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REGIONAL— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a proposal to reclassify the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The proposed rule, …
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REGIONAL— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a proposal to reclassify the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The proposed rule, announced March 22 in the Federal Register, is open for public comment through May 23.
Comments must be submitted directly to the USFWS, either electronically through the Federal Register or by U.S. mail (see Federal Register webpage for details). The USFWS is also hosting a public information meeting and public hearing on April 7.
The Minnesota DNR, in partnership with the Wisconsin DNR and Michigan DNR, is nearing the final stages in the development of the Lake States Forest Management Bat Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The HCP describes the potential positive and negative impacts of forest management on bats and biological objectives that will be implemented to offset negative forest management impacts on bats. The Incidental Take Permit associated with the HCP will be the DNR’s method of ensuring forest management activities on DNR-administered land in endangered bat habitat are planned to conserve bats.
The Minnesota DNR expects that the HCP will be posted on the Federal Register this coming summer for public comment. If any of Minnesota’s bats are reclassified as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, forest landowners will need to consider the effect of their activities on the endangered bats.
Participation in the HCP will be an option for some landowners to demonstrate compliance.