Karst Conservation in the Ozarks: Forty Years at Tumbling

In this paper we detail nearly 40 years of scientific work and land manage ment in and around Tumbling Creek Cave, Missouri. Tumbling Creek Cave is a famous educational and research cave on a rural property called the “Ozark Underground Laboratory.” Tumbling Creek Cave has the highest cave biodiversity west of the Mississippi River, with about 112 species, including 12 troglobites and three endangered species: gray bats, Indiana bats and Tumbling Creek cavesnail. The cavesnail began declining in the 1990s, which prompted more intensive work towards land restoration and recovery of cavesnails and gray bats. The gray bat population has increased again, but the cavesnail will require more time and effort to recover. Land and cave remediation work have taught us many lessons that should be useful to others who manage large caves with rich resources.