Chouteau Grotto Minutes from
May 5,
2004
Present:
President: Marck Schneider
Vice–President: Eugene Vale
Treasurer: Kevin Feldz
Secretary: Kathryn Devany DiFoxfire
Members: 6
CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order at
7:15 p.m
REPORTS:
SECRETARY'S REPORT
March minutes were posted on coollist same
morning.
No changes made.
TREASURER"S REPORT
April's balance was $1307.90
May balance is $1100.87 which includes
purchase of
5 new lights.
MSS LIASON REPORT:
Next meeting: May 15 in Rolla in a
new
location because building is being restored.
FORESIGHT REPORT:
Kirsten Alvey volunteered to be the new
Foresight
Editor as long as people promise to send articles to her so that it
does not
become the Kirsten and Steve journal. If you have pictures, it
would be
helpful to have them sent on CD or e-mail as Kirsten does not own a
scanner.
PDF files are okay.
To keep costs low, the newsletter could be
send by
e-mail, with some hard copies printed and brought to meetings so that
those
without e-mail still have access. The newsletter would be free to
members. There was discussion that non-members and organizations
such as
libraries should pay a fee to offset the cost of printing. No
decision
was made on possible costs/fees.
The newsletter should also be sent to NSS
and be
posted on website 3x a year with e-mail notices sent out to those on
the
Foresight contact list to let people know that the latest edition has
been
posted. Back copies should be available at
the
Missouri State Historical Society library located within Ellis Library.
First issue will have an August 1
deadline for
submission and a target date of Sept 1 for publication.
To be placed on the e-mail list to receive
copies
of the Foresight, send the following information to Kat at rock.bridge.memorial.state.park@dnr.mo.gov
and she will compile it into a database and submit it to Kirsten:
First
and last name, address(es), phone number(s), primary e-mail
address(es).
Please indicate whether the information being submitted is a
work, home,
mobile or other address/phone/e-mail.
QUARTERMASTER'S REPORT:
Purchased
5
Mountain Green brand lights from Cabela's. These lights have both
an 8
LED setting and a 4-LED setting. At $24.95 each plus tax they
totaled
$134. These lights are not extremely high-tech and do weigh more
than
some but are good loaner lights. They require 4 AA batteries.
OLD BUSINESS
STREAM TEAM: Contact alsgw7@mizzou.edu
if you'd like to help with stream team activities. Amber is
working as a
seasonal naturalist at Onondaga Cave State Park this summer so would
only be
available a limited number of days.
NEW BUSINESS
BAD AIR: There was discussion about an article about 5
kids near
St. Paul, MN who suffered from a bad air incident. Apparently
they had
built a campfire in an old mine; two lived, 3 dies. The old mine
had too
many entrances to make it feasible to seal off and it has been used
frequently
as a party site.
Further discussion occurred about caves in
Perry
County known to have bad air. These tend to be pits in which
organic
matter gathers and decomposes at the bottom of pits releasing CO2 which
is
trapped at the bottom of the pit. Air levels sometimes vary also
from
season to season. In Perry Co, methane by-products from the
landfill have
been noted as leaking up into the basements of some houses.
SALES: Lowe's is selling helmets for extremely low prices.
As the new season's stock is moving in, they are clearancing
sportswear.
These helmets are designed for rollerblading but would make good
cave
helmets. Inner Mountain Outfitters is selling some bike-style
neoprene
skin and elbow guards at clearance prices. WAL-Mart has shortie
wet suits
on sale.
BONNE FEMME WATERSHED PROJECT: The Bonne Femme Watershed
Project
approached Kirsten to see if she would be interested in being a member
of their
stakeholder committee and represent the Grotto's interest at meetings.
While
the Project has been sending out feelers to possible interested
parties, the
invitation does not guarantee a place on the committee. It was
moved,
seconded and passed that if the Project wanted a representative from
the
Grotto, it would be okay for Kirsten to accept that position.
PHILLIPS TRACT:
Discussion occurred about the Phillips
tract.
Currently, it is under county jurisdiction. The city is
planing to
annex it which means people need to be aware of planning and zoning
meetings
and show up to voice their opinion about future land use. We have
the
ability to monitor water quality and now is the time to take water
measurements
before development starts.
MORE CAVING WITH KIRSTEN: Kirsten is methodically working
through
a list of caves in Pulaski County (finding, photographing, mapping,
etc), so if
you have time and want to go caving, she could use some help,
especially if you
have rappelling equipment. Call her at 573-634-8670 (home),
573-338-8670
(cell). She will be free most of the summer so even if all you
have is a
day or two, call her if you want to go caving.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Speleofest 2004 May 28-31, Camp Carlson, Fort Knox-Meade County,
Kentucky
MCKC Annual Meeting and BBQ, June 12, Lane Spring USFS
Campground, Rolla
NSS Convention, July 12-16 Marquette, Michigan, on the
shores of
Lake Superior. Website www.nss2004.com
for more info. Jo and Eugene may go. Kirsten would like to
go as
part of a caravan. Anyone else interested?
Oct 29, 30, 31: Lake Ozark Grotto is hosting a haunted
cave trip
at Bridal Cave. This will be a LOG fundraiser. Live people
will be
jumping out of nooks and crannies. Fee to be determined.
CAVE REPORTS
CAVE REPORT REMINDER: We should be writing cave reports
and
submitting them to the appropriate journals.
MVOR: Pony Express Grotto and Mike and some other folks
went to
check out a cave on Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) property
about 15
miles from the event location only to find it recently gated and
locked.
They had to drive back to the registration desk to obtain a key.
They checked out 5 caves the next day. Caves 1, 2, 3, 4 had
some
bats, maybe bachelor colonies of grays. Party Friday night
featured
hotdogs, 40 gallon cauldron of excellent chili, salads, even fresh
asparagus.
No bids were taken by a grotto to host the Fall MVOR. Part of the
difficulty is that not only is there so much responsibility, there is
also the
pressure to be better than the last one and outdo and out-show everyone
else.
For example, recent MVOR's for example have featured fireworks
and live
music. We don't have a strong enough membership to host an MVOR
but
perhaps we would be able to co-sponsor one if enough folks were
interested.
Sieb Cave, Pulaski County: Rita Worden and Kirsten
rappelled a
35'-40' shaft to the bottom and found a system with an active waterfall
½ down
the shaft.
Sieb Cave seems to keep going and going. It features 3 active
streams and
7 springs that flow in looping and meandering, 2 levels, chert bridges,
cool
formations, mud cracks with showerhead formation, collapsed domes which
they
didn't explore because there were easier passages to check out; land
owner
wants map of both caves on the property. They are a block or so
apart and
may connect.
New Caves: Scott House reported back to Kirsten that seven
(and
possibly up to 13) of the caves she recorded GPS readings for are not
listed.
Kirsten has named them as follows
Parson,
Hideway,
Ferris Bluff Caves 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Romer 1, 2, 3
Dance Hall
Bat Crevice Cave
and 5 Candle Cave
Spanish Treasure Cave, Ark: Ernie Bhend and company (Jeff, Marck,
Maddie)
tried to visit Spanish Treasure Cave but entry was prevented due to
flooding.
Eugene Vale says whenever he's visited that cave it has always
been dry
and dusty. They did go check out Bluffdweller's Cave. Water
was
streaming out ceiling; cave had reddish stone and was quite pretty.
OTHER BUSINESS
MSS: Death of MSS-member Ken Thompson last month has put the
status of
some MSS files at risk. The main files are at Rolla.
Discussion
occurred about locations of central cave files thorough Missouri.
MEETING ADJOURNED: at 8:15 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Kathryn Devany DiFoxfire, 5/31/04
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