KWI Conduit |
The Fall KWI Board of Directors meeting occurred in two parts. On Saturday, October 5th the Board met with Marijean Hall, of MJH Associates, to discuss the KWI and its future. The goal was to determine the best method of moving forward with the KWI, to assess where the KWI was, and where it was going. From that start, the KWI can begin to examine fund-raising strategies to move the organization up to the next level of operation. The assessment and planning took the entire day. The end result will be internal material, called a "case document," to help guide the KWI for the future.
The regular Board business of the KWI was conducted on Sunday, October 6th. The various officers and committee chairs made their reports. The Research Committee reported on a number of topics, including the Karst Hydrology Atlas of West Virginia, which is in draft form. The Atlas will be printed as soon as we obtain an acceptable bid. The NSF-EPA proposal is still in review. Other minor projects were also discussed. The Communications Committee received the final report for the Norway Conference, and the upcoming February "Conservation and Protection of the Biota of Karst" Conference in Nashville was discussed. The "Sixth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst", coming up in April, has used the KWI website to place a homepage for the meeting, which has resulted in good publicity for the KWI.
The Board considered a proposal to develop a "Carbonate Island Karst Research Fund" program, as a source of potential funding has been identified. This fund would give the KWI experience in the management and dispersal of research funds. The proposal was referred to a subcommittee to report at the Spring 1997 meeting. An update of the KWI brochure was discussed, with Dan Fong taking the lead on that project. Future KWI conferences also were discussed, with Ira Sasowsky presenting an idea for a "Sediments in Karst Systems" conference in 1998. Finally, the Board reviewed the results of the previous day's retreat with MJH Associates. The Board will next meet for its annual meeting in West Virginia in early March of 1997.
The KWI Board annual meeting began with reports by officers and committee chairs. The Research Committee reported excellent progress on the production of the Karst Hydrology Atlas of West Virginia, and discussions centered on the distribution of the product. The NSF-EPA multidisciplinary proposal was not funded, but the reviews were very positive and constructive, and a re-submission has been completed to the National Science Foundation.
The Carbonate Island Karst Research Fund proposal was dropped by the Board, as it felt that there were insufficient resources available to allow the KWI to become a grant-giving agency. The Communications Committee reported, and the Board agreed to sponsor a meeting for the Fall of 1998 on "Computer Models in Karst", to be organized by Bill Jones. The February "Conservation and Protection of the Biota of Karst" meeting in Nashville was a big success (see full report elsewhere in this issue). The Education Committee will develop and publicize an annual list of ten endangered karst biota, and also investigate earth science teacher karst instruction. Janet Thorne, Coordinator of the National Cave Management Steering Committee, and Trustee of the National Speleological Foundation, met with the Board to discuss possible interactions with the KWI. The KWI will apply for representation on the National Cave Management Steering Committee.
As an outgrowth of the retreat at the Fall Board meeting, the KWI underwent some changes. Randy Judd will chair a sub-committee that will produce, for Board approval, the case document for the KWI.
The Committee Chairs for Research (White), Education (Culver), and Communication (Sasowsky) were elevated to Vice President Status. The Board created the honorific "Board Member Emeritus", to be elected by the Board. The title of "Associate of the Institute" was created for participants of KWI projects. The KWI bylaws will be amended to create staggered, three year terms for Board members (Directors). In the interim, the Board re-elected the current Directors, with the exception of Art Palmer and Janet Herman, who had asked to be allowed to step down in order to create space on the Board for new blood. For officers, the three new Vice Presidents mentioned above were elected. Tom Kane returned as President, Bill Jones as Executive Vice President, and Rane Curl as Secretary. Dan Fong became the new Treasurer. The next meeting of the KWI will be hosted by Randy Judd in Birmingham, MI in October of 1997.
For information on ordering KWI publications, please visit our publications homepage.
The following three days contained sessions on Biodiversity in Karst, Demography and Genetics of Karst Biota, Sampling Subterranean Fauna, Biodiversity Hotspots in Karstlands, and Karstlands Protection. Further Keynote Addresses were given by Fred W. Allendorf on "Demographic and Genetic Issues with Small, Fragmented Populations", and Janine Gibert on "The Importance of Ecotones in Karstlands". Stuart Pimm closed the conference with a talk on "Conference Summary and Future Directions", which put the entire event into perspective. Thomas E. Hemmerly lead a field trip to Tennessee Cedar Glades, and Thomas L. Poulson followed with a field trip to Mammoth Cave National Park, to show, respectively, examples of surface and subsurface karst biota and environments. The American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA) helped highlight the Mammoth Cave Field trip with a wine and cheese social at their museum and headquarters in Horse Cave, Kentucky.
As with past KWI conferences, the goal was to bring together people with diverse backgrounds in karst and related fields, so that cross-fertilization of ideas could occur. The informal, relaxed atmosphere of the meeting, and the diversity of presentations helped to accomplish that goal. Rick Olson, in a guest editorial in this issue, offers some insight on how we might be able to obtain large-scale protection of our karst resources and the biota they contain. The KWI has collected 29 of the extended abstracts from the presentations, as well as an abstract of the Mammoth Cave field trip, into a volume called KWI Special Publication 3, Conservation and Protection of the Biota of Karst. The table of contents of that volume is available online, along with ordering infomation.
Before memories of our Conservation and Protection of the Biota of Karst meeting in Nashville fade, I would like to revisit one piece of advice offered to us by Dr. Stuart Pimm who delivered the concluding keynote address titled "Conference Summary and Future Directions." That advice was to express the value of environmental services provided by ecosystem functions in economic terms. This I believe is excellent advice for two reasons: 1) everyone understands what money is, and 2) we currently lack direct means of instilling sufficient appreciation of karstic biota to insure their conservation. How much is an uncontaminated water supply worth? Even with retention and treatment systems to mitigate impacts, our runoff and effluents are not generally what we would consider to be potable waters. What is the monetary value of an aquatic ecosystem capable of converting our low-quality "tailwaters" into a high-quality resource? Water is a commodity, and it is easy enough to apply a unit price to a discharge rate. Likewise, tertiary treatment facilities of specified capacity can be purchased and operated with money. Money! the universal solution; the universal language. Why didn't we think of this before? Maybe someone has. If anyone has done or seen any calculations of the commodity value of karst water supplies or the "environmental services" value of ecosystems in karst landscapes, then I would surely appreciate receiving copies of them. One of the most significant aspects of this strategy is that we can employ it in the near term.
Will this "monetary value" strategy instill sufficient appreciation of ecosystems within karst landscapes to achieve our conservation goals over the long term? At this point, I think it will not because our current economic system does not value conservation of natural resources per se. If we exhaust one type of commodity such as copper, then we substitute aluminum or a superconducting ceramic. Similarly, if we exhaust the water purification utility of a natural aquatic ecosystem, then we simply substitute another system in its place. What's missing is recognition of the dependency of our socio-economic system upon ecosystems of which we are a part. In the spirit of the 1992 Clinton Campaign motto, this could be stated as: "The economy is a subset of the ecosystem stupid!" Because of this little-recognized relationship, I have argued that we should describe phases of economic development in ecological terms. This becomes most important as economic productivity increases to the point that unintended side effects lead toward ecological collapse. The major point here is that the productivity of natural economies, such as the Eastern Deciduous Forest, stabilizes in the successional stage called "Climax" which is a fairly stable and sustainable condition. Therefore, a stable and ecologically sustainable economy will be a "Climax Economy." In such an economic scenario, it would be clear that we cannot afford to replicate or replace something like our river or forest ecosystems. Without such an economic scenario, we might severely damage or destroy our supporting ecosystems before our society realized its mistake.
So what should the Karst Waters Institute do? I think we should add at least two prongs to our conservation strategy:
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For more information: Dr David Culver Department of Biology American University E-mail dculver@american.edu |
Mail applications to: Cave Conservancy Foundation Attn. Graduate Fellowship Program 5300 W Marshall Street Richmond, VA 28230 |
The KWI Conduit is the official publication of the Karst Waters Institute (KWI), P. O. Box 490, Charles Town, WV 25414 USA (304) 725-1121. The KWI Conduit is published twice a year. The KWI was established to improve fundamental understanding and increase knowledge of karst water systems for more efficient management of water resources and to assist in the education of professionals and the public. Subscription is $10 annually. Send payments to the Managing Editor. The KWI Conduit is available on the Karst Waters Institute's home page at: http://karstwaters.org/kwiconduit.htm
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| Dr. John E. Mylroie Department of Geosciences P.O. Box 5448 Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 39762 USA |
Phone: (601) 325 8774 Fax: (601) 325 2907 Email: Mylroie@Geosci.MsState.edu |
For information on ordering KWI publications, please visit our publications homepage.
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