Thought the below info might be worth reading...
Federal Cave & Karst Program
In 1988, US Congress passed the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act directing the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to inventory and list significant caves on federal lands, and to provide management and dissemination of information about caves.
In 1990, the Congress also directed the Interior Department, acting through the National Park Service, to establish and administer a program on cave research and to examine the feasibility of a centralized national cave and karst research institute. Based on the results of the study, a bill was introduced in the105th Congress to establish the National Cave and Karst Research Institute in New Mexico.
Caves and karst features occur in about 60 units of the National Park System System. The number of caves ranges from as few as 10 to 15 caves in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park to more than 400 caves in the Grand Canyon National Park. Many more caves are protected and managed by state and local governments, as well as private individuals and companies.
Importance of Cave & Karst Systems
Cave and karst systems are important because most of the nation's freshwater resources are groundwater, of which about 25% is located in cave and karst regions. Caves are also repositories of information on natural resources, human history and evolution, containing anthropologic, archaeologic, geologic, paleontologic and mineralogic resources. Many caves act as natural traps for flora and fauna, and species of now-extinct animals. Cave-dwelling organisms have specialized adaptations such as extreme longevity and enhanced sensory perceptions.
The recently discovered Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns is providing insight into global warming from analysis of materials found there. Other climate information has been acquired from pack rat middens in Grand Canyon caves that yielded pollen 4,000 years old. Regional paleoclimate records were derived from samples of travertine deposits in a submerged cave system in Death Valley National Park, California. And coring selected speleothems in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico provided data on paleomagnetics and paleoclimate conditions.
Caves have always been known as repositories of archeological material. Some of the oldest evidence about the activities of human ancestors comes from caves. In the caves of Arizona's Grand Canyon and in lava tubes of El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico, important archeological discoveries are made every year in the form of excavations of ancient pottery, figurines made from twigs and evidence of the use of caves for habitation. In the Slaughter Canyon Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, recent studies led to the discovery of one of only three deep cave art sites in the United States.
The National Park Service (NPS) works in conjunction with the National Speleological Society (NCC) and Bat Conservation International (BCI) to secure assistance with inventories, surveys, monitoring, and exploration of caves and preservation of bat habitats.
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Hey CptBill, you gonna be in the area? Wanna mount an expedition? 
