BLM tightening access to southern Utah cave
ST. GEORGE (AP) — Starting next month, only 30 people a day will be allowed into southern Utah's largest cave.
The Bureau of Land Management put locked gates at two entrances to Bloomington Cave this spring and is limiting entry to only those with a permit. The changes take effect July 6.
For nearly a century, access to the 1.3-mile-long Bloomington Cave was largely unregulated. Although popular with serious explorers, untrained spelunkers and Boy Scouts, the cave was also a hit with vandals, partiers and litter bugs.
BLM officials hope the changes will help keep the cave clean and protect fragile geologic formations and wildlife, including a declining number of Townsend's big-eared bats.
The cave is about 15 miles west of St. George.
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