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DNR completes plan to open Wyandotte Cave tours under new managementFaced with closing Wyandotte Cave due to the state budget shortfall, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources is contracting this year with a commercial cave management company to conduct tours and manage the facility.Wyandotte Cave, LLC, Marengo, will assume operation of the cave tours this month. The company will provide a greater variety of tour formats, more frequent departure times and an expanded gift shop. Wyandotte Cave, LLC’s principals are Gordon Smith and Timothy Grissom. Smith also operates Marengo Cave in Marengo, Ind. and Diamond Caverns in Park City, Ky. Grissom operates Ohio Caverns in West Liberty, Oh. "To save Wyandotte Cave tours and keep this geologic masterpiece open to the public, the DNR needs commercial management with the resources and experience we can trust," said DNR Director John Goss. "Gordon Smith and Timothy Grissom have more than 50 years of experience in providing cave tours. I am confident they will improve the quality of Wyandotte Cave tours to a level that is comparable to that of commercial caves," Goss said. Wyandotte Cave is world-famous for its subterranean Monument Mountain, widely regarded as the tallest underground mountain on earth. It is located in the Wyandotte State Recreation Area on State Road 62, east of Leavenworth. More than 20,000 visitors typically toured the cave each year. The DNR received a permanent $8.2 million budget cut from the state General Fund earlier this year, which has forced the DNR to cut back on services and close some facilities. "The DNR no longer had funding to pay nine employees who conducted cave tours, so we would have been forced to close the facility," Goss said. To protect the endangered Indiana Bat, which winters in Big Wyandotte Cave, no tours will be conducted in that cave between the first Wednesday after Labor Day and April 30th. Previously, the cave operated year round. Tours will, however, be conducted most of the year in the New Cave, formally called Little Wyandotte, which does not play host to the Indiana Bat. The DNR included this new provision in the contract with Wyandotte Cave, LLC following consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A reduction in the number of days Big Wyandotte is open does mean that the price for tours will be comparable to commercial caves. A 90-minute tour will be $7 for children between the ages of 4 and 12, and $14 for visitors age 13 and above. Previously, rates for a similar tour were $4 and $7. Three privately managed caves nearby, Blue Springs Cavern in Bedford and Squire Boone Caverns in Corydon and Marengo Cave in Marengo, do not have 90-minute tours but they do offer shorter tours at similar prices. Blue Springs charges youths between the ages of 3 and 15, $5 for a one-hour tour and $10 for visitors older than 15. A one-hour tour at Squire Boone Caverns runs $6.50 for ages 6 to 11 and #11 for older visitors. A 70-minute tour along Marengo’s Dripstone Trail goes for $6.25 for children ages 4 through 12, and $12.50 for ages 13 and above.
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