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United States
Department of the
Interior NATIONAL PARK
SERVICE November 12, 1998 To whom it may concern: The Cave Research Foundation
and the Lava Beds Natural History
Association are conducting a fund
raising campaign to raise
$200,000 for the construction of
a 1500 square foot research
center within Lava Beds National
Monument. The completed research
center will be donated to the
National Park Service for use in
conducting research and
educational projects in and
around the monument. The campaign has already been
successful in obtaining design
and engineering services and site
preparation work valued at
$50,000. The National Park
Service will assume expenses
associated with future management
and operation of the completed
center. The Foundation and other
supporters are now seeking to
raise the remaining $150,000
necessary to construct the
facility. The National Park Service and
Lava Beds National Monument wish
to express our full support of
the research center fund raising
campaign and want to encourage
support from others. By
supporting this fund raising
program, donors will be helping
to provide a facility that offers
long term, on-site support for
research projects that foster the
protection and preservation of
Lava Beds National Monument, the
Medicine Lake Highlands and the
Tule Lake area. Since its
establishment almost seventy-five
years ago, Lava Beds National
Monument, researchers, university
students, public and private
educational and scientific
organizations and other
governmental agencies have not
been able to fully document or
conduct research on the unique
natural and cultural resources of
the region. Many research efforts
must take place elsewhere or, if
initiated, are often abandoned
due to the absence of facilities,
high research costs or the
inefficiencies of conducting
research from great distances. A
research center located within
Lava Beds National Monument will
fill a significant void in the
monument's ability to attract and
support legitimate researchers
and educational organizations. It
will provide a productive
environment to work in, provide
many long term benefits and lead
to other opportunities. The National Park Service and
Lava Beds National Monument
enthusiastically welcome this
opportunity and want to encourage
participation from a wide range
of private, business and
educational organizations. We
appreciate your support in
carrying out programs for the
protection and preservation of
the nation's precious natural and
cultural resources. Sincerely, [signed] Craig W. Dorman Campaign
Organizers On April 16, 1998, The
Cave Research Foundation, the Lava
Beds Natural History Association, and the
The National Park
Service at Lava
Beds National Monument, entered into a
Memorandum of Agreement "For Capital FundRaising
Campaign and Design and Construction of a Lava Beds
Research Center." The Cave Research Foundation (CRF) has been
working in the monument since 1989. Projects have
included locating caves and placing GPS markers at
their entrances, mapping of numerous caves,
developing and implementing a cave inventory
protocol, setting up a photo monitoring project,
and monitoring ice levels in the caves. The Lava Beds Natural History Association was
established in 1965 to aid and promote the
educational and scientific activities of the
National Park Service. As a non-profit organization
authorized by Congress, it makes interpretive
material available to park visitors by sale or free
distribution. The NHA provides books and other
merchandise available for sale at the monument
Visitor Center, funds the lantern program that
provides free lights and helmets to cave visitors,
and brings student volunteers to work at the
monument each summer. All net proceeds support the
interpretive and research programs of the National
Park Service. The
National Speleological Society Institute of Archeology,
California State University, Sacramento About
the Lava Beds Research Center Web Site: This
site is hosted for the Cave Research Foundation by
Periwinkle
Computer
Consulting.
Send your comments, problem reports and suggestions
to contact@labe-research-center.org.
The photographs on the site have been supplied by
Bill Frantz, Peri Frantz, Brad Mason, Janet Sowers,
John Tinslsy, and the NPS, and are copyrighted to
CRF and the individual photogrphers. Front
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updated 03/21/2005
Lava Beds National Monument
Tulelake, California 96134
Superintendent
Lava Beds National Monument