The management plan developed by BCI and The Nature Conservancy enables stringent protection of the cave and its winged occupants. The plan prevents human entrance to the cave during maternal activity, controls visitation, monitors the bat population, and protects the cave opening. Education and research also are major aspects of the management initiatives at work on the preserve. Extensive bat ecology studies have been conducted since the early 1980s. Research by scientists, such as Dr. McCracken of the University of Tennessee and Dr. Kunz of Boston University, has lead to several publications demonstrating the ecological importance of free-tailed bats.
Research continues at the site and the cave remains open to scientists throughout most of the year.
To educate cave visitors, a Stewardship Intern is hired each summer who implements the on-site educational program, greets guests, answers questions, records visitor attendance, and documents nightly emergence data. Moreover, the intern has the awesome responsibility of conveying to the public the importance of bats and to erase fears and misconceptions about these flying mammals.