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photo by Jim Craven Oregon Caves cleanup volunteers Bob and Karen Ellen (Kel) Letvinchuck brush and scoop away debris Saturday that's accumulated from years of human visitors to the national monument. Cave volunteers get the lint out Cleanup helps monument keep natural balance BY PAUL FATTIG CAVE JUNCTION -- Before heading to the Oregon Caves, you may want to give yourself a vigorous scrub in the tub. And don't forget to dig out that lump of lint from your belly button. Skin flakes and lint, albeit largely from clothes, are among the materials left by human visitors that the National Park Service is monitoring as it strives to restore the caves to its natural state. "Human skin flakes on a 28-day cycle -- that gets into the cave," observed John Roth, resource specialist at the Oregon Caves National Monument. "Hair does, too. When it's dry, we just brush it into a little dust bin and take it out." Although those materials aren't a major concern because of the large amounts of organic matter naturally found in the relatively moist caves, they are part of the subtle change introduced by humans over the years. "But we know it all has some impact on the cave life," Roth said. There are 12 sites throughout the cave where material buildup, such as lint and human skin flakes, in the form of dust is monitored. The plastic dishes gathering the dust are weighed every six months to a year to keep track of the accumulation. "People just naturally shed lint from their clothes," said Central Point resident Ron Reed, a seasonal ranger at the monument. ``They also shed skin flakes. It builds up after awhile." The issue was raised as the two led a group of about 10 volunteers on a cave cleanup project on Saturday. The cleanup day was co-sponsored by the National Park Service and the Siskiyou Regional Education Project, an environmental group based in the Illinois Valley. The event was part of the cave restoration project which began more than a decade ago. Park service employees and volunteers have removed some 1,500 tons of human materials, from heavy asphalt used for the cave trail to lint and skin flakes. All told, more than 80,000 buckets of debris, largely human-caused rubble, has been carried from the caves. Roughly $1.5 million has been spent on restoring the caves. While the human skin flakes and lint may seem to be a small item, the concern is more than just the visual impact on the otherwise glistening columns and crystals, explained Roger Brandt, chief of interpretation for the caves. "The ecological problem is that anything we introduce creates an alternate food source," he said. "Critters from the outside, who under natural conditions wouldn't be able to survive, could survive because of these additional food sources." Following after the insects and other small creatures drawn by the additional food source are small predators, he said, noting they would then prey on indigenous creatures and upset the balance of nature. "When that happens, you've skewed the chances of the cave endemics to survive," he said. With the Oregon Caves gaining national prominence with recent discoveries that include grizzly bone fossils believed to be 50,000 years old, there is greater importance on preserving the natural cycle, Roth said. "One of the park service's mandates for land entrusted to us is to manage them in such a way as to leave them unimpaired," said Roth, a geologist who has worked in Carlsbad Caverns and other large caves with the park service. "This cave has Ice Age bones, some real rare bugs and some incredible formations," he said. "This cave has eight species of bugs found nowhere else in the world. It has become very important." Grants Pass residents Bob and Kel Letvinchuck, who have been visiting the caves for years, pitched in to help Saturday by brushing debris into a bucket. "I like being here under the ground -- I appreciate it," she said. "We've seen so many improvements. We wanted to help out." So did fellow Grants Pass residents Cecile Famoso and her son, Nick, 12. She is a science teacher with a background in paleontology; her son is following her scientific footsteps. "I'm removing what we would call `overburden' in my field," she said as she brushed gravelly, human-caused debris into a hardhat. "We're getting rid of things that don't belong here." The volunteers carried out materials others had brought in, including old flash bulbs, clothing, a rusting tin can and rubble, some of which may have included the dust. But one human legacy that won't be removed is the signatures left by cave explorers more than a century ago. The graffiti left by early-day visitors, some back to 1875, will be left. "They are now considered historic," Roth explained. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA