Chouteau Grotto Minutes from March 3, 2004
Present:
President: Marck Schneider
ViceñPresident: Eugene Vale
Treasurer: Kevin Feldz
Secretary: Kathryn Devany DiFoxfire
Members: 10
CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order at 7:04 p.m
REPORTS:
SECRETARY'S REPORT
February minutes approved with the following
corrections: Kirsten Alvey went caving with a friend, Steve Taylor (not a
boyfriend). Hulston Mills was incorrectly listed as a state park.
Conservationist article which features Amber Spohn and stream teams was
believed to be scheduled to come out in April (not Feb). Note:
In actuality, it came out in March 2004.
TREASURER"S REPORT
Current balance is $1267.90.
Many members have overdue membership dues.
Kevin reported he had already submitted the grotto's MSS membership dues to
Dave who confirmed that Chouteau should now be all paid up.
MSS LIASON REPORT:
Amber Spohn said she didn't know she was the MSS
liason until last week of February, so her report would be short. She
reported that the last MSS meeting was canceled due to weather and rescheduled.
Amber was unable to attend. They are in the process of updating the
website. An MSS report needs to be sent. We can send in our NSS
report to John Beard at mokanman@worldnet.att.net
Jo Schafer reported that MSS has a new display board which is currently in Jo's
basement. The display board will be at MVOR.
FORESIGHT REPORT:
No report as we still need an editor since Bob
Lerch stepped down. Anyone interested? Let Marck Schneider know.
QUARTERMASTER'S REPORT:
Mike Morgan reported that we have 10 loaner helmets
and about 5 lamps in working order. Our Petzel lights have been repaired
many times.
Discussion Topic: Should purchase new
lamps and if so, how many and what kind? Do we have the money (since many
members are not paying dues)?
There are some good lamps at Alpine Shop that range in the $20-$30 range.
Alpine Shop also offers grotto members a 10% discount and may be willing to
negotiate if we want to buy several. Petzel Tikkas run in the $30 range,
Petzel Duos run about $60.
Mike doesn't have time to research which would be a good buy and which would
not. LEDs last longer (though they tend not to be as bright unless there
are a lot of LED). Kat DiFoxfire has done some research on cave lights
for Devil's Icebox trips and will try and post some information on Coollist.
Scott Schulte reported that LED and cave lamp technology is advancing rapidly
so that the quality of LEDs lights is catching up to the regular xenon and
halogen lamps, and are becoming more affordable. For example, Cabela's
offers a Mountain Green brand of LED lamp that can switch from 4 to 8 LEDs and
is available for about $25: a good light for beginnners.
There was also discussion that we may be able to find a good deal on E-bay.
Amber Spohn said she has an account on E-bay and would do some checking
to see what may be available. Mike Morgan requested that the grotto purchase up
to six lights at about $20 each.
Decision:
Eugene Vale moved that we allocate up to $150 for five lights. Kirsten
Alvey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
VOTING OPPORTUNITIES
Due to the cave lamp discussion, a point was made that we may wish to open up
some voting to a larger portion of the membership, especially with regard to
those who are unable to attend the monthly meetings due to schedule conflicts.
A proposal was made that we could post an issue on Coollist and give the
larger membership 1-2 weeks to look at the issue and respond. We would
also post a deadline for votes. These would be for issues that do not
have a tight time constraint. For example, auctions on E-bay last only
seven days so we probably couldn't post a request for a vote on whether or not
to make a bid on a particular item(s) as the auction would expire before we
would have time to acquire enough feedback from the membership.
Decision: The issue of whether or not to conduct e-mail voting was
tabled until we could refer to the grotto constitution and by-laws to see
whether such an option would be permitted.
OLD BUSINESS
MEMBERSHIP MANUAL:
Marck has not yet heard back from Joe Dom on the
status of the membership manual.
MSS DUES:
Taken care of as discussed previously.
STREAM TEAM WATER QUALITY MONITORING / STREAM CLEAN-UPS
Amber Spohn would like more involvement from both the grotto and the Soil &
Water Conservation Society on campus. Would Saturdays or Sundays be
better for the grotto to participate in stream team activities? Kirsten
said she works on Sundays, but could possibly bring Scouts (on Saturdays?).
Amber will try to schedule a stream cleanup for April or May, as she may
have to leave right at the end of the semester. She will post the next
meeting date on Coollist.
GROTTO WEBSITE
Any updates?
KIRBY CAVE TRIP
Scheduled for Saturday, April 3 which conflicts
with Ozarks Extreme. Kirsten will call the Woodruffs to check on the
date.
SE CAVE CONSERVANCY
They sent us a letter thanking us for our
contribution to the Valhalla Cave project.
RUTHERFORD CAVE TRIP
Rick Walk reported that after the big retirement
home was built, Al Price requested that no cavers be allowed in, so Rick has
not contacted the landowners. Rick also reported that the cave was not
gateable. The cave has two entrances, a primary entrance at the stream
level, but also a top access known and used by locals. As it is a private
cave with two entrances and no known endangered species, MO Dept, of
Conservation does not have much incentive to invest in a cave gate there.
UPCOMING EVENTS
MCKC MEETING: March 6, Room 23 in Univ of MissourióRolla library.
Meeting begins at 10 a.m.
OZARKS EXTREME: April 2-4, 2004. They posted an ad in the
St. Louis Dispatch (near an ad about Disneyland) and also in the back of NSS
magazine. Discussion on the quality of the event was not favorable.
SPRING MVOR will be at Historic Hulston Mills Campground in Greene
County near Springfield.
RATTLESNAKE CAVE
Lake Ozark Grotto is planning on taking church youth into Rattlesnake Cave in
Camden County May 22. About 20 kids are signed up, mostly teenagers.
At least six more adults are needed. The cave does have some tight
squeezes. If interested in participating, contact Kirsten Alvey at
338-8670.
KIRBY CAVE TRIP
April 3, 9 a..m. meet at Midway Truck stop near Midway exit (I-70 exit 121).
Turn right into 1st convenience station.
CAVE REPORTS
ENNIS CAVE: Ernie, Mike, Rita, Brent, Steve went to Ennis Cave
near Mt. View Arkansas on February 27. Part of what makes this cave interesting
is that rather than being located in a bluffside, it is located in a valley.
Access is through a 45' climb down a ladder in a culvert pipe. The
cave contains about four or so miles of mapped passage. The group spent
five hours in the cave and saw about 1/3 of it, including a waterfall (actual
flowing water, and not a calcite formation) and some big breakdown as well as
places with survey ribbon that helped one from getting turned around.
They found pieces of iron wedged in the mud perhaps for candles.
The also has gypsum deposits. It was featured in a 1964 National
Geographic article. Ernie Bhend shared some pictures of Ennis Cave.
The manager of the cave, Tim McClain, lives in a log cabin near the cave, about
2.5 miles from nearest landowner. He has no phone or e-mail. Access
to the property is gated. Tim knows this cave both from the inside as
well as from above ground. He led the group on a 4.5 mile hike (above
ground) and also showed them Spring Cave (didn't go in) and Dripping Spring
Cave. He has made this cave a personal project and has spent much of the
last 20 years digging out walking-size passage using wheelbarrows and buckets
to move the dirt. He found one room with "Alien"-like
formations. A Memorial Day weekend camping event is planned.
Contact: ______________
BRANSON CAVE
Jim Huckins reported on a trip to Branson Cave.
It is managed by MDC near Alley Springs and would be wheelchair
accessible if you could get there. Lost of bats, some nice formations.
It's about 1500 feet long, average 30-40 feet wide, 10-30 feet high. It
would be possible to go further, but you'd have to damage the cave to do it.
ONONDAGA CAVE
Amber has been doing restoration work with Ben
Miller in Onondaga Cave.
CARROLL CAVE
During the 1st week of January Amber helped survey
in Carroll Cave.
RUBY DO (?) Amber helped survey in Ruby Do in the back of the cave.
Mike dug 100 feet and broke into passage after pit in very back of cave.
It was one of the hottest caves Amber has ever been in.
STONE COUNTY CAVES
Last January Amber went cave hunting in Stone
County. She will continue to do so and will post dates on Coollist.
OTHER BUSINESS
ARTICLES
Jo Schaper reported that the February issue of the
MDC Magazine Missouri Conservationist featured an article written by Jo
titled "Peek at the Creek"
Joe Dom had an article published in NSS
News.
The Journal of Caves and Karst Studies
also carried abstracts of Jo's thesis and an article by Joe Dom.
SCOUTS & NSS AGREEMENT
Boy Scouts of America has a national agreement with NSS that address liability
issues, caving rules/guidelines. When we lead cave trips for scout
groups, we need to abide by those guidelines in order to be covered under
liability policies. Part of that policy says that except for tour caves,
only Explorer Level can go caving.
Some Girl Scouts have a similar agreement, but not on the national level.
It is up to each district level.
Bill Elliott is putting together and educational cache for schools that
includes information on cave etiquette and cave biology.
HUNTER'S CAVE GATE
Kirsten will ask Bill Elliott again about the
possibility of MDC helping to fund a repair of the Hunter's Cave gate before
the spring rush. It doesn't look any worse than it did in January, but it
is definitely in need of repair.
CONGRATULATIONS
Marck congratulated Amber for starting to draft her
own maps. A welcome back was extended to Jeff Roberts and his wife.
MEETING ADJOURNED: (After several attempts) at 8:05 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Kathryn Devany DiFoxfire, 4/6/04
Kathryn Devany DiFoxfire
Interpretive Resource Technician
Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
5901 S Hwy 163, Columbia, MO 65203
Tel: 573-449-7402 Fax: 573-442-2249
E-mail: rock.bridge.memorial.state.park@dnr.mo.gov
Website: www.mostateparks.com
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