By Pat Bradley
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-997738.mp3
Plattsburgh, NY – Congress has allocated four million dollars from the Department of the Interior's 2012 Endangered Species Recovery Fund to research and manage White Nose Syndrome. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National White Nose Syndrome Coordinator Jeremy Coleman says the funds are probably the single largest amount they have received from a specific source to address the disease that has been decimating bat populations.
White Nose Syndrome was discovered in a colony of bats in a cave near Albany, New York in 2006. Since then it has spread to 16 states and four Canadian provinces. NYS DEC Wildlife Biologist Carl Herzog visits and researches the original sites.
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Service Bat Biologist Scott Darling says the level of funding will allow some broadening of research.
White Nose Syndrome has caused a 90 percent mortality rate among the little brown bat, once the most common bat in the eastern U.S. It is being reviewed for possible endangered species listing. The Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned for similar listings for two other bat species affected by the disease. Center for Biological Diversity Conservation Advocate Mollie Matteson.
The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service were also directed to enhance research and monitoring for White Nose syndrome, although no funds were appropriated.