Minnesota was one of 30 states that will share a $1,276,088 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the white-nose syndrome project. The state was awarded $17,096, which will be used by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to support research, monitor bat populations and detect and respond to white-nose syndrome (WNS) affecting bats.
First discovered in New York in 2006-2007, white-nose syndrome has spread across 25 states and five Canadian provinces, killing as much as 90 to 100 percent of the bats infected. WNS gets its name from a fungus that grows on a bat’s ears, nose, wings and muzzle. The fungus (pseudogymnoascus destructans) causes an infection in hibernating bats that leaves them weakened and susceptible to starvation, dehydration, and secondary infections. It does not affect other animals or people.
According the USFWS, WNS has killed more than 5.5 million bats in the U.S. and Canada.
In Minnesota two types of bats—the northern long-eared bat and little brown bat—have been discovered to have WNS. The northern long-eared bat roosts in boreal forests behind loose pieces of bark, in hollow trees or even buildings. During hibernation the northern longeared bat likes to hibernate in caves and mines.
Petition starts process
On January 21, 2010 the USFWS received a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity requesting that the northern long-eared bat and eastern small-footed bat be listed as threatened or endangered.
After review the USFWS determined that the eastern small-footed bat didn’t warrant protection. Most bats congregate in hibernation, but the eastern small-footed bat has been changing its habits in the last few years, and now roosts alone or with a few other bats in non-cave areas. Because of this adaptation, scientists feel the small-footed will not go extinct. Other bats who fail to adapt will probably become extinct, say researchers.
According to the most recent Minnesota Biological Survey, Minnesota is home to at least 50,000 hibernating bats. According to the Center for Biological Diversity bats account for one-fifth of all mammals on earth and eat millions of pounds of flying insects each year.
Should the state lose a significant amount of its bat population, food growers could be in trouble because bats help pollinate crops and eat insects, which negatively impacts harvests.
On October 2, 2013, the USFWS published a proposal to list the northern long-eared bat on the Endangered Species List, a move that could restrict logging and other outdoor construction activities during the bats’ mating and roosting time in summer and fall.
How is it spread?
White-nose syndrome is believed to have originated in Europe, where it has been found in 12 countries. The difference there though is that bats in Europe have adapted to the fungus. Because bats do not travel across the continents it is thought that people must have carried the fungus to North America.
The disease is believed to have been introduced in caves from people’s footwear or equipment. It kills up to 75 percent of bats in the hibernaculum (the place where bats go to hibernate) the first year, and from 90 to 100 percent the second.
In 2013 two sites in Minnesota, the Forestville/ Mystery Cave State Park in the state’s southeastern corner near Zumbro and the Soudan Underground Mine State Park on the Iron Range, were found to house bats with WNS fungus. In that initial search three little brown bats and one northern long-eared bat were found infected.
In order to slow the spread of the disease, most state parks featuring caves have been closed to the public. In Minnesota the DNR has placed astro turf-like mats down for visitors to walk on at some state caves and also encourages those visitors to wash their clothes before visiting another cave. The mats have been shown to remove many of the spores that visitors carry on their shoes.
A plan is formed
The USFWS is using a National Response Plan established in 2011 by multiple states, federal and tribal governments to look at biological control options and screening. So far there are few biological options to consider because the fungus is so hardy. Caves are screened and often closed to the public if found to have the WNS fungus.
Congressman Rick Nolan is cosponsoring H.R. 5156, the Wildlife Disease Emergency Act, which would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to declare wildlife disease emergencies and coordinate a response.
“This way, the Department of the Interior could declare an emergency for situations like white-nose syndrome for northern long-eared bats, which would allow related agencies to attack the cause itself—through research and protective measures—rather than waiting until the crisis point of an endangered species declaration.
“As I told Director Ashe, shutting down our northern Minnesota forests to logging won’t save the northern longeared bat—we need to get to the root of the real problem. Logging and timber jobs are critical to our economy, and the northern long-eared Bat is critical to our ecosystem—we must not sacrifice either one.”
The USFWS has granted a six month extension before making a final decision no later than April 2, 2015 on listing— or not listing—the northern long-eared bat. If it is listed as endangered, regulations surrounding that designation may not be as harsh to loggers/ construction workers as first thought.
Hope for loggers
According to Lisa Mandell, deputy field supervisor of the USFWS, should the bat make the endangered list at least some timber harvest during the bat’s summer breeding season would be allowed.
She said concerns about the effect of listing the northern long-eared bat came primarily from initial guidance documents. Mandell said, “The conservation measures identified in the guidance will not become blanket requirements if the northern long-eared bat is listed as endangered. Instead, the conservation measures we presented provide a list of possible conservation options that may be used, depending on site-specific conditions to minimize impacts to the bat and its habitat.
“We are committed to practical solutions that focus conservation efforts where they are most needed and effective,” Mandell said.
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