(Lansing-MPRN) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has placed the northern long-eared bat on the “threatened” species list. But the agency stopped short of saying the species is threatened with extinction by a fungus that’s already killed millions of bats.
Bats play a critical environmental role by controlling insects. The threat posed by white nose syndrome could upset that balance. Dan Kennedy is an endangered species expert with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He says the decision gives researchers more time to search for a solution while the bats hibernate for the winter.
“Ninety percent of them are in the west end of the UP in old mines. Most of them are fairly remote.”
There could be some restrictions on logging and tree thinning in summer months in areas across the state where young bats are roosting.
