Federal officials have unveiled new regulations designed to protect an animal called the northern long-eared bat. It’s one of the bat species that’s been hardest hit by white-nose syndrome, a deadly fungal disease. But as Brian Mann reports, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stopped short of listing the bats as endangered. That angered many environmentalists.

A deadly disease, a measured response

The species clearly deserves endangered status. It is dying at rates of 90 to 100%

White nose syndrome exploded on the landscape here in northern New York in 2007. Federal biologists say the disease killed six million bats as it spread across much of the U.S. and Canada.

Dan Ashe, who heads the US Fish and Wildlife Service, said by labeling northern long-eared bats as “threatened,” biologists will now be able to do more to protect the caves where they hibernate and part of the forest where they live in summer. "It allows us to provide protections to maternity trees, so protecting that vulnerable life stage when the bats are having pups and the pups cannot fly," Ashe told NCPR.

Northern long-eared bats were once one of the most common bats in the country, found from North Carolina to Montana and Wyoming. They’re voracious hunters and play a big role controlling insects.

Did the US Fish and Wildlife Service go far enough?

Some environmentalists maintain Ashe’s agency should have gone farther, adding these animals to the endangered species list, the highest protection allowed by Federal law. "The species clearly deserves endangered status. It’s dying at rates of 90 to 100%," said Mollie Matteson is with the Center for Biological Diversity in Vermont, where some of the biggest bat die-offs have occurred. She said these new regulations still allow risky development by wind farms, loggers and oil and gas companies. "The Fish and Wildlife Service has now basically opened the door for any and all kinds of activities that may affect this bat and its habitat," Matteson said.

A reasonable next step?

Dan Ashe thinks these regulations will prompt companies to work more cautiously in forests where Northern long-eared bats live. And he said biologists will monitor how well the new rules are protecting crucial habitat. "Certainly in the future I could see a potential that its status could change to endangered," he acknowledged. "So in the meantime, people shouldn’t you know be relaxing. We should be working with the wind industry and the oil and gas industry and the utility industry to put in place durable protections."

It’s unclear just how effective regulations like this will be in saving Northern long-eared bats. After all, it’s that deadly fungal disease that’s pushing them to the brink and scientists still have no way of stopping it. White-nose syndrome is now in 26 states, turning up this winter in Nebraska. It’s expected to keep spreading until it reaches the West Coast.