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USFWS Delays Listing Decision for Threatened Bat Species

Steven Thomas
/
US Fish and Wildlife Service

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will delay its decision on whether to list the northern long-eared bat as endangered.  The decision was set to come in October, but the agency will wait six more months before making the final call. 

Natural resource departments in Wisconsin and three other Midwestern states requested the delay

Wisconsin DNR Director of Natural Heritage Conservation Erin Crain says state agencies need time to give input on how conservation measures would be implemented. 

“We think it’s really important that the state agencies are part of the process. Most of the information about the status of listed species and their locations and their overall health…reside with the states actually.”

Bats provide valuable services to farmers and the public by eating insects, but the Wisconsin’s bats face new obstacles thanks to the spread of the deadly white nose syndrome…found in the state for the first time earlier this year.  The northern long-eared bat is already listed as threatened in the state of Wisconsin. 

Still, early guidelines put forth by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service drew protest from the forest products industry and state natural resource departments, who said they were unrealistic.  The draft rules indicated some summer logging might be restricted to protect bat habitat. 

Crain says as a result of the extension, the public comment period also reopens. 

“This is an opportunity for the public to weigh in, and also for the Fish and Wildlife Service to work with state agencies and other folks who have information that can help inform how they can best protect the bat, and what kind of conservation measures can be put in place.”

Public comment should be routed directly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service…not the state DNR.  

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