Awarded Grants

When word came through that a decades long closed pit in Marion County, TN was up for sale, SCCi knew this was a unique opportunity to protect and reopen an incredible pit. Our goal was to raise $165,000 in 30 days to cover the purchase and infrastructure costs for Sinkhole.

Discovered in 1975, this 165 ft pit drops into an L-shaped cave that extends nearly 500 feet in a low and muddy crawl. Located within easy access to many other caves along the ridge, this will be a new addition to the weekend adventure list. While cavers of the 70's and 80's enjoyed Sinkhole for decades, the next generation awaits the same opportunity. Through responsible management and proper infrastructure, Sinkhole will be reopened with caving, camping and surface permit opportunities.

Since the beginning of the organization in 2002, the Cave Conservancy of Hawai'i has focused its conservation efforts on the Kipuka Kanohina Cave System on the island of Hawai'i, situated in the desert of Ka'u on the southern flank of Mauna Loa Volcano.

In November 2022, CCH finalized the purchase of a 3-acre tract over the Menehune section of the Kanohina lava tube system. This opportunity also provided CCH the ability to join several tracts that will make for a better conservation and stewardship plan.

Within the rugged mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico is Sistema Huautla - an underground abyss that redefines the scale of the subterranean world beneath us. Explored to a depth of -1560 meters, it is the deepest known cave in the Western Hemisphere and tied with a cave in Austria as the 9th deepest in the world. Currently, Sistema Huautla includes 29 separate entrances, with their respective caves totaling 55 miles of passage. As the immensity of this underground wilderness is still not fully realized, exploration in Sistema Huautla is on-going.