What Happened
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed listing the tricolored bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The proposed rule cites white-nose syndrome as the primary factor influencing the species’ viability, followed by deaths at wind farms, habitat loss, and effects from climate change. The tricolored bat is a relatively common, but declining species, that ranges across the eastern United States These bats use forested habitat during the summer and hibernate in caves, mines, culverts, and other subterranean features during the winter.
While tricolored bats share some life history characteristics with currently listed bats (i.e., Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats), they also differ in notable ways. For example, tricolored bats may be more commonly found in cracks and crevices of bridges, culverts, and other human-made structures. Further, tricolored bats are more likely to roost in foliage of live trees rather than dead and dying snags which are favored by Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats.
Read more in the full Regulatory Alert.
What to Watch
USFWS is accepting comments on the proposed listing rule through November 14, 2022. Comments may be submitted at www.regulations.gov or by mail (see website for further detail). The USFWS will be hosting a virtual public information meeting and hearing on October 12, 2022. More…
