Caves & Karst
Use the updated Significant Cave Nomination Form to nominate caves in your area!
Blanchard Springs Caverns, located on the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests in Arkansas, will celebrate its 50th year of operation on July 7, 2023. (Under Earth Images, by Dave Bunnell)
Learn more about caves & karst on our educational resources web page.
A popular 650 foot long cave in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, with beautiful display of ice stalactites and ice stalagmites early in the season. (Photo by Ahrlin Baughman)
Stewardship of Caves and Karst
Caves and karst resources occur in over 100 National Forests across the United States. The Forest Service has identified significant caves on these National Forests, often with the assistance of partners such as the National Speleological Society and Cave Research Foundation.
Caves and karst resources require special management because they support critical groundwater systems and unique biological communities. They also provide information about climate change, human history, paleontological resources, and minerals. The Forest Service manages caves and karst resources in keeping with the 1988 Federal Cave Resources Protection act and in accordance with the multiple use mission of the agency.
Forest Service Caves & Karst Research Publications
Assessing the effect of climate change on carbon sequestration in a Mexican dry forest in the Yucatan Peninsula
September 21, 2015
Streamflow and nutrients from a karst watershed with a downstream embayment: Chapel Branch Creek
February 2014
Relationships of three species of bats impacted by white-nose syndrome to forest condition and management
August 2016
- Celebrating Blanchard Springs Caverns’ 50th Anniversary
- Significant Caves Designation Call for National Forest System Lands
- Volunteering for 2022 National Public Lands Day
- Prince of Wales Island Expedition Leads to New Discoveries on the Tongass National Forest