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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