent events:
The Annual Holiday Party was held on Saturday, December 12th, at the Walk's
residence. There
was a good showing by Chouteau members. Rick presented three different multi-media
slideshows, complete with musical accompaniment. A potluck dinner was served, and
a good
time was had by all.
1st Annual (or so we say!) Winter Float trip. Rita Worden, Bob Lerch, and Daryl
Greaser
enjoyed a day of canoeing, snorkeling, and caving on the Current River on December
19th. The
group, iron clad in 6mm wetsuits, put in at Cedargrove, and floated 8 miles to
Akers Ferry. They
visited Welch Spring and historic hospital, and Medlock Cave. Medlock is a short
but interesting
cave complete with beautiful formations, big piles of guano, and a spring that
originates in a
"lake" near the end of the cave. A complete report of the weekend's festivities,
including a trip to
Bunker Hill cave, will appear in the Foresight.
Daryl Greaser was taken to a 30'+ deep pit near Thunder Lane. It is very similar
to Pearly Pit in
appearance, as the walls are rocky and it does not occur near or in a sinkhole. It
is certainly
worthy of further investigation.
The Stream Team clean up trip to Gans Creek was cancelled due to very nasty
weather. It will be
rescheduled in the coming months.
4. In the media
Rick, Diane, and Michael Walk were mentioned in an article in the Winter 98-99
issue of
Missouri Resources on DNR's Volunteers in Parks program. For the Walk family,
volunteering
in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is a family affair. Rick leads and assists with
many
functions in the Devil's Icebox, and assists with special programs. Diane set up
and coordinates a
butterfly count for the park, assists with naturalist programs, monitors trails,
plants wildflower
seeds, organized a reference library, and helps with special programs. Mike did an
Eagle Scout
project by installing four benches along park trails. "Help is difinitely needed
out there, and we
were looking for something to do outside as a family," Walk explains about their
reason for
volunteering.
In the January '99 issue of Discover: The World of Science magazine, and In the
January '99
issue of National Geographic, there are articles on University of Missouri -
Columbia
archaeologist Michael O'Brien's collection of 35 sandals found over the last
several decades in a
dry cave near the Missouri River. The sandals date back as far as 8,300 years. The
sandals were
made by native Americans before the arrival of Europeans.
The January '99 issue of National Geographic contains an article on the discovery
of
sophisticated tools and pressure-flaked points in a South African cave. The
discovery is
significant for the fact that these tools, which date back 80-95,000 years, have
previously only
been associated with more "modern" humans. The cave also contained evidence of
perhaps the
world's earliest evidence of catching big fish; large fish vertebrae.
5. "The year in Review" story by Daryl Greaser:
Chouteau was very active in 1998. In January, Bill Elliott, a Cave Biologist with
the Missouri
Department of Conservation joined the grotto. Bill comes to us from Texas, where
he was an
active member of the Texas Speleological Survey. Bill has generously lent his
knowledge to the
grotto, giving programs on cave biota and teaching survey training. Chouteau is
lucky to have
another knowledgeable and active caver join the club. The past year brought the
rejuvenation of
many ongoing Chouteau projects, including printing of the Foresight, adding
Hunter's and Spring
cave streams to the Stream Team , and monthly grotto-sponsored caving trips.
Daryl Greaser
restarted the monthly newsletter (Chouteau News) to try and stimulate renewed
interest. A web
page was started in August through the efforts of member Michael Wardin. A
discussion group
was also formed through coollist.com. It works the same way as MOCaves. (See site
information
on page 2) By the end of the year, the site had 272 hits, and the discussion group
had 20+
subscribers. A new meeting structure was adopted at the November meeting, which
stipulates
that the meeeting will start at 7 p.m., and the program will commence promptly at
8:30, tabling
all remaining business until the next meeting. This change was proposed to prevent
program
presenters from getting short-changed. Vertical training became a reality, with
the help of Jim
Yancey, Tom Rattermann, Rick Walk, Kevin Feltz and many others. Didactic lectures
were
presented initially, with a progression towards practical skills including knots,
rigging,
ascenders/descenders, and a strong emphasis on safety. Practical sessions were
held at Capen
Park, a local public area with a large cliff that is frequented by local sport
climbers. Water
samples were taken in the Devil's Ice box in January by Bob Lerch, and the
subsequent report of
the findings stimulated a proposal to form a research group to study the
ecological effects of
groundwater pollution on cave life. MOKEG, the Missouri Karst Ecology Group, was
formed
with funds from the USDA - Agricultrual Research Service. Chouteau members Bob
Lerch
(USDA-ARS), Carol Wicks (MU), Doug Noltie (MU), and Bill Elliott (MDC) are among
the
scientists on the team. The group is studying the Devil's Icebox and Hunter's
Cave. Hunter's was
subsequently closed except for permit caving for the next 18 months or so due to
the sensitive
research. Louise Hose received national media coverage for her discovery of a
unique microbe in a Mexican cave. The annual Chicken Roast was held on September
19th at the usual Mike Morgan's residence. Chouteauites stayed up until the wee
hours of the morning cooking shrimp on the barbie and hand-making ice cream. (What
a combo!) This year Chouteau officially adopted the
long-standing event, which, years ago, was called the Goat Roast. Rick Walk
sponsored the
Annual Holiday Party at his newly remodeled (and nice!) home. A good showing by
members
occured at both events. The new Trip Coordinator, Daryl Greaser, vowed to sponsor
at least one
trip or activity per month. Here's how we tallied up this year:
Membership:
Active members (both Chouteau and NSS dues paid): 25
Associate members (Chouteau dues paid): 14
Honorary members: 2
Inactive members (dues more than 3 months late): 5
Total on master roster (includes alums): 73
Chouteau sponsored:
Recreational caving trips: 17
Survey Training Trips: 2
Vertical Training Classes: 5
Stream Team Activities: 2
Chouteau was represented at the following:
MDC's Annual Day With Wildlife, April 19, Columbia.
Spring MVOR, May 1-3, Stone County.
Spring MSS Meeting, May 16, Rolla.
Bat viewing, July 10th, Smittle Cave.
Fall MVOR, September 25-27, Pulaski County.
Fall MSS Meeting, September 19, Rolla.
12th Annual Ozark Regional Cavers Gathering, September 25-27, Brighton.
21st Annual Fall TAG Cave-in, October 8-11, Valley Head, Alabama.
MCKC's annual Skaggs Cave workday, November 21st, Waynesville.
6. Did you know?
BAT FACTS:
Loss of bats increases demand for chemical pesticides, can jeopardize whole
ecosystems of other
animal
and plant species, and can harm human economies.
Bat guano in caves support whole ecosystems of unique organisms, including
bacteria useful in
detoxifying
wastes, improving detergents, and producing gasohol and antibiotics.
The common little brown bat of North America is the worldís longest-lived mammal
for its
size, with life
spans sometimes exceeding 34 years.
Mexican free-tailed bats sometimes fly up to two miles high to feed or to catch
tail-winds that
carry them
over long distances at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour.
-information provided by Bat Conservation International, P.O. Box 162603, Austin,
TX 78716
(512) 327-9721
7. Committees / Officers:
1998 Committees
Editor Foresight
Rickard Walk
Associate Editors, Foresight
Daryl Greaser, Bob Lerch
Editor Chouteau News
Daryl Greaser
Conservation
Bob Lerch, Joe Engeln
Education
Bill Elliott, Bob Lerch, Rick Walk
Safety / Rescue
Rick Walk, Jim Yancey, Scott Schulte
Research Review
Joe Engeln, Carol Wicks, Jim Huckins, Bob Lerch, Louise Hose
Library / Exchange Publications
Kevin Feltz, Rick Walk
Membership dues
Kevin Feltz
Public Relations
Mike Morgan, Bill Elliott
Trip Coordinators
Daryl Greaser, Michael Greaser
Stream Teams
Devils Icebox, Jim Yancey
Hunterís Cave Stream,Daryl & Michael Greaser, Bob Lerch
Spring Cave Stream, Daryl & Michael Greaser, Bob Lerch
Gans Creek, Ken Midkiff
1998 Officers
Chairman
Mike Morgan NSS# 11700
20757 N. Ponderosa Rd.
Clark, MO 65243
(573)-687-3254
CaveCriter@aol.com
Vice Chairman
Bob Lerch NSS# 45004
407 Maplewood Dr.
Columbia, MO 65201
(573)-449-7225
lerchr@missouri.edu
Secretary
Tom Heffelfinger NSS# 41453
607 N. Oak St.
California, MO 65018
(573)-796-2570
THeffelfinger@watlow.com
Treasurer
Kevin Feltz NSS# 23141
2310 Nelwood Dr.
Columbia, MO 65203
(573)-474-1173
kfeltz@coin.missouri.edu
MSS Representative
Daryl Greaser NSS# 45614
5994 W. Hatton Chapel Rd.
Columbia, MO 65202
(573)-445-8222
greaserd@health.missouri.edu
Foresight Editor
Rickard Walk NSS# 28189
4580 Todd St.
Columbia, MO 65201
(573)-442-2660
aneswalk@tranquility.net
