Indiana Bat Puts Roadbuilding on Hold in Vermont
11/25/98
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Title: Indiana Bat Puts Roadbuilding on Hold in Vermont
Source: Forest Watch
Status: Distribute freely with proper credit to source
Date: 11/25/98
Contacts: Jim Northup, Forest Watch (802-223-3216)
Beth LeClair, USFS (802-767-4261)
The Indiana bat, a thumb-sized 3mouse with wings,y has put a temporary
halt to logging and roadbuilding on 5 percent of Vermont the 350,000 acre
Green Mountain National Forest. A similar moratorium on logging may soon
be imposed on the 750,000 acre White Mountain National Forest in New
Hampshire. The Indiana bat is a federally listed endangered species.
Officials from the United States Forest Service announced yesterday a
suspension of all future logging and road building activities on the Green
Mountain National Forest (GMNF). The surprise announcement came in
response to a recent appeal of a timber sale by Forest Watch, a 1,200
member environmental organization dedicated to saving and creating wild
forests, and reforming public land management.
White Mountain National Forest staff are proceeding with plans for future
timber sales, but admit that they too may have to suspend logging if
Forest Watch files similar appeals there. "An appeal of the White
Mountain's timber sales is as certain as death and taxes," said Jim
Northup, Executive Director of Forest Watch based in Montpelier, VT.
On November 5th, Forest Watch filed an appeal of Old Joe a 700,000 board
foot timber sale along Bingo Brook in Rochester, Vermont. In its appeal,
Forest Watch asked that the 400 acres of logging be suspended until the
agency completes work needed to ensure that the Indiana bat, a federally
listed endangered species, would be adequately protected. The Forest
Service withdrew the Old Joe timber sale on November 20th citing the need
to protect the migratory Indiana bat.
"Protection of federally listed Endangered Species and their habitats is
of paramount importance to the Forest Service and other federal agencies,"
said Beth LeClair, Acting Forest Supervisor on the GMNF. "We have a legal
and ethical responsibility to ensure that our actions do not harm
endangered species. It is a responsibility that takes precedence over all
others."
Biologists applauded Forest Service officials for their quick and decisive
action. "Suspension of all logging and road building is the prudent thing
to do until the agency can complete a biological assessment of the needs
of the Indiana bat, and amend the Forest Plan to ensure that logging and
other activities will not do it harm it," said Stephen Trombulak,
Middlebury College professor and chair of the biology and environmental
studies departments.
The Indiana bat is a migratory species that is found throughout much of
the eastern half of the United States. Severe declines in the Indiana bat
population have occurred in recent decades in several states, including
Vermont, in spite of protection of caves and abandoned mines where the
bats over-winter. Scientists conclude that the continued decline in the
Indiana bat's population may result from loss of their summer habitat<
areas of undisturbed old-growth, large old trees with peeling bark for
daytime roosting, and forested stream corridors for nighttime feeding on
insects.
"Endangered species, like the Indiana bat, serve as early warning signals
for problems in the environment. They tell us that we have messed
something up that needs to be put right," said Northup. "Working to meet
the habitat requirements of the Indiana bat, enables us to meet the
requirements of a host of other species at the same time."
The temporary halt to logging could last one to two years while the USFS
completes a biological evaluation of the bat, consults with the US Fish
and Wildlife Service, and amends its Forest Plan. The reduction in
logging on the National Forest is not expected to cause economic hardship
since the supply of wood on private land is abundant.
"Only about half of the total volume of wood that grows each year in
Vermont is being cut down and less than 2 percent of the annual volume cut
less than 1 percent of total annual growth Northup. "Private forest land can easily replace the wood coming from the
National Forests, but given our current laws only public land can be
counted on to provide habitats for rare, threatened and endangered
species. Habitat protection on our National Forests is the right thing to
do."
Contact Forest Watch (802-223-3216) for a summary of legal and biological
Indiana bat facts.