Talk:Dunbar Cave State Park

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Under "History of the cave", the current description of Dunbar Cave State Park states that:

"In 1973, the State of Tennessee, under then Governor Gordon Browning, purchased the land from (Roy) Acuff, and classified it a State Park."

According to my research, this is incorrect. Documents on file at the State Natural Area Program office in Nashville, Tennessee and newspaper clippings on file at the Dunbar Cave State Natural Area Office in Clarksville, Tennessee, state that Dunbar Cave was purchased from Mrs. McKay King in 1973 and was designated a State Natural Area.

For further information on Dunbar Cave, I would refer you to a new book: "Dunbar Cave:  The Showplace of the South" which was written by Larry E. Matthews and published May, 2005 by the National Speleological Society.

Submitted by Larry E. Matthews on October 10, 2005.

This cave is OPEN to the public.
If you enjoy reading the book "Dunbar Cave", then by all means you should go visit the park and the cave in person. Dunbar Cave is currently a State Natural Area (Park). There is a rustic Visitor Center that was the original Bath House for the swimming pool that existed there in the 1940s through about 1970. The grounds are open to the public for free. There is a man-made lake in front of the cave entrance and fishing is allowed with a Tennessee fishing license. There are also hiking trails that loop through this 200-acre park.

Tours through the cave vary from season to season, so call ahead to (931) 648-5526 to find out the current tour schedule. Reservations may be made over the phone. This is a good idea, because tours are limmited and frequently fill up. You will need to bring your own flashlight, or rent one at the Visitor Center. There is a small admission fee, about $3.00 the last time I checked. The cave is muddy in places, so wear good hiking shoes or boots.

The highlights of the tour, for many people, are the prehistoric Indian drawings on the walls. They consist of enigmatic geometric designs and the figure of a reclining warrior in full war costume. The cave also features many attractive flowstone formations, espceically in Independence Hall.

170.141.109.39 (talk) 19:00, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Previous Ownership
Mr. Matthews is correct in his statement that the cave was once owned by H. McKay King. At the time I worked for an engineering company that Mr. King also owned and recall his spending a great deal of his time at the cave and Swan Lake golf course. He purchased the area from Roy Acuff and upon his death, in 1970 or 1971, ownership of the cave went to his wife who eventually sold it to the State of Tennessee. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.52.70.180 (talk) 12:54, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Mud Glyph
Removed the reference due to referenced source material being removed. Bl968 (talk) 04:35, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

White Nost Syndrome
A solitary bat with White Nose Syndrome was discovered in Dunbar Cave in March, 2010. Based on this discovery, the State of Tennessee closed Dunbar Cave to the public. It is interesting to note that no other commercial cave in the entire United States has been closed due to the presence of WNS. In fact, Howe Caverns, New York, where White Nose Syndrome was first discovered in 2005 is STILL open to the public.

If the Fish and Wildlife Service thinks this is so important, why have no Federal commercial caves, such as Mammoth Cave or Carlsbad Caverns been closed? Think about it.

I think any reasonable person would think that closing bat caves is a good idea, until more is known about WNS. But, closing a commercial caves with only a small bat population seems to make no sense. WNS has already moved as far west as Oklahoma, so Dunbar Cave hardly stands as a barrier to the movement of the disease.

Larry E. Matthews,

Professional Geologist —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.179.16.130 (talk) 23:29, 28 June 2010 (UTC)
 * To answer you questions, I don't know why. BUT, Wikipedia isn't a blog to discuss the pros and cons of such actions or events. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, which uses reliable sourced material to create articles about topics that are notable. Please confine your talk page activities to the subject at hand, which is improving and discussing the article, not whether the actions reported in the article are appropriate steps to be taken about the WNS problem. Thank you and have a nice day.  He  iro 23:47, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

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