Tember cutting/clearing and bat question.

[esshup]

Here's the question I was asked and I have never heard of this. Can you shed some light on it?

"Apparently you can't clear timber between April 1st and October 31st in the state of Indiana due to protection of endangered bat species habitat, unless you pay for a survey to prove the bats are not there? Ever heard of anything like this?"

[morrison]

The US Fish and Wildlife Service provided a guidance memo in 2011 stating that to preserve the population of particular species of bats, if an area is known to have a population a restriction on timbering would be placed on the project from April 1 to October 31. If the property to be timbered is not known to have a bat population, the restriction would not apply.

If additional clarification is needed or you suspect the property has a bat population resulting in the restriction, you should contact the Bloomington Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 812-334-4261.