Tagged: White Nose Syndrome

U.S. Forest Service officials have extended an emergency order that restricts access to caves and abandoned mines on lands in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. But some Colorado cavers are criticizing the approach taken by the federal agency.

The U.S. Forest Service says it’s weighing options when it comes to renewing a closure of caves and abandoned mines in Colorado and four other states. The news comes as one environmental group is calling for even more closures in the West to prevent the spread of White Nose Syndrome, which has killed millions of bats on the East Coast.

A disease that has killed more than 5.5 million bats in the eastern United States and Canada is making its way west. White-nose syndrome has now been diagnosed in three Missouri bats — the first confirmed cases west of the Mississippi. And scientists say it won't stop there.

For the second year in a row, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have created a hotline the public can use to report unusual activity within the state’s bat population.