The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today announced grant awards totaling $962,981 to thirty states for white-nose syndrome (WNS) projects. State natural resource agencies will use the funds for surveillance and monitoring of caves and mines where bats hibernate, preparing state response plans and other related projects.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced seven grant awards totaling approximately $1.4 million to continue the investigation of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats, and to identify ways to manage it.

On the verge of another season of winter hibernating bat surveys, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and partners estimate that at least 5.7 million to 6.7 million bats have now died from white-nose syndrome (WNS). Biologists expect the disease to continue to spread. WNS is decimating bat populations across eastern North America, with mortality rates reaching up to 100 percent at many sites. First documented in New York in 2006, the disease has spread quickly into 16 states and four Canadian provinces.

This opportunity is open to all State and Federal agency personnel, as well as non-governmental organizations, university, and private researchers. We anticipate that up to $1 million will be available for high priority research projects through this request for proposal (RFP) process. The announcement will be open for 45 days, with proposals due 4 December 2011.

The Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today unveiled a national management plan to address the threat posed by white-nose syndrome, which has killed more than a million hibernating bats in eastern North America since it was discovered near Albany, New York in 2006.

MISSOULA, Mont. – Due to the westward spread of white-nose syndrome among bats, Regional Forester Leslie Weldon is considering potential restrictions for caves and abandoned mines on National Forests and National Grasslands in the Northern Region of the U.S. Forest Service. The Northern Region encompasses North Dakota, Montana, north Idaho, and northwest South Dakota.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will give 6 grant awards totaling $800,000 to research efforts that will explore the cause and control of white-nose syndrome.