Environmental assessment, activities associated with
management of white-nose syndrome in bats
MADISON â€" The Department of Natural Resources has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) of the management of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats. Although an EA is not required for the proposed management of this syndrome under Wisconsin’s Environmental Policy Act, the department voluntarily prepared this EA to more fully explain the proposed management plan to the public.
(Media-Newswire.com) - MADISON – The Department of Natural Resources has prepared an environmental assessment ( EA ) of the management of white-nose syndrome ( WNS ) in bats. Although an EA is not required for the proposed management of this syndrome under Wisconsin’s Environmental Policy Act, the department voluntarily prepared this EA to more fully explain the proposed management plan to the public.
WNS is responsible for unprecedented mortality in cave bats, and is frequently identified by the white fungus ( Geomyces destructans ) that grows on nose, ears, and muzzle or wing membranes of cave bats. Since initial detection in 2006, the syndrome has been found in 14 states and two Canadian provinces, spreading up to 800 miles in the last year.
The disease has been linked to the death of more than one million bats since 2007 and threatens to cause the extinction of several bat species. Mortality rates of affected colonies can reach 100 percent. All four species of Wisconsin cave bat species are at risk if the syndrome reaches the state.
In order to effectively manage white-nosed syndrome, the department is proposing additions to Chapter NR 40 of the Wis. Admin. Code, “Invasive species identification, classification and control,” declairing G. destructans as an invasive species and listing the Wisconsin cave bat species as threatened.
In the unlikely event that requested voluntary cooperation is not obtained from cave owners, the rule change would allow specified department actions to occur in caves statewide, including access ( with a court warrant ) to caves or mines to survey for the presence of G. destructans, exclusion of either bats or humans from caves or mines, and decontamination of gear used in or near caves or mines.
These steps are deemed temporary to control the pending threat of WNS from reaching the Wisconsin bat population and deal specifically with control of the fungus. If WNS does enter the state, the department will re-evaluate the plan and adapt based on the course of the infection.
Affected parties include commercial caves/mines, private cave/mine owners, active underground mines, recreational cavers, agriculture and forest industries, and the conservation community. The EA assumes the impact of the action to farmers will be positive, since if bat populations in the state were to be devastated, the costs to agriculture from pest damage and pesticide use are expected to increase.
Risks of doing nothing may include the extirpation of Wisconsin’s cave bat community and potential human health risks from insect-borne disease associated with this extirpation. No signification environmental impacts result from the proposed management activities.
The Environmental Assessment, proposed rule changes, and more information about white-nose syndrome and Wisconsin bats, can be found on the Saving Wisconsin Bats page of the DNR website.
The public may submit comments on the proposed EA until Dec. 7, 2010 at 5 p.m. Comments can be sent to Stacy Rowe at the above address, or by e-mailing to Stacy.Rowe@wi.gov. Questions can be addressed by calling ( 608 ) 266-7012.
The Natural Resources Board will hear testimony on the adoption of the proposed rules its meeting scheduled at the on Wednesday, December 8, in Room G09 of the State Natural Resources Building ( GEF 2 ), 101 S. Webster St., Madison.
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