Kennedy, Jim  Crash

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Program and Abstracts—21st National Cave and Karst Management Symposium  86  A modern gate for Ezells Cave Jim “Crash” Kennedy Kennedy Above/Under Ground LLC 304 West Mockingbird Lane Austin, TX   78745-3121 512-663-2287 Abstract Ezells Cave is one of the most biologically diverse caves in Texas, yet has had a tragic history of mis-management.  Early attempts at protection excluded the bat colony which provided important nutrient input to the cave’s ecosystem.  In March of 2015, a new bat-friendly gate was finally installed with the help of many volunteers and donors.    History      Ezells Cave (Figure 1), in San Marcos (Hays County), Texas, has a long and color-ful history.  It was first discovered by land surveyor Greenberry B. Ezell around 1870, and purchased by him in 1893.  He operated it as a show cave for a short time, even building a small boat for touring the Lake Room. (TSS 2015)        The cave fosters a rich ecosystem, with 116 species recorded so far (TSS 2015).  Blind, cave-adapted salamanders, Eurycea rathbuni (Texas Blind Salamander) (Figure 2), have been noted in the cave almost from the beginning.  These salamanders are ne-otonous, and have been collected from only seven locations in the small Purgatory Creek basin, including Ezells Cave.  As such, they Figure 1. Map of Ezell’s Cave by Jean Krejca and Vickie Siegel Program and Abstracts—21st National Cave and Karst Management Symposium  87  are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species (Hammerson and Chippindale 2004).  The US Fish and Wild-life Service listed it as Endangered on 11 March 1967 (Udall 1967).        The rich biodiversity and rarity of the sal-amanders and other aquatic species initiated early conservation efforts.  It was visited by NSS President Charles Mohr  (a cave biolo-gist) (Figure 3) around 1948, who collected and photographed a blind salamander and wrote about his adventure in The Caves of Texas (Mohr 1948). In 1955, the Texas Her-petological Society (THS) purchased an easement from the then-landowner, Truman T. Saltonstall, to protect the salamanders. The THS then built a brick wall inside the entrance fissure to support a chain-link fence, believed to still allow bat entry while keep-ing out unauthorized humans.  Neither was true.  Vandals cut through the fencing almost weekly to enter the cave and collect salaman-ders.  This was eventually replaced with a 12”x12” steel bar grid gate, but this did little to deter vandals and the cave was essentially left unprotected. (TSS 2015)      The owner of nearby Wonder Cave (a show cave), T. J. Mostyn, bought the cave from Saltonstall in 1962, and covered the entrance with a solid steel plate. This alarmed biologists, who attempted to get The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to purchase the property.  However it was sold yet again as a house lot.  Eventually, on 27 September 1967, TNC was able to purchase the cave with the assistance of the Southwest Texas Grotto.  The solid “gate” was promptly re-moved, and illegal entry began anew.  TNC bought an adjacent property with a dilapi-dated house, renovated it, and installed a caretaker to keep an eye on the cave.  Bats had not yet recolonized the cave after the disastrous closure efforts, although two ex-periments in transplanting bats from nearby caves were attempted by Texas Tech Uni-versity in 1970. (TSS 2015)      In 1971 the National Park Service desig-nated Ezells Cave as a National Natural Landmark.  And in 2004, TNC transferred ownership to the Texas Cave Management Association (TCMA).  Sometime between the purchase by TNC and transfer to TCMA, a new gate was built, involving a solid con-crete platform and round tubular bars. Figure 2. Eurycea rathbuni  Credit:  Jean Figure 3.  Charles Mohr at Ezell’s Cave entrance                  Credit: unknown Program and Abstracts—21st National Cave and Karst Management Symposium  88  (Figure 3)  A chain-link fence was also in-stalled around the perimeter of the cave en-trance.  Water monitoring equipment was installed by the Edwards Aquifer Authority, which holds a conservation easement to the cave.  Vandalism attempts continued, and bats have not returned.  The Modern Era      Recognizing the biologically-unfriendly nature of the entrance gate, biologist (and TCMA Preserves Committee Chair) Jim Kennedy petitioned the TCMA to remove it and replace it with a bat-friendly cupola-style gate.  Cavers Ben Hutchins and Andy Gluesenkamp, both biologists working for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, helped secure a Landowner Incentive Pro-gram (LIP) grant to cover the cost of materi-als and tools.  TCMA solicited additional donations from cavers and other organiza-tions, and succeeded in raising a total of $15,853.  Donors all had their names weld-ed on the finished gate bars.  An 8’ x 12’ cupola-style gate was designed by Kennedy, (Figure 4)  and constructed on 8 and 15 March 2015 by 29 cavers.  There were 282.25 person/hours recorded during the construction, and another 63.2 hours for driving.  This resulted in a volunteer value of $9013.20.  The project was featured in the San Antonio Express-News, San Marcos Daily Record, and The University Star from nearby Texas State University in San Mar-cos. TCMA still has to remove the old concrete-and-round-bar gate, which will require jack-hammers, rock saws, and cooler weather than has been available since March.   Even with the effort, it is uncertain that the bats will recolonize the cave.  Surrounding habi-tat has altered, with houses appearing in for-mer ranchland.  But as the author asserts, it is a guarantee that bats would not return un-less the old gate was replaced.  And as a conservancy dedicated to protecting karst and promoting best management practices, TCMA’s preserves should be models of good management, not embarrassing fail-ures.  Only the future will tell if these recent efforts are successful.  Acknowledgements      Much of the history and biology of Ezells Cave was taken from the extensive files of the Texas Speleological Survey.  The regat-ing project was spearheaded by Ezells Pre-serve Manager Ron Ralph, who expertly herded the cats.  We also thank the donors and sponsors, particularly Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, John Schneider, Ed-Figure 3.  Concrete gate at Ezcell’s Cave                    Credit: Jim Kennedy Figure 4. Jim Kennedy measuring gate                 Credit: Logan McNatt Program and Abstracts—21st National Cave and Karst Management Symposium  89  wards Aquifer Authority, Michael Portman, Charles Goldsmith, Fritz Holt, Sam Wayne Young, John Brooks, Julie Jenkins, William K. Davis, Randy McNatt, Ned Fritz, Tom Florer, Aubrey Burnett, Owen Burnett, Mar-lie Hussing, Bexar Grotto (San Antonio), and the University of Texas Speleological Society (Austin).  Finally, thanks go out to TCMA for all the hard work and forward-thinking efforts on behalf of Texas karst.  References  Hammerson, G. and Chippindale, P. 2004. Texas blind salamander. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39262/0. Retrieved 16 September 2015.  Mohr, C. E.  1948.  Unique animals inhabit subterranean Texas.  National Speleolog-ical Society Bulletin 10:15-21,88.  Texas Speleological Survey database, ver-sion 6 July 2015.  Ezells Cave.  Accessed 16 September 2015.  Udall, S, L.  1967.  Office of the Secretary, Native Fish and Wildlife, Endangered 

A modern gate for Ezells Cave, Texas

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A modern gate for Ezells Cave, Texas

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