Congress Needs to Hear Us NOW!

[PYoungbaer]

Dear Fellow Cavers,

If you are happy with continued cave closures and slow progress on WNS research, then please ignore this message and do nothing. If you are interested in getting to the bottom of WNS and re-opening caves as soon as possible, then please read on.

We have just received the detailed House and Senate Appropriations Committee reports. These each now are pending before the full House and the full Senate respectively. The news is very disappointing, given the testimony provided earlier this summer and attention given by both House and Senate Committees.

Votes will take place after the August recess, so it is critical that we contact our Senators and Representatives while they are at home during the break. They typically have pretty booked schedules, but calling, writing, e-mailing, showing up at town meeting style forums and raising the WNS funding issue.

For reference, the two documents to cite are the Senate Appropriations Committee report number 111-38, dated July 7 (which clearly predates the recent Senate hearing on WNS); the other is the House Appropriations Committee report number 111-180, dated June 23.

According to the Senate report above, there is a mere $500,000 appropriation to USFWS (page 7) for "increased monitoring." According to the House report (USFWS page 30), there is no increased funding at all, but language that states, "The Committee is concerned about increased mortality of bats in the northeastern United States from white nose syndrome and encourages the Service to work with the USGS to research the cause and extent of the problem and develop a mitigation plan." Mirror language is included under the USGS section.

This level of funding (or no funding) would be crippling for WNS research. Simply "encouraging" the USFWS and USGS without providing any funding is an empty statement (House). With only money for monitoring (Senate), there is NO designated funding for research. This will mean that state and federal agencies will only be able to count and survey and use closures as a management tool, but there is no dedicated funding for research.

Dr. Tom Kunz provided the detailed budget requests to both the House and Senate: a total of $55 million over 5 years, with about $15 million front-loaded to meet critical research needs about the fungus itself and how it is affecting the bats. Without this knowledge, developing and testing any biological, chemical, or other controls will not happen.

It seems to me that Congress was persuaded by USFWS testimony that they had things under control. While we understand that as an administrative agency they can't request additional funds over and above what is in the President's budget submittal, we thought we had presented a strong case for additional funding. Clearly, not strong enough.

It's up to us to yell loudly and clearly that they need to do more. I strongly suggest we put out a call to contact Congress as soon as possible. The E-mail addresses can be found at http://www.senate.gov/ or http://www.house.gov/ to forward your own personalized e-mail to your Senator or Congressional Representative. Calling your home district office is also recommended.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we do have a short time to make some noise and make the situation better.

[innermostphoto]

How bout making some noise to stop all the hype and hysteria surrounding this subject and open the caves anyway? So the bats die. Sorry, that is the way of things. The strong will survive to repopulate the species. Nothing you or I can do about that? Usually when we get involved humans tend to make things worse. It's all about money. More money more funding. More time so we can get more money. Write the House and Senate? You betcha. Tell 'em to stop wasting money on projects that you cannot control. We are only in the beginning stages of this long anecdotal process that will continue for years to come. You need to work on opening the caves instead of closing them.

bob biddix
Innermost Imagery
http://www.innermostimagery.com

[BrianC]

Bob, I couldn't have said it better! I would be very interested in volunteering for any research needed as long as the caves are permanently re-opened! I have posted a subject asking about volunteering from the NSS cavers and didn't even get one positive response from the ones that could be of great help! Those are the ones that are caught up in the money game! What a shame! By the way, it was good meeting you at the grotto meeting last month!

[wyandottecaver]

well I certainly agree about research being a wasted effort in this case. However, keep in mind that your talking about caves you don't own or control. Even public caves have to weigh everyones interests including wildlife, and by law not all interests are equal. I have zero doubt that any public referendum on opening public caves would see recreational cavers soundly defeated. This is also one reason to not close commercial caves despite the biology saying otherwise, since most of the "caving" public have their interaction there.

Buy a cave. donate to help conservancies buy a cave. Tell ACCA every chance you get that you oppose their policy of gating caves. Otherwise, realize that if you don't own it you don't get much say.

[cavergirl]

So the bats die. Sorry, that is the way of things.

WNS does not just affect bats. WNS affects us all.

Bats are predators of night-time flying insects, including many that are agricultural pests. For example, big brown bats in the Midwest consume cucumber beetles, June bugs, stinkbugs and leafhoppers. Cucumber beetle adults forage on corn, spinach and vine plants. The larvae, corn rootworm, is more destructive. June bugs eat leaves, June bug larvae feed on roots. Leafhoppers siphon off sap and distribute diseases. These insects can contribute from 40 to 100 percent of the diet of big brown bats.
Other species , like Mexican free-tailed bats primarily feed on moths, the larvae of which tend to be crop pests. Mexican free-tailed bats feed extensively on migrating populations of corn earworm moths, (corn borers) a major pest of corn, tomatoes and beans. In terms of damage caused, corn borers are the number-one agricultural pest in America. In terms of the pounds of pesticides to control them, they rank behind only boll weevils.
A typical colony of 150 bats will eat more than a million moths each season. It has been estimated that the 20 million bats in Bracken Cave, Texas, eat about 250 tons of insects nightly.

If vast populations of bats die, small farms will fail because the farmers won’t be able to afford the increased costs of more pesticides. This will accelerate the loss of family farms.
Organic farmers will fail because they will be unable to compete with the pests. .
Prices to consumers will increase because of costs of pesticides, or losses of crops.

Then there is the issue of mosquitoes. A single bat is capable of eating 500 - 1000 mosquitoes per hour. While you may be thinking of West Nile virus, far scarier is arboviral encephalitis (When encephalitis is caused by a virus transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes, it is known as arboviral (short for arthropod-borne) encephalitis). Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain. There are no proven treatments for arboviral encephalitis. While most people recover from the illness, permanent brain problems and death can occur.

If the bats decline and the mosquitoes increase, municipalities will feel the need to increase pesticide spraying. I am sure Monsanto/Dow etc are just waiting to roll out the vast stores of DDT they have sitting in warehouses.

By consuming such huge quantities of insects, bats contribute mightily to agricultural production, pesticide free environments, and healthy human economies.

Personally I do not want to pay $5.00 for an ear of corn or for a tomato laced with pesticides. Nor do I want to see the organic growers I buy my produce from go under. I do not want to see Monsanto/Dow etc bring back DDT. I am old enough to remember when the peregrine falcons nearly died out in New England from crumbling egg shells from DDT toxicity. Thankfully scientific research uncovered the DDT connection in time to save the Peregrine Falcon which was removed from the Endangered Species list on August 25, 1999, and which can be seen again nesting in New England. I do not want trucks spraying poison in my neighborhood.
Not going caving for a while is a small sacrifice I am willing to pay.

How bout making some noise to stop all the hype and hysteria surrounding this subject

When Silent Spring was published in1962, a huge counterattack was organized and led by Monsanto Company, and others in the chemical industry. Rachel Carson was violently assailed by threats of lawsuits and derision, including suggestions that this meticulous scientist was a "hysterical woman" unqualified to write such a book. Yet, the US ban on DDT is cited by scientists as a major factor in the comeback of many species of birds including the bald eagle, from near-extinction.

Nothing you or I can do about that?

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead

[wyandottecaver]

well....there were once so many passenger pigeons that a single flock could darken the sun for hours and the weight of them roosting would break tree branches. Squirrels used to migrate in such numbers that thousands would be seen together crossing streams. Now there are zero passenger pigeons and squirrels dont approach those density except on college campuses :) crop pests are so damaging because we grow our food in monocultures. insecticides kill whats there...be it 5 bugs or 5 thousand. Other things eat bugs including other bugs. I am not arguing that a wholesale loss of bats will not have ecological effects, but populations now are but a shadow of their former selves and they used to be even worse. The world did not screech to a halt. The doomsday scenarios will in the long run simply make us appear as the cavers who cried wolf and mask the truth that the loss of these populations *is* a loss....but not because flour will be worth its weight in gold or some parallel.

[Cheryl Jones]

Peter, how about providing a skeleton letter, with the key talking points, that we can use as a basis for our own letters?

Thanks
Cheryl

[wyandottecaver]

better yet, since they "can handle it" without any additional help, why don't we instead just petition congress to make the USFWS economically responsible for mitigation for every documented WNS cave identified in 2010 and beyond....I'm sure they would have no trouble asking for cash THEN!

back in the real-world... in Indiana State DNR properties received huge sums of federal money to hire extra seasonal workers. In many cases this was 10-20 extra people per property at something like $10-12 /hr. many non-profits got a similiar deal We probably would have had more success asking for a billion dollars of stimulus money to hire seasonal WNS helpers to harp trap bats at cave entrances and cull any that were underweight, had wing damage, or with visible WNS symptoms. At least that money would translate to some tangible on the ground benefits even if it wasn't 100% effective.

[batrotter]

cull any that were underweight, had wing damage, or with visible WNS symptoms.

Did you guys really do that? Cull the undesirables or play God?

[wyandottecaver]

no. harp traps are used to temporarily trap bats and I know of no instance where they were "culled". I was saying rather than ask for research money congress wont give, we should ask for "stimulus" money instead. one use of that might be to use harp traps to cull sick, underweight, and obviously WNS affected bats before they enter hibernation. most underweight and/or sick bats will die anyway before spring.

[batrotter]

Oh, OK, I'm following you now. You were suggesting that we might cull the sick.

[innermostphoto]

big brown bats in the Midwest consume cucumber beetles, June bugs, stinkbugs and leafhoppers. Cucumber beetle adults forage on corn, spinach and vine plants

Oh no. I am sorry but we can't have that. You'll upset the June Bug Conservancy or the Save the Cucumber Beetle Foundation. Nope. Allowing bats to live is not acceptable. Please, cavergirl, your overreaction is exactly the type of hysteria I am referring.


bob biddix
Innermost Imagery
http://www.innermostimagery.com

[Cheryl Jones]

Meanwhile, back to the topic.....Write your congressmen!

Cheryl

[wyandottecaver]

yes, but write what? That the USFWS has patently failed in its obligation to use the best available data (i.e. exempting show caves and over stating the cave to cave human transport case) and in the face of a obvious wildlife disaster refused to acknowledge or pursue increased funding? While at the same time arbritarily developed rrecommendations and pressured states into stripping access rights on public resources even those only marginally connected to bats? Now we should reward them by asking congress to give them money to do research that isn't likely to produce a tangible field benefit?

I guess in a culture where we pay CEO's millions in bonuses to defraud investers and push their companies into insolvency that logic makes sense.....

I'll repeat my earlier request. Can anyone even think of a question besides captive breeding and rearing that reasearch could answer that will result in a tangible benefit that can be applied in time to saving bats out in the real world? i.e. is there any answer we could find out that would actually save bats out in the bush?

[PYoungbaer]

Congressional Update (apologies for procedural detail, but it helps put the recommended actions in context), Bullet Points, Sample Paragraphs:

The House bill has already passed. The Senate Appropriations Committee report is pending. However, my Senate staff contacts tell me it is likely the bill will not be voted on as stand-alone legislation, but rather wrapped into an Omnibus spending bill, as has been common in recent years.

The best opportunity for action is to have the Senate Appropriations Committee amend their own bill, or agree to support an amendment from a colleague. That can happen if we create the proper environment/buzz.

That means contacting Senators over the August recess.

If your Senator is on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, all the more important. Key Senators from White Nose States are Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee, and Robert Byrd, West Virginia. Sen. Feinstein, of California, as Chair, is an absolute must. Here is the complete list:

Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

Democratic Subcommittee Members:
# Senator Dianne Feinstein (Chairman) (CA)
# Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV)
# Senator Patrick Leahy (VT)
# Senator Byron Dorgan (ND)
# Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD)
# Senator Herb Kohl (WI)
# Senator Tim Johnson (SD)
# Senator Jack Reed (RI)
# Senator Ben Nelson (NE)
# Senator Jon Tester (MT)


Republican Subcommittee Members:
# Senator Lamar Alexander (Ranking) (TN)
# Senator Thad Cochran (MS)
# Senator Robert Bennett (UT)
# Senator Judd Gregg (NH)
# Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK)
# Senator Susan Collins (ME)

If your Senator is not on the Appropriations Committee, ask them to talk to their colleagues who are and support significant research funding for White Nose Syndrome. That's the simple action you are asking them to do. You can express your concern about WNS, bats, caving, etc., but it's the action that's important. If the Subcommittee members hear enough concern from their colleagues, they will look for the details and take action. We are making sure the Appropriations Committee members have the details, but you all need to create the buzz.

Bullets:

* Call their home offices and tell them you are concerned about White Nose Syndrome.

* Tell them that you are aware that the Senate Appropriations Committee report (111-38, dated July 7) contains only $500,000 of the $11 million identified by the scientific community for immediate research.

* $500,000 just for monitoring will mean critical research needed to get out ahead of the spread of WNS will not occur this year.

*Tell them that the language for "increased monitoring" does not equal "research." It's very limiting. As one biologist said, "We're here to prevent species extinction, not just observe it." Another said, "We can 'monitor and surveille' until the cows come home, but it won't get us closer to an answer."

While tempting, this is not the time to discuss policy issues - this is purely an appropriations debate at this time. Certainly, if asked, reply honestly about your concerns as a constituent - about caving access, the lack of good science driving management decisions, frustrations, whatever, but bring it back to the fact that funding for research is needed now.

Sample paragraphsHere are a few paragraphs from some of my own communications with my Vermont delegation and others:

We need to have the research questions about the White Nose fungus, it's transmission, and potential treatments answered. How quickly will it spread to the major bat colonies of Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, and beyond? How do we ensure that our management approaches are guided by sound science? How do we ensure that we consider the entirety of our cave ecosystems, and the larger environment, with our mitigation strategies?

We need to recognize the seasonal nature of bat research - that the hibernation and summer cycles only permit certain types of research during limited windows of time. Not having the resources to conduct imminently needed research means an entire year goes by without answers, and WNS continues to devastate bat colonies.

WNS will continue to be spread quickly by bats. We need to have a mechanism for quick delivery of significant funding.

Key point:

Senators or their staff will listen to your case but ultimately end at one point: So, what do you want us to do? Answer: Provide significant research funding for WNS - much closer to the level recommended by the scientific community. If you are a Senator on the Appropriations Committee, please work to bring a better number and language to the floor and conference committee. If you are a Senator not on the Appropriations Committee, please talk to your colleagues who are to ensure this happens.

Ask them to keep you informed - tell you what happened when they did talk to them. And please send me that feedback, if you would be so kind. That feedback is very important for determining next steps. Finally, thank them. Please, thank them.

Hope this helps those of you able and willing to make the contacts. Thank you for your efforts. They have helped so far, but now is an extremely critical time to maintain the effort. As Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over 'till it's over."