But a large percentage of visitors are not NSS members. In the last decade, many of these spectacular caves have been closed by their managers because of damage caused by heavy traffic. In some cases, there have been blatant acts of speleothem theft and vandalism. True, the famous caves in the movie will probably be well protected. Look at the number of cave closures, and the negative incidents we've been hearing about, observe the skeptics.
People show up at caves.
They are not NSS members, they are not conservation minded, and they trash the caves and the landowner relations we have worked so long on. Given the unique situation of caves we need to keep caving quiet, the skeptics assert. Selective publicity can be acceptablea useful education strategy, because it is sensitive to local cave conditions. But mass publicity is by definition unselective. The door to the NSS is always open.