Vandals deface Tongue River Cave, again

The Bighorn National Forest Service has announced that currently, efforts to resume cleanup around Tongue River Cave have been mobilizing.  

But the BNF also reports some unfortunate news as vandals in the last few weeks covered recently cleaned areas with fresh graffiti that will also need to be removed along with the older paint.  

Law enforcement is investigating. The BNF is asking that If anyone has information about the individuals that may have been involved, please contact the Bighorn National Forest Sheridan office at 307-674-2600.

Tongue River Cave has long been enjoyed and sometimes abused by visitors over the years. Many Forest Service employees and volunteers have worked hard to clean up the popular area. Most recently, beginning in 2018 through 2019, the Forest Service hosted 15 workdays, with nearly 70 individual volunteers participating. People with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Hole-in-the-Wall and Northern Rocky Mountain Grottos associated with the National Speleological Society, and Wyoming Wilderness Association were instrumental in planning and carrying out this endeavor. Over 370 volunteer hours were spent removing trash from the cave and scrubbing graffiti (mostly outside and within the cave entry). Efforts were suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Whether local or visiting from afar, graffiti is not what visitors want or hope to see in natural areas. The removal is not only expensive, time consuming, and very difficult, it also permanently alters the rock and what is lost can never be replaced. The Forest Service asks that visitors please be respectful of public lands and remember we are not just sharing it with each other but also with people that will visit in the future. 

If you have questions, please contact the Forest Supervisor’s Office and Tongue Ranger District at (307) 674-2600. 

For tips on how you can do your part to recreate responsibly visit National Speleological Society, here, Leave No Trace, here.