Republican leaders, including Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, have successfully negotiated a delay in a move by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reclassify the northern long-eared bat from threatened to endangered.

The bat — one of many species of bat in trouble due to white-nose syndrome that has been decimating the species across the country — is found in forested habitats in NE Wyoming within the bear lodge and Black Hills.

“We don’t really have large populations, and the [northern long-eared] is only in the northeastern corner,” said Zack Walker, non-game bird and mammal program supervisor. 

There are only a handful of hibernacula [a shelter occupied during the winter by a dormant animals] in the state, he said.

“They’re really peripheral. So it’s not something that a lot of people think about,” he said.

Yet, bats are integral in many ecosystem services, he said. They represent 15% of all mammal species in Wyoming. 

The long-eared bat isn’t the only species being eyed for protections in the state. white-nose syndrome has affected eight of the 18 Wyoming bat species in other parts of their range, and because the fungus has been shown to grow in caves where bats hibernate during winter. Thirteen of Wyoming’s bat species hibernate within the state.

Wildlife researchers confirmed the presence of white-nose syndrome in bats at Devils Tower National Monument, according to Game and Fish. While this is the first confirmation of WNS in the state, the fungus that causes the disease, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), was potentially detected in southeast Wyoming as early as 2018.

Biologists from the University of Wyoming discovered evidence of the syndrome during surveys completed in early May 2021, when they captured and sampled bats to test for the fungus. Last year Wyoming had a number of WNS detections throughout the eastern half of the state. The work was in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as part of an ongoing regional surveillance project funded by the National Park Service.

Game and Fish responded to concerns before the turn of the century by forming the Wyoming Bat Working Group 1998 and developing a strategic plan for white-nose syndrome. The plan includes recommendations for continued disease surveillance and monitoring; for measures to keep humans, including cavers, from spreading the fungus; for actions to reduce disturbance of bats, particularly during maternity season; and for exploration of options to treat or mitigate the syndrome.

The majority of bat species in the state have sensitive designations due to limited population sizes or potential population threats to hibernating species. 

The deadly syndrome caused by a fungus has been found in over half of all states in the United States and Canadian provinces.

Mortality rates from the disease are high in the eastern U.S. and may reach 100% in some bat populations. While many bat species in Wyoming have yet to be exposed to Pd, it has the potential to affect many of those that occur here.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had announced in November a final rule to reclassify the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It was first listed as threatened in 2015, and now faces extinction due to the range-wide impacts of the disease. 

The new rule was set to take effect on Jan. 30, but now is indefinitely delayed due to the negotiations.

“Critical infrastructure projects in Wyoming shouldn’t be delayed by burdensome regulations created under the Endangered Species Act, especially when these projects have minimal impact on this species of bat and its habitat,” said Sen. Lummis. “This delay in reclassification is a step in the right direction, and I’m hopeful the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reconsider classifying this bat as an endangered species.”

Following a letter from Lummis, Senate Western Caucus chair, and ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it is delaying the effective date of the final rule, Lummis said in a Wednesday press release.

Eleven Republican senators joined Lummis and Capito in sending the letter including Sens. John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi).

The letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Martha Williams, said the up-listing of the species is proof the Endangered Species Act is in dire need of changes.

“While Congress intended the act to protect and recover at-risk species, the lack of flexibility in the act, particularly when the limitations it places on activity and take, will do little to address the primary contributor to the species’ decline and shows the need for reforms. We believe it is time we have a discussion on ways we can update the statute to address situations like the current one we face, as well as find innovative ways to recover and protect species while providing timely project consultations,” the letter states.

Worldwide, there are an estimated 1,232 species of bats, 18 of which are found in Wyoming. Twelve of these species are considered residents either seasonally or year-round, according to the Game and Fish Department.