About the
Texas Speleological Association

"Howdy!" from the members of the TSA.

The TSA is a not-for-profit organization that supports cave exploration and cave studies by cavers in and around the state of Texas. It is comprised of members and clubs (called Grottos). It is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS).

The Texas Speleological Association was formed in 1956 to bring the widely dispersed cavers and caving organizations in Texas together as an Association in order to promote cooperation and to coordinate the caving activities within the state. The cavers and organizations have changed over the years; both have increased in number and diversity. The importance of the TSA as an Association has never been greater. If you care about Texas caving at all, if you care about the discovery and exploration of new caves, if you care about mapping, if you care about conservation, if you care about safety, if you care to meet other cavers, if you care to know more about caving, if you want to keep up with the latest developments in equipment and techniques, then it is important that you join and support the TSA, and subscribe to its publications.

Membership in the TSA includes a subscription to The Texas Caver magazine. It also includes the Special Activities Newsletter when published for events like elections, etc..

The TSA Special Activities Newsletter keeps cavers informed of upcoming events and The Texas Caver publishes cave and trip reports, technical articles, and other information of interest to Texas cavers.

The TSA convention offers cavers an opportunity to learn more about caving and, along with the Texas Cavers' Reunion, gives them a chance to meet other cavers and to have a good time. Bringing all of these varied entities together for the benefit of Texas caving is the reason that the TSA exists. If you are a part of Texas caving, you are a part of the TSA. Please support it by joining and encouraging other cavers to join.

If you are not already a member of the TSA, we hope you will join us. If you are a member we hope you will encourage other Texas cavers to join! By cooperating and coordinating our efforts we can make caving better in Texas. Any caver in Texas has to interact with other cavers, the public, and (usually) landowners. Most cavers have to have equipment which, except in extreme cases, comes after discussion with other cavers and from equipment vendors.

Most conscientious cavers fill out cave report forms about the new caves they explore and map. Those reports should be filed with the Texas Speleological Survey (TSS) for archival purposes. Trip reports should also be published in the Grotto's publication and a brief summary sent to The Texas Caver with Grotto News. Other cavers read those reports and share your informationtalk about it with other cavers and learn more about Texas caving.

All information collected is kept by the TSS as a repository of Texas cave information.

We are all in this cave together!