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<DIV>From: lstritch@fs.fed.us<BR>To: kawinter@fs.fed.us, rdlopez@fs.fed.us,
hli@fs.fed.us, dcleland@fs.fed.us, csrichmond@fs.fed.us<BR>CC: fharty@tnc.org,
lda@pollinator.org<BR>Sent: 4/16/2013 9:47:15 A.M. Pacific Daylight
Time<BR>Subj: FW: Ninety-eight percent of cave-hibernating bats in Pennsylvania
have died, say biologists ; Natural news 4/15/2013<BR></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Prendusi, Teresa
-FS <BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 15, 2013 4:05 PM<BR><B>To:</B> FS-pdl r4 ro
nr staff<BR><B>Cc:</B> Cleveland, Alix -FS; Ikeda, Diane -FS; Popovich, Steve
J -FS; Rankin, Duke -FS; Schultz, Jan -FS; Shelly, Steve -FS; Skinner, Mark
-FS; Stensvold, Mary -FS; Stritch, Larry -FS; Prendusi, Teresa
-FS<BR><B>Subject:</B> FW: Ninety-eight percent of cave-hibernating bats in
Pennsylvania have died, say biologists ; Natural news
4/15/2013</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">This
is so tragic.</SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Teresa
Prendusi, Regional Botanist</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">U.S.
Forest Service, Intermountain Region</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">324
25th St., Ogden UT 84401</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Ph.
(801) 625-5522</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Fax
(801) 625-5483</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Email:
<A title=mailto:tprendusi@fs.fed.us
href="mailto:tprendusi@fs.fed.us">tprendusi@fs.fed.us</A></SPAN></P>
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</SPAN></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Frisbee,
Christine -FS <BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 15, 2013 1:46 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
Prendusi, Teresa -FS; Madrid, Colleen -FS<BR><B>Subject:</B> FW: Ninety-eight
percent of cave-hibernating bats in Pennsylvania have died, say biologists ;
Natural news 4/15/2013</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">My
heart is breaking over this..</SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Script MT Bold'; COLOR: #4f6228">Chris
Frisbee</SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Deputy Forest
Supervisor</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Klamath
National Forest</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">1711 South Main
Street</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Yreka, CA
96097</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">office:
530-841-4501</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">cell:
530-598-4139</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Fax:
530-841-4571</SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Edwardian Script ITC'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Terry Seyden [<A
title=mailto:terryseyden@yahoo.com
href="mailto:terryseyden@yahoo.com">mailto:terryseyden@yahoo.com</A>]
<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 15, 2013 6:46 AM<BR><B>To:</B>
seyden<BR><B>Subject:</B> Ninety-eight percent of cave-hibernating bats have
died in Pennsylvania, say biologists ; Natural news
4/15/2013</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
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<H1>Ninety-eight percent of cave-hibernating bats have died in
Pennsylvania, say biologists </H1>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>Monday, April 15, 2013 by: Jonathan Benson,
staff writer</P></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 14pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR><A
title=http:///
href="http:///">http://www.naturalnews.com/039916_bats_white-nose_syndrome_die-off.html</A><BR><BR>(NaturalNews)
They serve a critical role in pollinating crops, killing insects, and
fertilizing soil, but their presence throughout the state of Pennsylvania is
in a disastrously serious decline. According to a new report by
<I>PhillyBurbs.com</I>, 99.99 percent of bats living in Pennsylvania's second
largest bat habitat were recently discovered to be dead, and a cohort of
biologists currently studying the issue estimates that a shocking 98 percent
of bats living throughout the entire state of Pennsylvania are now dead as
well.<BR><BR>For many generations, tens of thousands of bats have made their
home at an old abandoned iron ore mine in the Upper Bucks area of Central
Pennsylvania. At least six different bat species resided in the mine, which
has long been a key hibernation spot for bats during the cold winter months.
But a recent inspection of the mine revealed that a mere handful of the
approximately 10,000 bats that were believed to have lived there previously
are now gone, and most of the few remaining bats are ill with a disease that
will likely kill them.<BR><BR>It is known officially as white-nose syndrome,
and experts are not entirely sure how or from where it emerged. But it causes
a white fungus to form around the noses of infected bats, and eventually
causes them to lose the necessary fat they need on their bodies to survive. In
the end, white-nose syndrome causes bats to die of starvation, a phenomenon
that has been observed all across the Northeast.<BR><BR>"Going to places where
there used to be tens of thousands of <A
title=http://www.naturalnews.com/bats.html
href="http://www.naturalnews.com/bats.html">bats</A> hibernating, and then
going in and seeing only a few bats -- only a few stragglers left -- that's
very difficult," said Pennsylvania Game Commission Biologist Greg Turner to
<I>PhillyBurbs.com</I>. Turner has been studying the swift decline of bats
throughout <A title=http://www.naturalnews.com/Pennsylvania.html
href="http://www.naturalnews.com/Pennsylvania.html">Pennsylvania</A> for
several years now, and is currently working with a team of scientists to
figure out how to address it.<BR><BR>During his recent visit to the mine,
which is located in Durham, Turner found only three surviving species of bats
among 23 living bats. Eighteen of them were determined to be little brown
bats, and half of these were observed to have the strange white fungus around
their noses. Many of these same bats were also seen to be crowding around the
entrance of the mine, another indication that they are also infected with the
disease.<BR><BR>White-nose syndrome has also been observed in a cave in
Alabama, according to a recent <I>Reuters</I> report. The Fern Cave National
Wildlife Refuge near Huntsville currently houses about 1.6 million protected
gray bats, which are an endangered species, but experts worry that because the
fungus has now been detected there, the "single most significant hibernating
area in the world for the species" may soon become decimated as
well.</SPAN></P>
<H1 style="BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">Loss of bats means
influx of insects</SPAN></H1>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Bats
are often referred to as the "farmer's friend" because they spend much of
their time during the spring and summer months feeding on insects, many of
which harm crops. A single bat, according to <I>PhillyBurbs.com</I>, can
consume up to 900,000 insects per year, which means bats also help protect
humans against diseases like West Nile virus by eating the mosquitoes and
other insects that spread them.<BR><BR>Without bats, in other words, there
will be no predator to keep the insect population in check, which means
summers will be extremely buggy, especially in wet and wooded areas of the
country like Pennsylvania.<BR><BR>"White-nose syndrome is arguably the most
devastating wildlife disease we've faced," says Michael T. Rains, Director of
the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Research Station.<BR><BR><B>Sources for
this article include:</B><BR><BR><A
title=http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/palisades/all-but-of-bats-in-durham-bat-mine-have-died/article_19e44845-452b-5ffe-ba71-110122304402.html
href="http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/palisades/all-but-of-bats-in-durham-bat-mine-have-died/article_19e44845-452b-5ffe-ba71-110122304402.html"
target=_blank>http://www.phillyburbs.com</A><BR><BR><A
title=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/fern-cave-national-wildlife-refuge-al_n_3040896.html
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/fern-cave-national-wildlife-refuge-al_n_3040896.html"
target=_blank>http://www.huffingtonpost.com</A><BR><BR><A
title=http://articles.philly.com/2013-04-08/news/38376470_1_geomyces-white-nose-syndrome-fungus
href="http://articles.philly.com/2013-04-08/news/38376470_1_geomyces-white-nose-syndrome-fungus"
target=_blank>http://articles.philly.com</A></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR>This
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