Students clean up cave graffiti
Natural Resources Club goes spelunking, promotes organization
Lindsay Puthoff
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Nine members of Ball State University's Natural Resources Club got into a tight squeeze on Saturday.
Spelunking through Buckner Cave near Bloomington, Ind., altered the perspectives of some club members.
"Until you're placed between a rock and a hard place, you don't have the respect for the underground world," Natural Resource Club President Lisa Nicklas said.
Spelunking is defined as any venture into a cave for recreation, she said.
The members worked with the Graffiti Removal Project that uses sandblasters to remove spray-painted graffiti from the cave's ancient walls, a first for the club.
The cave's first signature dates to 1776, when a scout for the Revolutionary Army left his mark.
However, years of heavy partying within the caves left the inside covered in spray paint, trash and even feces.
"It's sad," Vice President Katrina McKinley said. "One thousand years of work ruined in one second."
Private resident Dick Blenz purchased the cave in 2003 and began to more heavily regulate unauthorized entrance.
A gate installed near the cave entrance deters unwelcome partiers and bears a sign detailing how to legally gain access.
According to the Buckner Cave Web site, Blenz borrowed sandblasting equipment from the Peppersauce Cave Conservation Project in Arizona to replace hand-scrubbing techniques.
In 2006, Dave Everton, Bloomington native and experienced caver, began coordinating the cave clean-up process.
While the NR club did not sandblast, the student spelunkers maneuvered cleaning equipment through the tight and twisting caverns.
Club Treasurer Adam Abner said scrubbing was no easy feat; the cave's narrowest spot measures no more than a foot wide.
Nicklas and several other spelunkers complained of sore upper-body muscles from belly-crawling what she estimated as the length of a football field.
"It gives you a whole new appreciation for walking," she said.
Spelunking through Buckner Cave near Bloomington, Ind., altered the perspectives of some club members.
"Until you're placed between a rock and a hard place, you don't have the respect for the underground world," Natural Resource Club President Lisa Nicklas said.
Spelunking is defined as any venture into a cave for recreation, she said.
The members worked with the Graffiti Removal Project that uses sandblasters to remove spray-painted graffiti from the cave's ancient walls, a first for the club.
The cave's first signature dates to 1776, when a scout for the Revolutionary Army left his mark.
However, years of heavy partying within the caves left the inside covered in spray paint, trash and even feces.
"It's sad," Vice President Katrina McKinley said. "One thousand years of work ruined in one second."
Private resident Dick Blenz purchased the cave in 2003 and began to more heavily regulate unauthorized entrance.
A gate installed near the cave entrance deters unwelcome partiers and bears a sign detailing how to legally gain access.
According to the Buckner Cave Web site, Blenz borrowed sandblasting equipment from the Peppersauce Cave Conservation Project in Arizona to replace hand-scrubbing techniques.
In 2006, Dave Everton, Bloomington native and experienced caver, began coordinating the cave clean-up process.
While the NR club did not sandblast, the student spelunkers maneuvered cleaning equipment through the tight and twisting caverns.
Club Treasurer Adam Abner said scrubbing was no easy feat; the cave's narrowest spot measures no more than a foot wide.
Nicklas and several other spelunkers complained of sore upper-body muscles from belly-crawling what she estimated as the length of a football field.
"It gives you a whole new appreciation for walking," she said.
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Kent Wilson
posted 9/14/07 @ 3:26 PM EST
I would like to correct the publics understanding of the authors well meaning but poorly researched article about the restoration efforts in Buckners Cave. (Continued…)
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