Caving success story: Robber Baron reopened
By Joe Mitchell After being effectively closed since March 2020, Texas Cave Management Association’s Robber Baron Cave is now reopened for regular visitation. The cave has long served as a recreational and educational resource for TCMA. Numerous new cavers have visited it over the years along with many others, including youth groups, scouts, outdoor recreation clubs, geology groups, and neighborhood groups. Robber Baron has also hosted periodic open house events where the general public could explore parts of the cave.The cave’s closure resulted from the COVID lockdown and a subsequent environmental incident in 2021 at the cave entrance. In the process of resolving this, a new approach to managing the cave was developed to increase protection for its biology including its two known listed endangered species; improving safety; and retaining as much of the former access as possible. This process is now essentially complete, finally allowing resumption of access.For biological protection, a key component was the creation of a Habitat Conservation Plan. This establishes a number of procedures to reduce impacts in the cave, such as changes in the number and size of trips and what can be taken in the cave. Significantly, the cave is divided into three major
Roadrunners rule! Texas’ newest grotto helps TCMA
By Amy Schoenenberger The Texas Cave Management Association (TCMA) has had an enormous impact on the state’s subterranean resources and the caving community. Without TCMA’s management, conservation efforts, and support for new clubs, the ability to cave would be completely different – especially for a new organization like the Roadrunner Grotto or Roadrunner Speleological Society at the University of Texas at San Antonio.TCMA is the reason students can be introduced to caving and more young people canbe inspired to get involved.Most of the Roadrunner Grotto’s trips are to TCMA preserves, where new cavers are shown the incredible beauty of Texas caves and are taught how to cave safely. RSS membershelp prepare Robber Baron Cave for its reopening, and the grotto plans to run beginner tripsthere for new members wanting to learn about caving.RSS is also getting involved in future TCMA projects such as graffiti cleaning at Wurzbach Bat Cave. These volunteer efforts help members learn firsthand what it takes to protect and preserve caves.The Deep and Punkin Cave Preserve has also become one of the main trip destinations, offering members the opportunity to explore two amazing caves in one preserve. Since RSS is still a new club at UTSA, the
Aggies in action: Student grotto gives back
By Jenna Crabtree Through decades of volunteer efforts, the student caving club at Texas A&M University has built a strong partnership with the Texas Cave Management Association (TCMA) to safeguard and manage the state’s caves.The Aggie Speleological Society’s members are frequent visitors and supporters at TCMA preserves, assisting in cave conservation.Since 1973, the Aggie grotto has thrived in College Station, a growing college town and the home of Texas A&M University, positioned inside a triangle bounded by Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Over the decades, the grotto’s involvement in caving has risen and fallen, yet one constant has remained: the grotto’s deep reliance on TCMA, which was founded in 1986.Today, the Aggie grotto depends on TCMA for access to the majority of caves included in each year’s schedule. Whirlpool Cave offers new members a safe and welcoming introduction to caving, while Punkin Cave provides their first vertical experience—an essential milestone for developing competent and confident cavers.TCMA’s willingness to provide access for collegiate cavers to these sites not only strengthens memberretention but also expands awareness of best practices in cave conservation. Just as importantly, it gives young leaders hands-on opportunities for training, exploration, and discovery that are truly unmatched and creates a
New TxDOT video features TCMA’s Wurzbach Bat Cave preserve
The Texas Department of Transportation has released a new video on Wurzbach Bat Cave, highlighting how the state partnered with TCMA, a consulting firm, and others to save endangered species. Preserving and restoring cave habitat can save taxpayer dollars, decrease flooding, and replenish drinking water. That’s how TxDOT approached the balancing act that it has between reducing highway congestion while minimizing impact to natural resources. In San Antonio’s rapidly expanding west side, where State Loop 1604 meets Texas Highway 151, invertebrates on the Federal Endangered Species List were found inside caves and karst features as highway workers tried to build bridges and intersections. What happened next? The result was a success story documented in a YouTube “Beyond the Road” video produced by TxDOT entitled, “Innovative Mitigation Preserves Cave Habitat.” Rachael Lindsey and Jim Kennedy, TCMA president and vice-president, accompanied TMCA Director Ethan Perrine and others to San Antonio for the filming, which also included interviews of biologists from Zara Environmental LLC. To complete the highway construction, TxDOT had to provide mitigation under federal and state law. That mitigation led to the purchase of Wurzbach Bat Cave, which was deeded to Texas Cave Management Association. The same endangered invertebrates at the highway
President’s profile: Rachael Lindsey
Dear friends, fellow cavers, and stewards of the underground: As we step into the fall season, I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary role caves and karst play in shaping not just our landscapes, but our entire way of life.We know that beneath the soil lies the blueprint of our region’s resilience. The caves, fractures, and aquifers of Texas aren’t just geological features — they are the living infrastructure of our ecology, our communities, and our economy. Every drop of water, every spring, every thriving habitat depends on the health of the karst. It’s time we treat it that way.The Texas Cave Management Association has always been about more than just managing caves. We are community builders, connectors, and problem solvers. We bring together scientists, explorers, landowners, and citizens who understand that protecting what’s beneath the surface ensures everything above it can thrive.Every one of us — whether you’re mapping passages, leading a tour, restoring habitat, or connecting with community — has a role to play. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Our collective knowledge, passion, and collaboration are exactly what this region needs right now.Together, we can ensure that what flows beneath us continues to nourish everything we love about
A toast to The Caverns of Sonora
Garrison Brothers and TCMA team up to support a unique cave … Cheers, y’all, to an exciting partnership between TCMA and Texas’ first and oldest legal whiskey distillery, now supporting The Caverns of Sonora through sales of its new signature bourbon. Simply called Sonora, this seven-year aged Garrison Brothers bourbon is finished in rye whiskey barrels and bears the name of the famed commercial cave and city in Southwest Texas. The first 1,000 bottles of Sonora are available at the Hye, Texas distillery’s release event on October 18, according to a news release. The remaining 5,000 bottles will be on sale at Garrison Brothers’ e-commerce store and at other key accounts nationwide beginning early November – with $5 from every bottle to be donated to the Texas Cave Management Association for safeguarding The Caverns of Sonora, helping preserve this natural wonder for generations to come. Besides being Texas’ oldest whiskey distillery, Garrison Brothers is the first outside of Kentucky to produce authentic, handcrafted, corn-to-cork bourbon whiskey—and only bourbon whiskey. Thirty barrels filledIn March 2022, Garrison Brothers filled thirty 53-gallon rye whiskey barrels with four-year-old Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Three years later, the exceptional bourbon in those barrels matured