The Dayton Underground Grotto
of the National Speleological Society

Ohio Cave Laws

The Ohio Revised Code

Section 1517.21
General Assembly: 117.
Bill Number: Amended S.B. 177
Effective Date: 3/22/89

As used in sections 1517.21 to 1517.26 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Cave" means a naturally occurring void, cavity, recess, or system of interconnecting passages beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge, including, without limitation, a grotto, rock shelter, sinkhole, cavern, pit, natural well, pothole, or subsurface water and drainage system.

(B) "Cave life" means any organism that naturally occurs in, uses, visits, or inhabits any cave, except those animals that are permitted to be taken under Chapter 1533. of the Revised Code.

(C) "Material" includes:

(1) Any speleothem, whether attached or broken, found in a cave;

(2) Any clay or mud formation or concretion or sedimentary deposit found in a cave;

(3) Any scallop, rill, or other corrosional or corrasional feature of a cave;

(4) Any wall or ceiling of a cave or any other part of the speleogen.

(D) "Owner" means any person having title to land in which a cave is located.

(E) "Speleothem" means any stalactite, stalagmite, or other natural mineral formation or deposit occurring in a cave.

(F) "Speleogen" means the surrounding material or bedrock in which a cave is formed, including walls, floors, ceilings, and similar related structural and geological components.

(G) "Sinkhole" means a closed topographic depression or basin generally draining underground, including, without limitation, a blind valley, swallowhole, or sink.

(H) "Hazard" means a risk of serious physical harm to persons or property.

The general assembly hereby finds that caves are uncommon geologic phenomena and that the minerals deposited in them may be rare and occur in unique forms of great beauty that are irreplaceable if destroyed. Also irreplaceable are the archeological resources in caves, which are of great scientific and historic value. It is further found that species of cave life are unusual and of limited numbers; that many are rare, threatened, or endangered species; and that caves are a natural conduit for groundwater flow and are highly subject to water pollution, thus having far-reaching effects transcending man's property boundaries. It is therefore declared to be the policy of the general assembly to protect these unique and great natural, historical, scientific, and cultural resources.

With the advice of the Ohio natural areas council created under section 1517.03 of the Revised Code, the chief of the division of natural areas and preserves shall:

(A) Formulate policies and plans and establish a program incorporating them for the identification and protection of the state's cave resources and adopt, amend, or rescind rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement that program;

(B) Provide technical assistance and management advice to owners upon request concerning the protection of caves on their land.

(A) Without the express written permission of the owner and, if the owner has leased the land, without the express written permission of the lessee, no person shall knowingly:

(1) Break, break off, crack, carve on, write on, mark on, burn, remove, or in any other manner destroy, deface, mark, or disturb the surfaces of any cave or any natural material found in any cave, whether attached or broken, including, without limitation, speleothems, speleogens, and sedimentary deposits;

(2) Break, force, tamper with, or otherwise disturb any lock, door, gate, or other device designed to limit, control, or prevent access to or entry into a cave;

(3) Remove, deface, or tamper with any posted sign giving notice against unauthorized access to or presence in a cave or citing any of the provisions of sections 1517.21 to 1517.26 or division (B) of section 1517.99 of the Revised Code;

(4) Place refuse, garbage, dead animals, sewage, or toxic substances harmful to cave life or humans in a cave;

(5) Burn within a cave any substance other than acetylene gas burned in a carbide lamp that produces smoke or gas that is harmful to cave life;

(6) Use any door, gate, or other device designed to limit, control, or prevent access to or entry into a cave that does not allow free and unimpeded passage of air, water, and cave life;

(7) Excavate or remove historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, or archaeological or paleontological sites found in a cave, including, without limitation, saltpeter workings, relics, inscriptions, fossilized footprints, and bones;

(8) Remove, kill, harm, or disturb any cave life found within a cave.

(B) Without the express written permission of the owner and, if the owner has leased the land, without the express written permission of the lessee, no person shall purposely destroy, injure, or deface historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, or archaeological or paleontological sites found in a cave, including, without limitation, saltpeter workings, relics, inscriptions, fossilized footprints, and bones.

No person shall sell or offer for sale speleothems collected from caves in this state.

(A) Owners and, if the owner has leased the land, the lessee, are not liable for injuries, death, or loss sustained by any permittee on their land if no charge has been made. By granting permission for entry, the owner or lessee does not:

(1) Extend to the permittee any assurance that the premises are safe for such purposes;

(2) Confer on the permittee the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed;

(3) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an act or omission of a permittee.

(B) This section does not limit the liability which otherwise exists for injury, death, or loss to persons or property caused by an act or omission of the owner or lessee as follows:

(1) Negligent failure to warn the permittee against a hazard of which the owner or lessee had actual knowledge prior to the permittee's entry on the land;

(2) Willful or wanton misconduct;

(3) Intentionally tortious conduct.

(A) Whoever violates division (A) of section 1517.021 or section 1517.051 of the Revised Code shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than five hundred dollars for a first offense; for each subsequent offense the person shall be fined not less than two hundred nor more than one thousand dollars.

(B) Whoever violates division (A) of section 1517.24 or section 1517.25 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

(C) Whoever violates division (B) of section 1517.24 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.

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