The Northwest Operations Area (NOA) was designated in 2019 by the CRF Board of Directors and presently is comprised chiefly of several Federal jurisdictions and some private lands. The new NOA designation succeeds and expands the Lava Beds Operations Area (LABE) that formerly housed CRF operations at Lava Beds National Monument and the adjacent Modoc and Klamath National Forests from 1988 to present.
Thus, the new NOA CRF Operations Area (2019-present) boasts 3 highly productive, major projects. These projects are located at Craters of the Moon National Monument, in Idaho’s famed Snake River Plain; the Klamath Mountains area including the McCloud Limestone, a project coordinated by Joel Despain, Heather Veerkamp and Niles Lathrop; and finally the Lava Beds project (1989-present) located on the north slope of Medicine Lake Volcano in Lava Beds National Monument, coordinated by John Tinsley.
Each project seeks to locate and map and inventory the caves within its geographic purview and conduct and facilitate scientific endeavors as opportunities arise. Craters of the Moon and Lava Beds projects address chiefly lava tube caves; the Klamath project is more broadly based and includes both epigene and hypogene solution caves within a variety of geological settings ranging from the Lake Shasta area westward to the coast and north to Oregon.
This CRF project addresses the hundreds of lava tubes located in Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. The goals are to produce an accurate list of lava tube locations, detailed maps of the tubes, and inventory the biological, geological, and cultural phenomena found in the tubes. The project heretofore plans extensive fieldwork in the month of September annually; this schedule is almost certain to change as the project grows. In 2025, more than 100 caves were mapped at CRMO
The geographic scope is broadest in the NOA and includes caves in the Klamath, Shasta-Trinity, and Mendocino and Modoc National Forests as well as privately-held lands containing cave and karst features in the Klamath Mountains geologic province of northern California and beyond. The CRF Klamath Mountains project is based in the rugged terrain of northwest California. Here lie 10,000 square miles of accreted-terrane, marine rocks with large areas of granitic plutons and ultramafic rocks. The Klamaths as a geologic entity include many separate ranges, such as the Sisikiyou, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Scott, McCloud and the Marble mountains. Elevations range from near sea level to approximately 9,000 feet in several ranges. Niles Lathrop (2025) completed his Master of Science thesis at Western Kentucky University (advisor: Pat Kambesis) and presented strong evidence for both epigene and hypogene cave genesis processes in the McCloud Limestone. The prospects for continued discoveries, mapping of new and known caves, inventory, and other scientific studies are seriously stout
Includes lava caves on the north slope of Medicine Lake Volcano, in the adjacent Modoc National Forest, and likely soon will include selected caves of the newly minted Sáttítla Highlands National Monument which includes most of the other lava areas near LABE. The Lava Beds project was initiated by Janet Sowers in 1988-89 and anchored by cartography, inventory and monitoring activities as well as classical scientific studies has flourished for more than 3 decades. There are plenty of caves left to map and to study.
Page last updated December 2025
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