Cave Conservancy of the Virginias

09/22/2026

CCV Board Member Katarina Kosic Ficco presents at at a scientific conference entitled Explore, Understand and Protect: Towards Sustainable Management of Caves and Karst, held by the Slovenia Karst Research Institute in honor of the first International Day of Caves and Karst.

Late last year, UNESCO designated 13th September as the International Day of Caves and Karst. From 9/10-9/13 Katarina Kosič Ficco attended and presented about the Virginia Natural Heritage Karst program and its approach to karst management at a scientific conference entitled Explore, Understand and Protect: Towards Sustainable Management of Caves and Karst, held by the Slovenia Karst Research Institute in honor of the first International Day of Caves and Karst. This was the only presentation about a state or national karst program, outlining how through scientific approaches and data management DNH helps landowners manage Virginia's caves and karst. The presentation emphasized the rich biodiversity of subterranean Virginia and how its documentation fits into the NatureServe framework. The nearly three hundred conference participants included renowned scientists from around the world who have authored some of the most important karst-related studies, including the President of the International Union of Speleology and UNESCO leaders. Katarina was honored to present the DCR-DNH karst program as a success story at such a distinguished event that represents a milestone in cave and karst management.

07/28/2026

Dear friends and colleagues,

The Cave Conservancy of the Virginias (CCV) has a grants program to fund a variety of projects, including education and outreach endeavors, cave and sinkhole cleanups, purchase of significant properties for protection, original scientific or humanities research on cave and karst systems, among others. Projects should promote or facilitate conservation, management, knowledge or acquisition of cave and karst resources in Virginia and West Virginia.

The deadline for proposals to be considered at the fall CCV board meeting is August 15, 2026.

Project leaders must submit their proposal through an appropriate organization (see proposal guidelines) as grants are not made to individuals. Please carefully review the grant proposal guidelines, available on the CCV website, before preparing your proposal:

https://caveconservancyofvirginia.org/grant-proposal-guidelines/

Please distribute this posting widely...thank you!

Grant Proposal Guidelines Click here for the “Small Grant Program” (Up to $1500). Download the PDF of the Grant Proposal Guidelines The Cave Conservancy of the Virginias (CCV) funds a variety of projects, including education and outreach endeavors, cave and sinkhole cleanups, purchase of signifi...

06/25/2026

An amazing week of cave and karst education!

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.