Cave Conservancy of the Virginias

05/12/2026

Celebrating Twilight Day !

04/30/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18J5ajJKrg/

with the Karst Waters Institute.

This exceptional photo by Ryan Mauer shows a caver in an extremely clean cave suit pondering the origin of the West Lake in Madisons Saltpetre Cave, Virginia. This is an excellent example of an epiphreatic cave lake, where the local water table is exposed in a descending cave passage. The surfaces of the lakes in Madisons Saltpetre Cave are covered with calcite rafts, the result of calcite deposition from oversaturated alkaline waters rising from the aquifer below, and carbon dioxide levels in the air near these lakes can rise as high as 2-3%. Fifty years ago, John Holsinger and Tom Barr discovered swimming in these lakes the Madison Cave isopod (Antrolana lira), probably the most unusual stygobiont in the Appalachian region, most closely related to marine cirolanid isopods. Under the exceptional stewardship of private owners until 2020, Madisons Saltpetre Cave is now owned by the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias Cave Conservancy of the Virginias and managed jointly with the Virginia DCR Natural Heritage Program as part of a Natural Area Preserve.

03/04/2026

Cave Bio Blitz in South-West Virginia

By: Penelope Vorster, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Natural Heritage

From January 10th to 18th, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation -Natural Heritage’s Karst program conducted a cave-focused BioBlitz in southwest Virginia with volunteers from the Virginia Speleological Survey (VSS), the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias (CCV), Friends of the Cedars, and local caving organizations, including the VPI Cave Club and Walker Mountain Grotto. This collaborative effort supported a wide range of activities, including cave surveys, bio collections, photography, cave entrance cleanup, landowner service projects, landowner communication and education, and data preparation.

A primary goal of the event was to pair seasoned cave explorers and karst scientists with new, enthusiastic cavers to mentor them in biological inventory methods and cave exploration. Over the course of the week, 40 participants – including 16 mentee explorers – surveyed 20 caves across South West Virginia. The group contributed over 2.5 miles of mapped cave passage to the VSS database, documented several new bat EOs, updated bat records at additional sites. Subterranean fauna inventories were conducted in caves throughout the region, with some sites surveyed for the first time.

02/22/2026

Donations are appreciated! We love bats and our wonderful rehabbers!

This winter has been very hard on our native bats. They are turning up all over, and they are skinny. We've had to double our mealworm orders for all three facilities to feed these hungry wanderers. If you can help, thank you!

02/21/2026

with the Karst Waters Institute.

This exceptional photo by Ryan Mauer shows a caver in an extremely clean cave suit pondering the origin of the West Lake in Madisons Saltpetre Cave, Virginia. This is an excellent example of an epiphreatic cave lake, where the local water table is exposed in a descending cave passage. The surfaces of the lakes in Madisons Saltpetre Cave are covered with calcite rafts, the result of calcite deposition from oversaturated alkaline waters rising from the aquifer below, and carbon dioxide levels in the air near these lakes can rise as high as 2-3%. Fifty years ago, John Holsinger and Tom Barr discovered swimming in these lakes the Madison Cave isopod (Antrolana lira), probably the most unusual stygobiont in the Appalachian region, most closely related to marine cirolanid isopods. Under the exceptional stewardship of private owners until 2020, Madisons Saltpetre Cave is now owned by the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias Cave Conservancy of the Virginias and managed jointly with the Virginia DCR Natural Heritage Program as part of a Natural Area Preserve.

02/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1C8N5Aywk7/

10/10/2025

Spread the word on an exciting education event! CCV is glad to support this activity!

04/06/2025

Major funding for the preparation of this manuscript was provided by a grant from the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias

The Commonwealth of Virginia has the most diverse array of aquatic isopods living in groundwater-related habitats of any state in the United States. In a new scientific publication that is now available as a free PDF download, VMNH Research Associate Dr. J.J. Lewis and colleagues describe six species of asellid isopods new to science and provide additional records for other asellids inhabiting the groundwater habitats of Virginia.

www.vmnh.net/content/vmnh/uploads/PDFs/research_and_collections/jeffersoniana/jeffersoniana_number_31.pdf

03/15/2025

03/07/2025

Way to go Abby and Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia, an organization that does valuable bat conservation work. CCV is proud to have donated to its internship program!

First Record of Cyclopia in a Newborn Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis)