White Nose Syndrome Page

PLEASE CLEAN AND DECONTAMINATE YOUR CAVE GEAR!
To help contain the possible spread of WNS by humans, here are the most recent protocols for cleaning and decontamination of cave clothing and gear. These will be updated as better information becomes available. Caving clothes and gear used within the 17-state USFWS Advisory area should not be taken outside of that region.

Special Update – October 30, 2009 – Congress Approves $1.9 Million for WNS

Dear NSS Members,

Victory! Just Friday, Congress approved $1.9 million in funding for increased research and monitoring for White Nose Syndrome. This $1.9 million is for Federal Fiscal Year 2010, which began October 1. It is in addition to the $800,000 recently awarded by the USFWS for research projects. The money is part of the Interior Appropriations bill, which has now gone to the President for his signature.

The NSS and its members played a leading role in this effort. Your calls, e-mails, and personal contacts helped immensely. Your donations to the WNS Rapid Response Fund not only helped fund research, but helped demonstrate how under-resourced scientists and wildlife mangers were to deal with WNS. Many other organizations concerned about bats, caves, and the environment collaborated, and our combined effort won the day.

This action is highly unusual and remarkable. You may recall that the House version of the bill passed months ago with no new funding for WNS. The Senate passed its bill with only $500,000, and only for "increased monitoring." In most conference committees, the two sides split the difference, or trade away their position for something unrelated.

In this case, the number on the table was nearly quadrupled. They listened. They listened to lots of people across the country who beat the drum. That kind of sustained effort is what it takes to make a difference, and it worked.

Representatives Madeleine Bordallo (Guam) and Raul Grijalva (Arizona) are to be commended for holding their Joint House subcommittee hearing and bringing WNS to the attention of Congress. Senator Frank Lautenberg (New Jersey) championed this in the Senate, and Senator Patrick Leahy (Vermont) used his position on the conference committee to close the deal. But their work was made much easier by all the contacts you and many others made to your Representatives and Senators, especially the conference committee members in recent days.

Sen. Lautenberg told us, "Everyone who wrote and called helped pave the way for this. This funding is a smart investment in critical research and an encouraging commitment from Congress in our fight against WNS.” Senator Leahy said, "It hasn't been hard to convince people that this is catastrophic. It's not just about one case in Vermont. It's going to be a national problem. We've all got a stake in this thing."

We did it! Thank you.

Peter Youngbaer
NSS WNS Liaison

Fall Update
Sept. 29, 2009

Dear NSS Members,

With bats not in hibernation during the summer, WNS efforts have focused on developing science and management strategies, pursuing research funding, and performing summer maternity colony and acoustical monitoring surveys.

In the northeast, where WNS has ravaged bat populations for three winters, reports came in of devastated maternity colonies and almost no signs of affected species in the night skies or in mist nets. In Peterborough, NH, a sixteen-year longitudinal study of Myotis lucifugus (little brown bats) came to an end after the entire bat population disappeared. In Strafford, VT, an annual mist net survey that normally captured 900 bats caught 1 (one). The NY acoustical monitoring project found so few bats of hibernating species that NYDEC is planning to file to add the Little Brown Bat and others on the state’s Endangered Species List.

As I mentioned, the summer has been full of planning for WNS. In May, I participated in the Second Science Strategy Conference in Austin, Texas, a follow-up to last year’s meeting in Albany, NY. The full proceedings spell out WNS research priorities for the coming year.

In June, I had the honor of representing the NSS before Congress as part of a four-person expert panel testifying for a national focus and increased research funding for WNS. As I write this update, Congress is still deliberating the Interior Appropriations bill. The Senate currently has added $500,000 to the 2010 federal budget, and we’re hoping for an increase in the conference committee with the House. Please respond quickly and strongly if we send an alert for you to contact your Representatives. It does make a difference.

Later in June, the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, invited 35 of us – NGOs, wildlife managers, and scientists – including mathematicians and epidemiologists for the first time – to bring mathematical modeling and infectious disease perspectives to predicting the progress of WNS. We provide two links for you: a Pre-Workshop Webinar Presentations and the Post Workshop Summary Report.

In July, the 15th International Congress of Speleology/NSS Convention in Kerrville, Texas hosted a Special ICS Session on WNS. Many of the leading scientists, federal, state, and NGO individuals working on WNS made presentations, and we have them all for you.

July 31st was the application deadline for $800,000 of USFWS funding for WNS research. They received over $5 million in proposals – a sign of how lacking federal funding has been for investigating and combating WNS. Originally set for an early September announcement, awards have now been delayed until the end of October.

Thanks to your generous donations, the NSS WNS Rapid Response Fund has grown, and we’ve made two new awards. Read all the WNS grant details here. From one of our funded projects, Dr. Hazel Barton released the first WNS Rope and Webbing test results.

Finally, after a series of meetings and an August conference in Pittsburgh, PA (proceedings not yet available), the US Fish and Wildlife Service has just issued a USFWS Draft National WNS Plan. Public comment is supposed to occur later this year, and while the title says draft, this document will become the focus of most WNS activities. Please study this document carefully. We hope it will lead to effectively combating WNS and the return to normal for bat populations and caving.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions regarding WNS via e-mail at wnsliaison@caves.org.

Peter Youngbaer
NSS 16161
NSS WNS Liaison

WNS RESEARCH CENTER

EDUCATION & OUTREACH

WNS Rapid Response Fund
Give to the fund here and now!
Help us continue to fund priority, times-sensitive research that would otherwise not occur.
Researchers Apply Here
Grant application guidelines, review & award process
NSS Grants to Date
Grantees, awards, and project briefs, as of 9/17/09

Sterling Rope and Webbing Decon and Stress Results
(from Dr. Hazel Barton; IMPORTANT: These are Sterling results only - no results yet from other rope manufacturers)

Special WNS Session at the International Congress of Speleology/NSS Convention
July 23, 2009. Links to complete presentations.

Special Report: WNS Scientific Research Summary and Status
A special summary of ongoing WNS research (PDF 3/15/09)

Albany WNS Science Strategy Conference Proceedings
Includes the WNS research priorities for 2008-2009 that were developed as a result of the June 2008 meeting.

Second WNS Science Strategy Conference Proceedings
Austin TX, May 27-28, 2009

Published Research on WNS-related Fungus
Dr David Blehert, et al's description of the Geomyces sp.

Wing Damage Index for Assessing WNS-Affected Bats
A field assessment tool for examining damage to bats that have emerged from hibernation.

WNS fungus named: Geomyces destructans
This species is described as new to science.

WNS webinar from National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS)
Link to all the presentations on 24 June 09
View the Summary Report of the NIMBioS Workshop

WNS Information Brochure - Please print and distribute to youth groups, landowners, show cave owners, cavers and others who should know about WNS. (Updated version as of 7/3/09!)

WNS Classroom Education Poster (from Virginia)

WNS: Background and Current Status
A slide-show by Alan Hicks, NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Updated (11/29/08) PowerPoint presentation with distribution maps, information on spring emergence, and expanded information on the effect of WNS. Download and show at grotto and public informational meetings.

The Battle for Bats!
WNS video -- Share it widely!

House Congressional Hearing on WNS - June 4 Includes links to NSS and all other testimony, video, photos.

Senate Hearing on WNS - July 8
Includes photos, testimony, and complete video transcript.

Map of WNS outbreaks and all known hibernacula in the East
An intriguing look at the march of WNS and the significant areas still at risk.

USGS Fact Sheet
PDF does a great job of explaining WNS and present research

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