Cave Research Foundation

CAVE AND KARST RESEARCH, MANAGEMENT, AND CARTOGRAPHY: The primary focus of the Foundation is assisting government land managers who are responsible for cave and karst areas. Support includes inventorying caves and karst features, developing management plans to protect these unique resources, constructing protective gates on sensitive caves, performing biological and other inventories in the caves, and systematically mapping the caves. Working agreements are in place with the Mammoth Cave National Park, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Buffalo National River, Mark Twain National Forest, Lava Beds National Monument, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP, and others. The Foundation has a pool of over 200 active volunteers who do the actual work under the guidance of the various agency land managers. Over 23,000 hours of volunteer time were donated to the Foundation in 2023-24.

GRADUATE RESEARCH GRANTS: The Foundation awards a variable number of graduate-level research grants each year to support thesis research in fields related to cave and karst studies. The grants are awarded solely on the merits of the grant requests. Grant requests are reviewed by an independent committee of academic researchers working in cave and karst-related fields. Grants are not awarded directly to the recipient, but are sent to their university and the university administers the grant for the recipient. Grant recipients are required to publish their research results in a public document, which can be the Foundation's CRF Newsletter or other appropriate publication. There were six grants awarded in 2024.

PUBLICATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF CAVE-RELATED BOOKS AND MAPS: The Foundation publishes and distributes a variety of cave-related technical, scientific, and popular books and maps related to the science, history, exploration, and management of caves and karst landforms. Most of the books are sold through the visitor centers in national parks that contain caves.