A new rule announced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the northern long eared bat would treat areas of the country differently depending on whether or not they’re impacted by White Nose Syndrome, an important change for loggers who otherwise would all be under one uniform nationwide regulation.
However, the USFWS rule will only be used if they designate the bat as threatened instead of endangered.
The rule will identify WNS-impacted areas as any area within 150 miles of the boundary of a U.S. county or Canadian district where the disease has been confirmed or suspected.
The rule also would exempt certain activities—forest management practices, maintenance or expansion of utility rights of way, removal of trees and brush to maintain prairie habitat, and removal of hazardous trees—from an ESA provision that protects species from actions that harm them.
