Gate Building

Frequently when dealing with mines or caves with significant bat populations it becomes necessary to control access into the site. Mines are not suitable for recreation and caves often see too much use in seasons critical to bats. Even sites with low bat numbers, that are frequently disturbed, may develop a large bat population when protected. Site surveys coupled with temperature data and historic records can frequently determine site suitability.

Designing and constructing a bat friendly gate is generally the first resort for mines and the last resort for caves. Mines are man made, less safe, less stable, and a significant liability in most states, they also make great management sites for bats. Entrance modification that (in some cases) can be done concurrent with gate building can alter temperature ranges in a mine to make it more suitable for bats. NEPA regulations require mines to be surveyed before being closed when a project is using federal funds. State survey requirements may vary. Surveys can only be done within a narrow range of dates (See hiber surveys) and are often not a option in situations requiring immediate closure. Gates protect the habitat and can often be constructed within weeks of initiating the project. Gates on mines also serve to let future landowners know what lies under the land, and may prevent houses or shopping malls from being built over shallow mines. A bulldozed entrance is often forgotten.

All cave and mine gates are built to American Cave Conservation Association & Bat Conservation International standards and our gate designer/foreman is ACCA certified. If you are seeking information about caves and caving see the ACCA page or visit the National Speleological Society home page. (See a ACCA/BCI gate building workshop here.)

In many states caves are covered under landowner liability acts (making them less of a liability for landowners). Caves are part of nature's system, altering them with gates is a less desirable solution. The effect of gates on invertebrate populations (ex. cave crickets) have been little studied and some wildlife that uses cave entrance areas (phoebe, swallow, raccoon, bear), may be outright excluded. Current conservation philosophy recommends altering the entrances of caves as little as possible, so modification to achieve ideal bat temperature ranges is frowned upon (Unless you are restoring the entrance to it's original configuration. Example: Many commercial caves have had entrances enlarged, restoring the original configuration is PC.). Some caves can be protected with less invasive methods such as voluntary caving moratoriums and asking landowners to disallow recreational caving during the periods that bats are sensitive to disturbance. In one National Park vibration sensors in entrance areas trigger a CB call to park law enforcement. A few stiff fines for disturbing endangered species coupled with the public CB broadcast that locals picked up and the word spread like wildfire that closed means closed.