Tires, plastic bottles, batteries , gasoline cans, mattresses - these are just a few of the things that encroach upon our water supply as people dump them off mountain roads into local woods and ravines.
The Sewanee Mountain Grotto, chartered by a group of avid cavers from The University of the South in the late 1980s and reactivated in 2004, works diligently with the help of the nonprofit Southeastern Regional Association Karst Task Force (SERA Karst) to remove the trash and recyclables from these areas - making them safer places to enjoy the scenery and, of course, the caves.
Beginning in 2006 Sewanee Mountain Grotto organized massive clean-up efforts at the Russell Cave watershed."When people dump things on the surface...whatever they put out there will eventually end up in someone's water supply," says Maureen Handler, vice-chairman and conservation officer for the Sewanee Mountain Grotto and current chairman of the SERA Karst Task Force. "Because it disappears from the surface doesn't mean it disappears from our lives. It will appear somewhere downstream...we're just not always sure where downstream is."
Along with their conservation efforts, the Sewanee Mountain Grotto works diligently to map caves in the area that have never been surveyed before. The group has produced close to 20 maps, in part for the information of the 80 cavers in the group, but also because caves have to be mapped in order to understand where the water goes (and where the litter will go when thrown into the water).
"You start seeing the relationship underground that you don't see above ground," says Handler. "Caves have multiple entrances, so when you dump something at the top, it can show up within minutes in a watershed at the bottom of the mountain."
Join the club
For more information on caving, cave conservation or local caving groups, visit the National Speleological Society's website at www.caves.org.
The Sewanee Mountain Grotto, along with many community volunteers, has worked to clean several areas including the Coal Bank Road near Blue Spring Cave, Horseshoe Bend (a watershed near Whitwell) Roark's Cove in Franklin County, Monteagle Saltpeter Cave and - one of their largest efforts spanning more than five years - Russell Cave Watershed on Orme Mountain Road in South Pittsburg. More than 100,000 pounds of debris was removed from the Russell Cave Watershed alone.
"I get goose bumps now when I drive down Orme Mountain Road," says Handler. "Everywhere you looked there was garbage and now you can hike the entire stream from bottom to top and see the flowers and the wildlife. It's amazing."