1 million bats dead in US.. insecticides? planned extermination?

1 million bats dead in US.. insecticides? planned extermination?


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(Whether dead bats are from insecticides or a secret extermination such
as the spraying of detergent on tens of thousands of blackbirds at Ft Campbell, Kentucky...
an action which caused their deaths by freezing, or other is not known.)
No Halloween Treat for Bats:
National Plan for Bat-killing Disease Too Little, Too Late

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RICHMOND, Vt.— Four years into a wildlife disease epidemic that has already killed more than a million bats in the eastern United States, the federal government Wednesday finally released a national response plan for white-nose syndrome. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan is still in draft form and provides only a conceptual framework for responding to the disease. It lists no specific action items and makes no concrete recommendations for research and management of the fast-spreading malady that has hit nine bat species so far, including two on the endangered species list.

“It’s frightening to watch the government’s slow-motion response to what biologists call one of the worst wildlife declines in American history,” said Mollie Matteson, a Center for Biological Diversity conservation advocate. “A year after it first released a draft version of its plan, we have yet another draft, and nothing that actually gives direction or provides resources to scientists in the lab or biologists in the field.”

White-nose syndrome is associated with a newly identified fungal species that grows on bats’ noses and wings and causes them to die of starvation in winter. From its epicenter near Albany, NY, the disease has spread rapidly, with the fungus now found on bats in 14 states, from New Hampshire to Oklahoma, as well as two Canadian provinces, Quebec and Ontario. Bats play a vital role in controlling moths, beetles and other insects.

“What would Halloween be without bats? Scarier still, what would America be without them?” Matteson said. “If we’re going to stem the spread of this deadly disease, we need the government to move quickly with a well-coordinated, well-funded response. In moving too slowly and failing to include concrete action, this plan keeps bats on the path to extinction, and we’ll all be poorer for it.”

The national plan has been long awaited by wildlife agencies and conservation groups to push response to the disease into higher gear. Already, some bat populations in eastern states have declined by as much as 80 to 100 percent; scientists fear that as the disease spreads westward, it will eliminate entire species of the insect-eating mammals. Insect populations may take off as a result.

“The nightmare of this disease is only accelerating, but the federal government continues to waste time, as if it has decades to figure things out. The bats can’t tolerate more dramatic losses, and they can’t tolerate any more government foot-dragging,” said Matteson.

As an alternative to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s conceptual draft plan, the Center for Biological Diversity is urging the federal government take the following actions over the coming several months:

* Immediately declare white-nose syndrome a wildlife emergency
* Dedicate at least $10 million for white-nose syndrome research in next year’s Interior budget
* Develop a systematic plan for restricting access to all bat-occupied caves and mines on Bureau of Land Management lands and prohibit nonessential human access to all U.S. Forest Service caves in the Southwest by the end of the year
* Finalize the national response plan for the disease by mid-January
* Develop a National Park Service plan by mid-February to limit the disease’s spread
* Prohibit nonessential human access to all Forest Service caves in the Intermountain, Northern, Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest regions by late February.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comments on the draft plan for 60 days; then it will review the response and finalize the plan. Specific measures for addressing the disease will be contained in a subsequent implementation plan, but there is no deadline for completion of that plan, according to officials.



Contact Info: Mollie Matteson, (802) 434-2388 (office); (802) 318-1487 (cell)