Revolutionary Hodag Party - Thinking Outside the Cave!

Revolutionary Hodag Party
Thinking Outside the Cave

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Troublemaker! - Official theme song of the RHP
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hodags@hodagrevolution.com
[Be Heard - Email the BOG]

Bill Putnam, NSS 21117 RL/FE, Lawrenceville, Georgia
Jay Clark, NSS 3896 RE/FE/CM, Birmingham, Alabama
Dean Wiseman, NSS 32690 RE, Indiana, Indiana
Bill Jackson, NSS 20163, Augusta, Georgia
John Hoffelt, NSS 20058, Nashville, Tennessee

"Our primary goal is to try to change the nature of the NSS leadership
to make it more professional, more appropriate to the core mission and purposes of the Society,
and more responsive to the membership."

The 2011 NSS Directors Election is in progress. Last day to mail your ballot is May 15!

The RHP has two candidates on the ballot this year: Bill Jackson and John Hoffelt. In addition, we have endorsed candidates Randy Paylor, Ron Kerbo, Peri Frantz, and Dave Haun.Candidate Mark Joop has been an outspoken critic and opponent of the RHP and its positions.

We should direct our efforts toward promoting the study and science of speleology, supporting the protection of caves and cave life, and promoting fellowship and community among all members of the caving community at large. We do not have to conduct science, buy caves, or throw wild caver parties to do these things. We can produce publications, create and give scholarships, make grants, raise awareness, conduct outreach, create educational programs, sponsor conferences, conventions, and expeditions, and do many other things that no other organization in North America is doing. We should not compete with other organizations or institutions where our interests overlap - we should support and cooperate, and allocate our resources wisely while maintaining a sharp focus on our core mission areas.

We believe the NSS must be a leader in the research and prevention efforts related to WNS. We must support research in every way that we can, lead by example, reach out to the non-NSS cavers, and take an active role in partnership with BCI, ACCA, US-FWS, USGS and other organizations as befitting the premier speleological organization in North America, and we must make sure the members and the public knows everything we are doing and have done in this area.

We must lead the way, and not let the crisis lead us. In doing so, however, we must not forget that we are the only organization in America that represents the interests of cavers. We believe that the NSS can be an advocate for both bats and cavers at the same time, and that it is been too slow to come to that view. The 2010 NSS policy statement and press release are excellent examples of this, but the BOG should have come out with these last year, before cavers were labeled by the media as the significant agents for the transmission of WNS. Members and directors urged the leadership to act, but our leaders were very slow to do so, and valuable time was lost. We now face an uphill battle to redeem cavers in the eyes of the public, the media, and the agencies that manage publicly owned cave lands.

We must also act to protect and conserve our own caves and do everything possible and reasonable to prevent harm by WNS, whatever its cause and transmission method. We must work with private and public cave owners and managers to educate them and advise them about WNS and cave conservation and protection. We must consider all types of caves, all types of cavers, and all types of caving, and avoid simplistic "one size fits all" approaches in favor of carefully targeted approaches with sound scientific basis. Caves are unique individuals, and must be treated as such.

We can do these things carefully, and deliberately, working in partnership with government agencies, scientists, and other non-profit organizations, but we must have serious and thoughtful people as directors and officers in order to succeed. We are the only organization representing the interests of both caves and cavers, and we must choose our path carefully and wisely, and communicate constantly and effectively with our members and partners, always listening to their concerns and seeking their input, so that all are fully informed and all options and opinions are considered.

We believe the NSS office should remain in Huntsville unless there are very compelling reasons to relocate. We have considered and discussed the three proposals developed in 2009. The Indiana site is too remote from airports and interstates and would be too expensive to build on and operate due to its rural location, and that the Kentucky site would be too remote from airports and from a sufficiently large grotto or member base for adequate volunteer support. Huntsville, on the other hand, has a regional airport and is served by interstate highways. It has a large, established grotto with many active members who have historically supported the office in countless ways until alienated by the NSS board and officers. It is in one of the most cave-rich and caver-populous regions of the country. We also have a substantial investment in our office staff, which will probably be lost if the office is relocated out of the Huntsville area, increasing training and staffing costs and reducing efficiency and member services.

The proposal to buy or build a new facility in Huntsville (on land purchased or donated specifically for that purpose, and not located on top of Shelta Cave), demolish the old office or rehab it into a visitor center, and expand the Shelta Cave preserve is a good one - both environmentally and economically. It offers the least disruption of NSS office activities and operations. Its estimated cost is within the ability of the NSS fund raising activities, given adequate leadership, focus, and effort. It will be the quickest and easiest plan to implement. It will have the largest volunteer and member support base, now that we have repaired the relationship with the Huntsville grotto, which was seriously damaged by past Boards. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is doable right now. The Cave Research Foundation conducted a similar sized project a few years ago with a much smaller membership base. We believe that the new office complex as proposed can be designed to house, protect, and display the NSS library and museum in an appropriate environment, something that is long, long overdue, and can be expanded and upgraded to improve the work environment for the office staff as well as the quality and breadth of services provided to the membership.

We believe that the NSS should not seek to buy, own, or manage caves. That is the mission and competency area of the local and regional cave conservancies, such as the SCCi, IKC, MAKC, WVCC, NCC, and others. The NSS should support those organizations - not compete with them for funds and other resources. Buying, owning, and managing caves is demanding work, and it diverts energy, time, volunteers, money, and other resources away from our core mission areas. If a significant cave is offered in donation to the NSS, we should consider accepting, provided that we have the resources to manage and protect the cave, but we should first consider whether there is some better home for it, such as a local or regional cave conservancy.

We believe the NSS should investigate and seriously consider establishing a National Speleological Land Trust - an entity similar to the National Speleological Foundation that manages the NSS financial assets - so that we can transfer title to our cave preserves to an autonomous tax-exempt land trust dedicated to their care and management. This will allow the NSS to substantially reduce its liability insurance costs while providing greater protection and reduced risk for the Society's other assets as well as for the caves themselves. Cave conservancies already follow this successful model - it works, and it places the management of our caves into the hands of the people who know and love them best.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we believe that the NSS must work harder and more effectively to recruit, train, nurture, and retain talented volunteers. The BOG and officers have had a terrible track record for volunteer management, alienating both individual volunteers and even entire grottos over the last decade. We are losing talented people, valuable donors, and priceless opportunities because of mismanagement, miscommunication, and just plain misbehavior on the Board of Governors. It is time for this to end, and for the NSS leadership to conduct itself in a more rational and professional way.

Please feel free to email us at hodags @hodagrevolution.com or to call any of us to discuss NSS-related questions or concerns that you have that we have not addressed here. We will also continue to participate on the NSS Cavechat election forum and other distribution lists and will be happy to respond to any questions or comments there as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for your consideration. If our message resonates for you, we would appreciate your vote, and your help in getting word of our candidacy to all your friends and fellow NSS members. Candidates for Director need about 1,000 votes to get seated. If we are successful in gaining a foothold on the BOG, we promise that the NSS leadership will hear you, and will respect you, and that it will be accountable to you. We do not expect these changes to come easily, but we are confident that with your support we can make them happen.

I am a Life Member and Fellow of the Society, having joined in 1980, shortly after I began organized caving with the caving subcommittee of Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech while I was in college. Before that I was an occasional spelunker and flashlight caver in the caves around my home in Birmingham, Alabama, having been bitten by the caving bug while on a family vacation visit to Ruby Falls and a school trip to Rickwood Caverns.

I have served the NSS most recently as the IT and computer network support person for the NSS Office since 2005. In that capacity I have written and procured grants for the office to purchase new computer equipment and software, and have saved the NSS thousands of dollars in IT consulting expenses by installing and supporting the office computer network and applications and procuring donations and grants of new software and hardware. I also served as the Editor of American Caving Accidents (from 1996 to 2007, producing five multi-year issues during that period and saving the NSS more than $40,000 in publication costs) until I stepped down from that position in June, 2007.

I am an Instructor for the National Cave Rescue Commission, and just finished teaching at the South Central Regional Seminar in Arkansas last week and at a special training weekend for the Dogwood City Grotto last month. I have also served as the editor of the Georgia Underground, the publication of the Dogwood City Grotto, of which I have been a member since 1980. I was the editor and principal author of the 1989 NSS Convention Guidebook, Caves and Caving in TAG, as well as two TAG Cave-In guidebooks. I have written and given presentations extensively on caving, cave surveying, safety and techniques, and cave rescue.

I cave actively in the TAG region, but have also been active in Kentucky (surveying in Mammoth Cave with the CRF), New Mexico (Lechuguilla expeditions, including one last year and one this year), Wyoming (Tetons, Gros Ventres, and Bighorns), Mexico (primarily as a pit-bopping speleo-tourist to date, but I hope to get on a deep cave survey expedition soon). I will be an active caver and NSS member until the day I die. I love to survey and produce maps. I collect caving literature and I am an aspiring cave photographer. I am a member of the Chattanooga Hamilton County Cave and Cliff Rescue Team, and have participated in many cave rescues over the years, including my own (rock fall, caver fall, injury and aid, broken leg) in 1987. My only regret in caving is that I did not find the NSS until I was 19.

I am a founding member (SCCi #6), incorporator, and past Chairman (1994-1999) of the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc., and the only director of the SCCi who has served continuously on the board since its founding in 1991. The first organizational meeting was held in my living room. I currently serve as Acquisitions Chairman, and in that capacity just completed the acquisition by the SCCi of Surprise Pit and the majority of Fern Cave.

I served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the SCCi during its growth from a small group of dedicated cavers into a nationally recognized leader in the cave conservancy movement. I have participated in or directed the acquisition of almost every one of the SCCi's 27 cave preserves, negotiating and writing contracts, leases, and easements, securing and arranging financing, developing management plans, conducting meetings and hearings, dealing with state and federal agencies, and raising donations to pay off the mortgages. I am a sustaining member of the SCCi at the highest level, and have been since the creation of the sustaining membership program. In 1998 I was honored to accept a Certificate of Merit presented to the SCCi by the NSS for the acquisition of Neversink, which was negotiated by then Acquisitions Chair Mark Wolinsky and myself.

I have attended more board meetings in 30 years than I care to recall. I have served on and chaired NSS committees. I have supported the NSS as a Life Member and with targeted donations to the Great Ex purchase, the library fund, and other funds and projects. I have edited NSS publications and supported the NSS office with my professional skills, time, and talents as a volunteer.

The NSS is in a crisis, but it is not a financial crisis, a membership crisis, or a biological crisis: it is a leadership crisis. Our problems and challenges are but symptoms of this larger deficiency. The mis-management of the current election is an excellent illustration. It is time to address the root causes.

We have been poorly served by our officers and directors for far too long, and good people have resigned in disgust or declined to run for reelection because they are fed up with the obstruction, obfuscation, incompetence, and inaction of our leaders. The current board and officers know that these things are true, but some have ignored and suppressed them. It is well known to the board members that they have had difficulty each year finding candidates willing to run for the board - this year was a case in point. One reason for this is that no talented person wants to waste his or her valuable and limited time serving on an ineffective board. I have been solicited to run many times, but have declined repeatedly for exactly this reason. I know others who can tell the same story.

It is time to clean house, lead by example, and get the NSS back to its core mission and principles. We need leaders who are not afraid to take positions, answer questions, and make tough choices in the best interests of the Society and its members. I am such a person, and I ask you to select my name on your ballot, "power vote" for RHP-endorsed candidates, and to urge your friends and associates to do likewise. NSS Board elections typically garner only about 1,000 to 1,200 ballot responses - less than 10% of the membership. Your vote and efforts will make a difference.

Further, I urge you to vote for or write in people you know or believe will be active, dynamic, and outspoken leaders, and not just chair-warmers. We need an activist board, where each director is expected to chair at least one committee and serve on at least two others. I will commit to do this and hereby challenge other candidates and directors to do the same. There are presently people on the BOG who are opposed to this concept

We need articulate people, who can speak clearly, write coherently, and provide thoughtful opinions and constructive debate. We need people who are serious and committed, and who have taken the time and trouble to read our governing documents, attend board meetings, and give substantially of their time, talents, and resources to support the society in its mission and projects. We need people who will lead by example and walk the walk.

I believe that the NSS can and should do a better job of listening to and communicating with its members. I know it must do a better job of recruiting and supporting its volunteers. I know that we can make this happen.

I served as a director of the NSS from 2006 to 2009, but left the Board at the end of my first term due to my frustration with the inertia, ineffectiveness, and lack of leadership I experienced there. I have been a member of the Society longer than any of the present directors, and I can remember when the NSS had real leadership. We do not have it now, and we need to change that.

I am a lawyer in active private practice in Birmingham and do trial work defending people who get sued. Among my clients in the past were the NSS, The Huntsville Grotto, and several members of the Huntsville Grotto whom I defended in a wrongful death case (Teresa Carnes v. The National Speleological Society). I serve as general counsel for the Southeastern Cave Conservancy. I negotiated the acquisition of Tumbling Rock Cave and have served as the preserve manager for that cave since its acquisition.

I am in favor of the NSS Office staying in Huntsville. I presented the proposal to the Board on behalf of The Huntsville Grotto at the April 2009 Board Meeting. I do not feel the Board has given that proposal a fair review and reasonable consideration, as evidenced by the fact that several directors and officers were still unfamiliar with its content and detail at the November 2009 Board meeting when they voted to reject it and recommend a move to an unspecified location in central Kentucky. During the discussion, some directors and officers made statements about the proposal that were clearly at odds with the actual content of the proposal, demonstrating their lack of familiarity with it, or a lack of understanding of its content. We expect our directors to do their homework, and do it properly.

I am against the NSS owning cave preserves. I am not against the NSS buying caves and then spinning them off to other organizations such as the National Speleological Foundation. Owning and managing the preserves is a risk that the Society does not need to take, and it places all the other assets of the Society at risk. We can spin off the cave preserves to local cave conservancies or a special non-profit land trust created to manage them in the same way that the National Speleological Foundation manages the Society's financial assets. That would improve the security of all out assets, reduce risk and liability, and reduce insurance costs for the Society. These costs presently consume more than $20,000 per year of our budget.

I am a firm advocate of civil behavior between all of our directors and all our volunteers who were kind enough to devote their time to serve the Society. Our present officers often do not behave in a civil manner to one another, to the directors, and worst of all, to the members they server. This is not acceptable and should not be tolerated.

I have had ample experience as a Society Director and as a practicing attorney in excess of 40 years. I would propose the following:

I appreciate your interest in the future of the NSS, and I hope that you will support us in this campaign.

I have been a recreational caver since 1981, when I was a Boy Scout in Indiana, later joining the NSS in early 1990’s as a college student. Since that time, I have proudly been a member of two grottos in Indiana (Central Indiana and Bloomington) and in Georgia (Augusta Cave Masters) as well as the Indiana Karst Conservancy, Indiana and Georgia Cave Surveys, a Joint Venturer in the Cave Research Foundation, and a member of the former Lechuguilla Cave Exploration and Research Network (L.E.A.R.N.), and have actively participated in my own and others’ cave exploration, survey, and mapping projects around the country. At this time, I serve as Vice Chairman of the Central Indiana Grotto. One of the reasons I chose a research career in Biological Science (I am currently a Research Assistant Professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine) is from my many learning experiences and encounters underground. Caving has been an invaluable source of personal skills, including self-reliance, perseverance and responsibility for the well-being of others. Even more valuable to me are the wonderful friends and relationships I have gained from these times, not to mention the astounding memories! Of the thousands of hours I have spent underground, it seems I can recall each and every trip almost like I can recall a friend or acquaintance, each one unique and special in its own way.

As we all know, the National Speleological Society is currently faced with the most formidable set of challenges in its history: The North American bat population is witnessing a crisis of historical proportions with the onset of White Nose Syndrome. The economic downturn and wars abroad are a drain on our government’s ability to direct much-needed attention and effort toward research and conservation of our natural and non-renewable cave resources. Thirdly, the very caves which we hold most dear are being subject to blasting and permanent closure due to ill-informed and liability-paranoid decision-makers.

Our Society is also currently in the midst of the decision-making process of where and how to relocate our National Headquarters, a decision which will have immense and lasting ramifications on our Society’s future. Lastly, but most importantly, our Society is facing increasing competition from other activities and media for our most vital resource, our future members. Each of these issues on its own would be tough, but all at once, means our Society is in desperate need of people who will give objective, careful consideration that will serve the best interest of our Society in an effective, professional, and timely manner.

Despite these challenges, it is my belief that now is NOT the time to sit back and rest on our laurels, nor is it the time to return to business as usual. Our Board of Governors needs to attack these challenges with all the vigor, conviction, and intelligence that it can muster. When it comes to our "national profile", we must raise the bar; we must increase our outreach and our profile. There was a time when the Society could rely on new memberships strictly on reputation, as well as our exclusivity with regards to knowledge of caves and cave locations. This is no longer the case, and we are increasingly finding ourselves competing with other organizations, media, and activities for members and their participation in our Society. As a result we must redouble our efforts to attract, inspire, and retain members who will be our future leaders and Society’s lifeblood in the effort to preserve, conserve, understand, and sustain our cave resources. As a candidate for the Board of Governors, I promise to bring all my experience, education, reason, and professionalism to bear on these critical issues. I hope you will consider me a candidate who will not serve just an individual interest, but a larger Society-wide picture for today and tomorrow. Thank you for your vote, and cave softly!

Born in Lubbock, Texas, and intrigued by Carlsbad Caverns and Texas commercial caves as a youth. Was not exposed to wild caving until stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where I joined what became the Fort Knox Grotto. Caving became a passion that I pursued as I moved among Army assignments. As a result, I joined and was exposed to many different grottos and was able to cave in numerous regions and in Europe.

Now retired from the Army, living near Augusta, Georgia, I continue to cave in the Southeast and the Virginias. Previous 10-year Chairman of Augusta Cave Masters and four-year Chairman of the Congress of Grottos. Served as committee member and food services chair for 1998 NSS Convention; on staff for 2000 Convention, and at 2010 Convention as banquet coordinator; currently serving as an alternate member on the NSS Planning Committee. On OTR staff and building project team. Support cave conservation and member of the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. and the West Virginia Cave Conservancy.

Earned a Master of Science in Nursing Administration in 1996 and post-Masters certificate as family nurse practitioner in 2004. Currently employed as a nurse practitioner in a local emergency department. Member of NSS Human Sciences and Medical Sections. Through the years, I’ve held positions in Army and civilian health-care organizations involving leadership and financial and personnel management.

Regularly attend BOG meetings at conventions, and served as a BOG proxy at the Vermont Convention. I believe the current BOG members do try their best to represent the members of the NSS. They are all volunteers who donate time and talents to the NSS.

The officers and directors of the Board of Governors are not the NSS. They are the stewards of the organization. The operators of the NSS are the many hundreds of volunteers who are members. The leadership at the national level should be expected to:

• Listen to and be sensitive to the concerns of members;
• Develop realistic plans to accomplish the goals of the organization;
• Operate the NSS in a businesslike manner to sustain the organization and accomplish those goals; and
• Emphasize recruitment and retention of members through good relations and member services.

If elected as a Director, I plan to participate in NSS operations and vote thoughtfully after analyzing issues and options to further the goals of the organization.

I started caving in 1975 with the Nashville Grotto. My interests led me to study karst hydrogeology at Western Kentucky University. My first NSS experience involved helping with the Eighth International Congress of Speleology in Bowling Green (1981). I serve the NSS Conservation Division as Conservation Specialist for the Southeast. I serve the NSS Cave Conservation and Management Section as an at-large Director and on various ad hoc committees. I served the Southeastern Regional Association as Chairman and Secretary-Treasurer and on various ad hoc committees. I served the Nashville Grotto as Chairman, Vice Chairman, Chairman of the Conservation Committee, and as a member of the Cave Management Committee. As a member of the Tennessee Cave Survey, I served as an at-large Director, Mapbook Director, and Bibliography Director. I am a sustaining member of the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc., where I help with the Cave Stewardship Committee and help manage four caves.

Enough about my service credentials. The most important message I can convey is this: Go caving; Stay out of bat caves; Meticulously clean your gear; Avoid using the same cave gear in different regions.

As a scientist, I approach issues with an open mind and use data and experience to guide my opinions. The most satisfying experiences come when all groups cooperate and win-win solutions are found for common concerns. The NSS faces serious challenges such as WNS, headquarters and office location, and financial stability. Our responses and actions must be based on accurate information and careful consideration of options. I take the NSS nomination to the BOG very seriously and will bring all my experiences and talents to find the best solutions.