National Speleological Society
21 September 2024 Cougar Washington
Call to Order At 6:44 p.m. Katrina Smith, Chairman of the Western Region of the NSS, called the meeting to order.
Presentation of the Board
Chair: Katrina Smith
Vice-Chair: Jesse Johnson
Secretary-Treasurer: Gail McCoy
Editor of the Western Caver: Scott Nicolay (not present)
Each member of the board present introduced themselves.
Roll Call
| Grotto | Number of Votes | Present | Votes for Meeting |
| Cascade Grotto | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| Desert Dog Troglodytes | 2 | No | 0 |
| Diablo Grotto | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| Mother Lode Grotto | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| Northern Nevada Grotto | 2 | Yes | 2 |
| Oregon Grotto | 2 | Yes | 2 |
| Oregon High Desert Grotto | 2 | No | 0 |
| Redwood Grotto | 2 | No | 0 |
| San Diego Grotto | 3 | No | 0 |
| San Francisco Bay Chapter | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| San Joaquin Valley Grotto | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| Shascade Caving Society | 2 | Yes | 2 |
| Shasta Area Grotto | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| Southern California | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| Southern Nevada Grotto | 3 | No | 0 |
| Stanislaus Speleological Society | 2 | Yes | 2 |
| Willamette Valley Grotto | 3 | Yes | 3 |
| Chair | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| Vice-Chair | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| Secretary-Treasurer | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| Editor | 1 | No | 0 |
| Total | 48 | 35 | |
The quorum was met, with 35 out of 48 votes (a simple majority is needed).
Approval of Minutes
Minutes from the previous meeting were available for those interested. San Joaquin Valley Grotto moved that the minutes be accepted. It was seconded by acclamation.
Officer Reports
Chair Katrina Smith reported that she is ready to let someone else be Chair.
Vice-Chair Jesse Johnson had nothing to report.
Secretary Gail McCoy reported that she filed all the required forms with the state of California and the NSS, answered queries, and collected dues.
Treasurer
| Initial Balance | 28,912.29 |
| Income | |
| Dues | 2181.00 |
| Sales | 134.00 |
| Auction | 1089.00 |
| Donations | 175.00 |
| Total | 3579.00 |
| Expenses | |
| Groups.IO | 220.00 |
| Web Hosting (3 years) | 143.88 |
| Domain Registration | 12.00 |
| Fee to State of California | 25.00 |
| Total | 400.88 |
| Final Balance | 33,771.41 |
The Grant Fund of $5771.29 is included in the funds above.
Speleo-Ed profits are split 60% to the General Fund and 40% to the hosting grotto.
Regional auction proceeds are split 50-50 between the grant fund and the general fund.
Regional profits go to the hosting grotto.
Editor The Editor was not present nor provided a report.
After the elections Katrina Smith and Jesse Johnson stepped down and Elizabeth “Boof” Truchan and Eric Jorgenson took over the positions.
Grotto Reports
Cascade Grotto Jaq Morrill reported they have more than 80 members, have been working in the Poet’s Crest area, they are an awesome grotto, and they have a new editor.
Diablo Grotto Steven Johnson spoke about their new meeting place in north Berkeley, that Diablo has new officers, and are planning on going on more trips in the future.
Mother Lode Grotto Spencer Haggard announced that there are new members that are getting more involved in grotto activities.
Northern Nevada Grotto Matt Bowers related that they have participated in lint clean up trips at Lehman Caves in eastern Nevada. Some grotto members were hired for a project studying the biology, geology, and archeology in rarely visited caves in eastern Nevada. Great Basin Institute funded the informally named Dream Team of researchers while the National Park Service provided management skills. The grotto is active in helping plan the upcoming National Caves and Karst Management Symposium, to be held next October in Ely. Their meetings are by Zoom and often have speakers.
Oregon Grotto Ahrlin Bauman spoke about working on large guides for Mount St. Helens, Falls Creek, Saddle Butte and another area. Two to three new caves are found monthly. They go caving, are resurveying caves, and have two YouTube channels.
San Francisco Bay Chapter Charlie Sirchuk reported that the group now meets at the Sports Basement in Redwood City, meetings are both live and via the internet, and there is a hope to have a SPAR class next year.
San Joaquin Valley Grotto Julie Booker stated that the grotto is not real active currently. They will be hosting the 2025 Regional so looking for volunteers and potential sites to hold the event.
Shascade Caving Society Steve Hobson declared that there are roughly five members that go caving, work on cave clean ups, and on gating Ancient Palace Cave.
Shasta Area Grotto Steve Hobson also spoke for SAG. Nine members got to the convention in Tennessee, the group holds campouts, have been caving in limestone areas, and sponsored the rope storage box for the Marble Mountains camp. The box, in honor of Steve Knutson, was hauled in by Mark Fritzke over Labor Day. SAG has a Facebook page and roughly 50 members.
Southern California Grotto Ken Ketzer announced that the grotto celebrated their 75th anniversary with an event at Lake Morena. There are about 150 members. Their efforts include members working with the Western Cave Conservancy and in developing access to Winding Stair and Mitchell Caverns.
Stanislaus Speleological Society Matt Bowers reported the group has about 10 members, held a summer barbeque, are surveying tourist traffic in caves, and are working on Natural Bridges and New Melones.
Willamette Valley Grotto Chris Wiley declared that there are about 20 members who hold monthly meetings and go caving.
No reports were given for the Desert Dog Troglodytes, Oregon High Desert, Redwood, San Diego, and Southern Nevada Grottos.
Old Business
Once again, we need a webmaster for the region’s website. To improve the site people knowledgeable in WordPress are needed. Some updates have happened, but more work is needed.
A new editor is sought as the current one is moving out of the area. Amanda Mortimer, Grants Chair, would like to hand the position over to a new person. For any of these positions please let the officers know.
New Business
Elections were held after the Officer Reports. Elizabeth “Boof” Truchan is the new Chair, Eric Jorgenson is the new Vice-Chair, and Gail McCoy was re-elected Secretary-Treasurer. Matt Bowers of San Joaquin Valley Grotto thanked the outgoing officers for their service.
Boof and others would like to see a training committee and another wilderness first aid course taught. A motion was made by Boof to create a training committee. SFBC seconded it. The motion passed by general acclamation.
As Vice-Chair, Eric Jorgenson would like to see more networking between the grottos in the Western Region. He moved to purchase a one-year subscription to Zoom provided at least four grottos are interested in sharing the account. The motion passed by acclamation.
Matt Bowers proposed having a combined grotto newsletter instead of the current version. Some concern was expressed that not all grottos would contribute. The editor would also have to be willing to use the format.
There is concern that San Diego Grotto doesn’t really exist. San Joaquin Valley Grotto moved to investigate if the grotto meets the membership criteria of the Western Region, with a second from Oregon Grotto. The motion passed.
Miscellaneous Reports
NSS Board of Governors Matt Bowers introduced Director Mike Backe. The NSS is restructuring to have an Executive Director. A search firm is working on selecting the first Executive Director, who should be in place by the end of the year.
NSS Congress of Grottos Gail McCoy summarized what occurred at the Congress held in Sewanee. Pete Johnson updated the group on the difficulty of obtaining insurance for the NSS. Events that are NSS or regional can be covered. Despite much effort there is not NSS-associated insurance available for grottos or their events.
There were two main discussions, about having a paper member’s manual and developing a new procedure for dealing with harassment issues at NSS events. The Member’s Manual issue was voted down. The NSS has a Code of Conduct, available on https://caves.org The concern for this latter issue is that when individuals are reported, the one reporting an incident does not learn what decision is made regarding the incident. Because the NSS is changing over to having an executive director rather than officers, how these incidents are handled will be determined once the new structure is in place. One can find the minutes for the COG at https://caves.org.
Western Cave Conservancy Steven Johnson reported that the Natural Bridges had a successful removal of graffiti and trash, supported by the WCC and others. There are still legal issues relating to access to Winding Stair but access may occur in the future. Please contact the WCC if there are new areas or caves to investigate.
CRF-Lava Beds Liz Wolff announced that the Eastern groups working with Scott House have finished their projects. Liz is almost done with her work in the Monument. Jessica Reed is the new archeology staff member.
CFR-Sequoia-Kings Canyon Felipe Roz-Barscevicius reported there are almost monthly trips to Liburn Cave. The effects of the fire that burned through the canyon will be studied.
Next Annual Regional
San Joaquin Valley Grotto will be hosting the 2025 Regional. Volunteers are requested. Southern California will host in 2026 and Shasta Area Grotto is already planning for 2027.
Adjournment At 8:10 it was moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Mother Lode Grotto. By general acclamation the meeting was adjourned.
Note: These minutes are a draft as they have not yet been accepted, which will happen at the business meeting in 2025.