In 1988, the U. S. Congress created a major impetus for the involvement of the United States in cave and karst protection and management by passing the landmark Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-691; November 18, 1988). The act directs the secretaries of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to inventory and list significant caves on federal lands and to provide management and dissemination of information about caves. A current, nationwide assessment of significant federally owned caves is cataloging the known caves on federal land and further increasing the impetus for cave management and research.

In 1990, the Congress also directed the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service, to establish and administer a program on cave research and to examine the feasibility of a centralized national cave and karst research institute. The feasibility study was prepared in cooperation with other federal agencies that manage caves, organizations that are involved in cave-related topics, cave experts, and interested individuals and was forwarded to the Congress. Based on the results of the study, a bill (S. 231) was introduced in the 105th Congress to establish the National Cave and Karst Research Institute in New Mexico.