On the recordNovember 19, 2014
This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the agency is reopening the comment period for an additional 30 days for the public comment period on their proposal to list the northern long-eared bat as endangered. This species can be found in 38 States, and if listed under the Endangered Species Act, the consequences could have significant impacts on farmers, foresters, landowners, and the States themselves. The underlying issue is that neither habitat loss nor human activities have played a role in the losses. The northern long-eared bat is suffering from a fungal disease known as White-nose Syndrome, which wakes subterranean cave-roosting bats out of hibernation in winter. Once awake, these bats leave the cave in search of food and, unfortunately, starve or die during the colder months. Rather than placing a limitation on land use that has nothing to do with the spread of a disease, I would encourage the Fish and Wildlife Service to focus on research into countering the White-nose Syndrome. The American people deserve as much. ____________________
