Peter Youngbaer, NSS WNS Liaison, has requested that the following
information
be sent out on the Grotto Conservation Network (GCN). Please
forward this
info out to your membership.
For Jim Werker and Val
Hildreth-Werker, NSS Conservation Co-Chairs
Steve Smith
GCN
Coordinator
..........................................................................
Dear
Val and Steve,
It would much appreciated if you could send the
following out to the
conservation and grotto networks. While plenty of
people search out the NSS
WNS website and other WNS pages and chats, many
cavers also get news through
their grottos and local list servers. We really
need to make sure we are
communicating through as many channels as possible.
Thanks very much for your
help. Peter
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
White Nose Syndrome has
now been confirmed in several new states this
winter: Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, New Hampshire, and
New Jersey. A likely
site
has also been reported in Virginia. Wildlife officials in Illinois have
closed all but one
of their caves to the public. Further reports are likely
before the end of
winter. What had been limited to the northeast is quickly
becoming a far
more national issue.
Below is a link to an excellent, in depth, and
up-to-date report on WNS
including the latest research findings. It includes photographs
from West
Virginia,
and interviews with several of the leading WNS researchers. Some of
what
they report was discussed at length in a national WNS webinar on February
20
in which over 45 university and laboratory researchers, federal and
state
wildlife officials, and ngos BCI and the NSS participated.
http://www.earthfil es.com/news.
php?ID=1529&category=Environmen
t>http://www.earthfil es.com/news.
php?ID=1529&category=Environmen t>
As cavers and cave
conservationists across the country are unfortunately
becoming more
personally affected by the reach of WNS, it is important to
re-emphasize the
need to clean and decontaminate clothing and gear. The USFWS
has protocols
on this for cavers and researchers working with bats which can
be found at:
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/whitenosemessage.html.
Please know that we understand these protocols are challenging
and
inconvenient. They are being examined for better efficacy, and to balance
the
biological containment
needs with safety, have been updated, and are likely to
change again as more
is learned about WNS. Please check the site regularly
before
caving.
A number of states have suspended their regular winter bat
surveys in
order to prevent further spread of WNS as much as possible, and to
permit
hibernating bat colonies under stress from being disturbed further.
While it
may be likely that WNS will continue to spread on its own - bat to
bat - we
can do our part to help slow it down, possibly buying time for the
research to
catch up.
Cave clean, cave safely, and cave softly.
Thank you.
Peter Youngbaer NSS 16161
NSS WNS Liaison
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