Virginia Region of the NSS

The Virginia Region of the National Speleological Society consists of 40+ local caving groups in and around Virginia and surrounding states. We promote the study and science of speleology, explore and maps caves, protect and conserve caves, manage limited access caves, and generally promote safe caving throughout the region, and promote fellowship and cooperation among all Regional cavers and organizations.

Web Site Under Construction - Please Pardon Our Dust!

We just had to upgrade our CMS and revert to an old backup. The look may be a little different, and the out-of-date stuff will be updated soon. Most of the content is back, but the forms are still missing, and there are surely plenty of broken links yet. Please bear with us. If your grotto's website URL has changed because of the NSS server move, please contact the webmaster (mcjames_verizon_net) so we can update your listing.

VAR Earth Day Sinkhole Cleanout - April 26-28

The annual VAR conservation project returns again this year, this time for a sinkhole cleanout in Bland County, VA.

Has your grotto been doing conservation?

If your grotto has been involved in any cave/karst conservation projects within last 6 months, please send anything from a 1-liner to a full report including the following info: Who, What, When, and Where to VAR Conservation chair Janet Tinkham at janete at shentel dot net for ouro annual conservation summary. Your input is valuable for reporting... and letting the caving community know what we've been involved in AND a sharing of resouces! Thanks!

Spring VAR 2024 just announced - May 3-5, 2024!

Come out and help DC Grotto celebrate its 85th anniversary at the East Fork Campground in Durbin, WV. More details to follow.

The Virginia Cave Board is safe (for now)!

The measure was put off, so the VCB is safe for now, but it is still a good idea to tell your legislators not to even reconsider canning it.

The upcoming Virginia Senate Bill 299 proposes to eliminate the Virginia Cave Board (VCB), which is a collection of volunteer advisors who are subject matter experts in their respective sub-fields of speleology and karst, and replace it with one paid political appointee with no expertise in the field. The VCB is not funded by the state, and provides expert guidance on cave-related matters for essentially zero cost to the state. This is a lose-lose situation. Virginia cavers alarmed by this move are highly encouraged to attend the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and NAtural Resources meeting on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 in Richmond, and reach out to their local legislators to voice their dsiapproval ASAP.

Need a Program for your Grotto's Virtual Meeting?

Since most grottoes are still having virtual meetings, video programs can be a challenge due to bandwidth limitations. Several VAR members have been active converting the old NSS slide shows to PowerPoint and PDF format. Twenty-nine programs have already been converted, with more on the way. Feel free to download and use for your grotto's meeting! There is no rental charge, as there was with the physical slides.

Photo Banner Credits

A huge Thank You to Nikki Fox for kindly providing the VAR caving images used in our rotating header!!!