SPRING CAVE, THEN AND NOW: EVALUATING VISITOR USE AND MANAGEMENT AT SPRING CAVE, WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST, CO, THROUGH A HISTORIC FRAMEWORK

After the decommissioning of the Butterfly and Burrel uranium mines in 2012 reduced bat habitat in in the White River National Forest of Western Colorado, focus turned to nearby Spring Cave as a possible site of compensatory protection. Management at Spring Cave, the third largest in Colorado, has historically centered on protecting its colony from the spread of White Nose Syndrome (WNS). Since the Butterfly and Burrel closures, the Forest Service has implemented three new measures: a permit registration system (2013), the creation of a GeoCorps outreach and interpretation internship (2013), and the installation of a bat gate (2016) locked August-April to restrict visitation during winter hibernation. Within a framework of evolving land management needs, GeoCorps interns serve as the seasonal interface between the public and the US Forest Service by guiding cave tours and educating visitors on karst resources and bat conservation practices. Moreover, since the inception of the position interns have sustained an archive of articles, maps, and surveys which provide a baseline for monitoring cave usage. Here, we summarize the history of Spring Cave’s management, beginning with exploration as early as the 1920s, cave diving surveys through the 1970s-1990s, and visitor use directives in the mid-2000s to present. Informed by the 1988 Federal Cave Resource Protection Act, we assess the effectiveness of these directives for reducing human impact and promoting the health of the cave’s significant biological and geological resources. Using visitation figures, bat monitoring surveys, and personal communication with visitors and land managers, we consider how Spring Cave’s century-long legacy lives on today for outdoor recreationists, the White River community, and cave scientists.