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10th Anniversary
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| Worried: Caverns co-discoverer Gary Tenen hopes to shine a light on what could happen to Kartchner Caverns. (Dave Brown/photo.) |
Budget shortfall impacts Benson's Kartchner Caverns
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Celebrating Kartchner Caverns State Park's 10th anniversary this weekend was bittersweet for some of those close to the natural treasure, as worries about its future were obvious during press day on Friday.
As the state continues to tackle a $3.4 billion deficit, many programs and entities are being cut, including state parks. Kartchner, which was sold to the state in an effort to protect it in the 1990s, is one of the parks taking a hit.
Ellen Bilbrey, spokeswoman for the state park, said they are currently operating with a 40 percent reduction in staff, and $8 million less a year after cuts to the general fund were made.
Bilbrey noted that annually Kartchner brings the state about $50 million in revenues.
That means the park relies solely on what little staff they currently have, and on volunteers. Bilbrey said they are always looking for volunteers as increased tours in the winter require a lot more staff, but they need them during the summer as well.
Ginger Nolan, cave supervisor, said they have more than 120 volunteers throughout the winter with a lot of snowbirds donating time, but there is a need for volunteers in the summer months.
While staffing and volunteers are a concern, the underlying worry for most at the cave, including cave discoverer Gary Tenen, is will the natural treasure be protected despite these budget cuts?
Tenen, who discovered the cave along with partner Randy Tufts in 1974, talked passionately about one of the world's only live caves. He said they knew they had found something special and were able to keep it a secret for several decades.
"When we discovered this, life changed, and we knew we had to take care of this resource," Tenen said. "The initial plan was secrecy, but we knew that couldn't last forever, because if we had discovered it, someone else would."
Tenen said he and Tufts, who died last year, knew that for the safety of the cave, turning it into a tour cave was the best option, noting that this way it would be under state control and not private ownership.
With the state's talking about cutting costs at the cave, one of the options being considered is to hire a contractor to monitor and take care of it.
Currently, a team staffed by the state, has been assembled over the years to take care of it.
Robert Casavant, a research and science manager for Arizona State Parks, said right now they have rain gauges established to see how much rainfall is seeping into the caves each year, and because the goal is not to disturb the cave's growth, they will eventually move to virtual monitoring to keep track of everything inside the natural wonder.
"That will reduce the human impact on the cave even more," he said. "Kartchner serves as the prime example to the development of other caves. All this is possible because Kartchner has the in-house development team."
By contracting out, Casavant stressed that the state may contract with a company for 10 years. That means those contractors are going to be worried about the cave for 10 years, instead of the infinite future.
"The reason Kartchner is still a benchmark is because the state took it in," Tenen said. "We have to look at what the threats are moving forward, and not how well we've done in the last 35 years. That's where the public must step in. Right now the park is beautifully managed by the state."
Dr. Rick Toomey was also on hand for the weekend's celebrations. Toomey assisted the development team in the 1990s as Kartchner was being turned into a tour cave for the world to see.
Toomey, now working at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, said he has taken a lot of what scientists learned in developing Kartchner Caverns to protecting other caves throughout the U.S.
From Kartchner's lighting to the air-lock doors, Toomey said all of it has played a role in developing other caves, and the cave on State Route 90 in Benson must continue to be protected.
"A concessionary would only want to ring in the short-term profits," Toomey said. "That would not be good for the long-term health of the cave. Right now the state is acting as the steward as well as the manager."
With money a big concern, the group of scientists also discussed how the Arizona desert has impacted the cave's health over the years. Nolan said they had a total of seven inches of rain this monsoon season; last year there was over a foot.
Casavant said for Kartchner to grow, it needs plenty of food, which is water and other resources, such as the bat guano from the Mexican bats that fly in every spring to turn the cave's Rotunda Room into a maternity ward.
With less rain this year, Nolan said there were a large number of bats coming in during the spring, but over the summer they left sooner than usual due to a lack of rain. Casavant explained that with less rain, there was less food for the bats.
While pre-cave development studies showed there was plenty of rainfall, Nolan said the drought that has spanned more than 10 years definitely plays a part in the cave's growth.
Casavant said there needs to be a good span of wet monsoon seasons to get a true measure of how humans and the Arizona desert have impacted the cave.
Nonetheless, despite worries about the cave's future, the celebration went on Saturday with state representatives, Benson Mayor Mark Fenn, and those affiliated with the cave's early discovery on hand for the special event.
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Celebrating Kartchner Caverns State Park's 10th anniversary this weekend was bittersweet for some of those close to the natural treasure, as worries about its future were obvious during press day on Friday.
As the state continues to tackle a $3.4 billion deficit, many programs and entities are being cut, including state parks. Kartchner, which was sold to the state in an effort to protect it in the 1990s, is one of the parks taking a hit.
Ellen Bilbrey, spokeswoman for the state park, said they are currently operating with a 40 percent reduction in staff, and $8 million less a year after cuts to the general fund were made.
Bilbrey noted that annually Kartchner brings the state about $50 million in revenues.
That means the park relies solely on what little staff they currently have, and on volunteers. Bilbrey said they are always looking for volunteers as increased tours in the winter require a lot more staff, but they need them during the summer as well.
Ginger Nolan, cave supervisor, said they have more than 120 volunteers throughout the winter with a lot of snowbirds donating time, but there is a need for volunteers in the summer months.
While staffing and volunteers are a concern, the underlying worry for most at the cave, including cave discoverer Gary Tenen, is will the natural treasure be protected despite these budget cuts?
Tenen, who discovered the cave along with partner Randy Tufts in 1974, talked passionately about one of the world's only live caves. He said they knew they had found something special and were able to keep it a secret for several decades.
"When we discovered this, life changed, and we knew we had to take care of this resource," Tenen said. "The initial plan was secrecy, but we knew that couldn't last forever, because if we had discovered it, someone else would."
Tenen said he and Tufts, who died last year, knew that for the safety of the cave, turning it into a tour cave was the best option, noting that this way it would be under state control and not private ownership.
With the state's talking about cutting costs at the cave, one of the options being considered is to hire a contractor to monitor and take care of it.
Currently, a team staffed by the state, has been assembled over the years to take care of it.
Robert Casavant, a research and science manager for Arizona State Parks, said right now they have rain gauges established to see how much rainfall is seeping into the caves each year, and because the goal is not to disturb the cave's growth, they will eventually move to virtual monitoring to keep track of everything inside the natural wonder.
"That will reduce the human impact on the cave even more," he said. "Kartchner serves as the prime example to the development of other caves. All this is possible because Kartchner has the in-house development team."
By contracting out, Casavant stressed that the state may contract with a company for 10 years. That means those contractors are going to be worried about the cave for 10 years, instead of the infinite future.
"The reason Kartchner is still a benchmark is because the state took it in," Tenen said. "We have to look at what the threats are moving forward, and not how well we've done in the last 35 years. That's where the public must step in. Right now the park is beautifully managed by the state."
Dr. Rick Toomey was also on hand for the weekend's celebrations. Toomey assisted the development team in the 1990s as Kartchner was being turned into a tour cave for the world to see.
Toomey, now working at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, said he has taken a lot of what scientists learned in developing Kartchner Caverns to protecting other caves throughout the U.S.
From Kartchner's lighting to the air-lock doors, Toomey said all of it has played a role in developing other caves, and the cave on State Route 90 in Benson must continue to be protected.
"A concessionary would only want to ring in the short-term profits," Toomey said. "That would not be good for the long-term health of the cave. Right now the state is acting as the steward as well as the manager."
With money a big concern, the group of scientists also discussed how the Arizona desert has impacted the cave's health over the years. Nolan said they had a total of seven inches of rain this monsoon season; last year there was over a foot.
Casavant said for Kartchner to grow, it needs plenty of food, which is water and other resources, such as the bat guano from the Mexican bats that fly in every spring to turn the cave's Rotunda Room into a maternity ward.
With less rain this year, Nolan said there were a large number of bats coming in during the spring, but over the summer they left sooner than usual due to a lack of rain. Casavant explained that with less rain, there was less food for the bats.
While pre-cave development studies showed there was plenty of rainfall, Nolan said the drought that has spanned more than 10 years definitely plays a part in the cave's growth.
Casavant said there needs to be a good span of wet monsoon seasons to get a true measure of how humans and the Arizona desert have impacted the cave.
Nonetheless, despite worries about the cave's future, the celebration went on Saturday with state representatives, Benson Mayor Mark Fenn, and those affiliated with the cave's early discovery on hand for the special event.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bensonnews-sun.com.
Kristalyn Sullivan wrote on Nov 17, 2009 4:45 PM:
I should point out though, that Randy Tufts passed in 2002 not last year, and the bats are not mexican bats, they are the Miotis Velifer type of bat.
Minor details in comparision to the potential effect that the budget crisis could posed to the cave! Lets hope and pray that things look up for ASP!
signed a concerned Kartchner Caverns Seasonal Park Ranger!
Kristalyn Sullivan "