Cave Conservancies

A cave conservancy is a specialized land trust that primarily manages caves or karst features in the United States. Organizations that serve as cave management consultants to cave owners are usually considered cave conservancies. Almost all cave conservancies are non-profit organizations, but their management methodologies may be diverse. Cave conservancies often provide other services such as being advocates for responsible cave ownership and management, promoting the protection of caves, and advancing research to enhance and discover the values of caves.

Historically, caves have been managed many different ways, from benign neglect to commercialization or other forms of exploitation with widely varying results. Some people saw commercial potential in caves and the development and profit provided the incentive for ownership and a form of conservation. The 19th century public interest in caves as natural curiosities may have led to the increased public awareness of their intrinsic value. This recognition played a part in some significant caves becoming protected through their inclusion in the US national park system. This became the first public attempt at managing and conserving caves in North America. Prior to 1968, there were no known non-profit cave conservancies. There have been some instances of individuals or families buying caves for access and conservation.

The Butler Cave Conservation Society (BCCS) established in 1968 was the first true cave conservancy. The National Speleological Society (NSS), when founded, was not intended to be a cave conservancy; however, over its more than sixty years of existence, it has acquired twelve cave properties, eleven by ownership, which it refers to as nature preserves. While it is probably not a cave conservancy according to the above definition, it is close enough to be considered a cave conservancy by some people. McFails, the first NSS Preserve, was donated to the NSS in 1967. Other land trusts, such as the Nature Conservancy also own caves. These organizations, as mentioned above, are generally not considered cave conservancies, as the management of caves and other karst features are an incidental part of the purpose of the organization.

Many Virginia cavers were among the founders of the National Speleological Society. The same pattern was true as Virginia and northeast area cavers were in the forefront of the founding of the first four cave conservancies. This pattern continued for fifteen years after the founding of BCCS with the addition of three conservancies: the Appalachian Cave Conservancy (ACC), formerly the Perkins Cave Conservation and Management Society (PerCCAMS), 1977; Northeastern Cave Conservancy (NCC), 1978; and Cave Conservancy of the Virginias, 1980. CCV was founded with the intent of being a cave owning conservancy; however, leadership changes in its early history brought people with a different priority. Only recently has CCV come back to its original conservancy mission with the purchase of a significant cave property.

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