National Biological Service Director Ron Pulliam today announced a collaborative project with the U.S. Bureau of Mines and Bat Conservation International, a non-profit oranization working to document and promote the values and conservation needs of bats worldwide. The project will merge information on the locations of inactive underground mine openings with national databases containing information on the ranges of fifteen bat species suspected of having declining populations. The project is one of 21 chosen competitively nationwide from more than 400 candidates to receive funds in 1995 as part of the NBS Species at Risk Initiative.
Bats play a critical role in controlling agricultural pest insects and in pollinating crops.
For instance, a colony of 100,000 free-tailed bats living in the inactive Orient Mine in Colorado feeds on more than 50 tons of moths per month. This partnership will give mining companies, farmers and ranchers the accurate information they need to avoid endangering bats and to protect these extremely beneficial mammals. NBS is committed to helping citizens and industry by providing sound, credible scientific information to those who make decisions affecting management of lands and their associated resources. Bat Conservation International maps showing the distribution of bat species will be superimposed on the U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Industry Location System to reveal the relationship between mine-dependent bat species, abandoned mine habitat, and federal land ownership. Areas of high convergence of mines and bat habitats can then be prioritized for future evaluation and conservation.