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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2019)
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Hoary bat in jeopardy in PNW Train trip makes for fun fall excursion By Steve Lundeberg Correspondent BEND 3 The hoary bat, the species of bat most fre- quently found dead at wind- power facilities, is declin- ing at a rate that threatens its long-term future in the Pacific Northwest, according to a novel and comprehensive research collaboration based at Oregon State University 3 Cascades. The findings, pub- lished today in Ecology and Evolution, result from modeling based on field surveys across Oregon and Washington that began in 2003. Bat population declines are problematic for a host of reasons. Bats provide ecosys- tem services in many environ- ments worldwide including pollination, pest control and seed dispersion. They are one of the most diverse groups of mammals but not well understood, and have recently become at great risk from wind energy production and from the invasive bat disease white-nose syndrome. <Bats are very difficult to study, and doing strategic conservation of bats is greatly impeded by lack of basic information about the sta- tus and trend of populations across large regions,= said Tom Rodhouse, the study9s lead author. The OSU-Cascades9 Northwestern Bat Hub, which produced the study, uses a collaborative, multi-agency approach for doing coordi- nated summertime surveys for bats across the Northwest. Rodhouse, an ecolo- gist with the National Park Service and courtesy mem- ber of OSU9s Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences faculty, and co- author Roger Rodriguez, who directs the Northwestern Bat Hub, have assembled a broad coalition of state, federal and tribal scientists. <The Bat Hub provides a center of gravity for mul- tiple organizations to work together, pool resources and expertise, and accomplish region-wide science and con- servation,= said Rodriguez, adding that <it is unusual to generate this kind of coop- eration in wildlife studies, but bats are so widespread and the threats to bats so great that this is absolutely essential to save them.= On behalf of its partners, the Bat Hub is implement- ing the North American Bat Monitoring Program, known as NABat, in the Pacific Northwest. <Drawing on data accu- mulated through Bat Hub monitoring, our paper reports NEWPORT, WA 3 Folks in Sisters who are looking for a different kind of fall excursion might want to hop a train. The Newport/Priest River Rotary Club is bringing the Scenic Pend Oreille River Train excursion train rides to Newport, WA this fall, begin- ning Saturday and Sunday, September 21-22. They continue every weekend in October. Rides are at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. each day. Tickets are $20 for adults age 13-64; $15 for children ages 3-12; and $15 for seniors, ages 65 and older. Children under 3 ride for free. Group discounts of $3 per ticket are available for orders of 20 tick- ets or more. The scenic train ride meanders through the beauti- ful Pend Oreille Valley. The ride is a nine-mile, 90-minute round trip excursion that starts in Newport, Washington, and follows the Pend Oreille River to Delkena. The train crew will tell about the rich history and descendants of the Dalkena Wild Bunch Gang; nefari- ous train robbers may pay guests a visit along the way. Train rides begin at 110 Pine St., Newport, WA. Purchase tickets at www. sporttrainrides.com or by call- ing 877-525-5226. PHOTO PROVIDED The hoary bat is under severe stress in the Pacific Northwest. evidence that the hoary bat is declining in the Northwest,= said Rodhouse, one of NABat9s key architects. <The study also looked for, but did not find, evidence of decline for the little brown bat, which has been heavily impacted in eastern North American by white-nose syndrome.= White-nose syndrome is a fungal condition that does not affect people but is devastat- ing to bats. It was first iden- tified in 2006 and has killed millions of bats in North America, mainly in the conti- nent9s eastern half. <White-nose syndrome was documented in the Northwest in 2016 and may not yet have caused regional impact to the little brown bat,= Rodhouse said. <However, the discovery of hoary bat decline is consistent with the hypothesis that the longer history of wind-power devel- opment, spread over a larger geographic area, has impacted that species through colli- sion and barotrauma. These hypotheses can be evaluated and updated over time within the OSU-Cascades Bat Hub framework of collaborative monitoring.= Barotrauma refers to inju- ries caused by rapid changes in atmospheric pressure such as may occur around the blades of a wind turbine. ...bats are so widespread and the threats to bats so great that this is absolutely essential to save them. — Roger Rodriguez 11 Examination of dead bats collected near turbines often reveals signs of the internal hemorrhaging associated with barotrauma rather than collision. <The rate of hoary bat decline is worrisome and, if persistent over the next few years, represents a major threat to long-term persis- tence of the species in the region,= Rodhouse said. CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S NUGGET INSERTS! Bi-Mart Cascade Outdoor Gear Tarps 10' x 12’ $7.97 18’ x 24’ $24.97 Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Coffee Maker $39.99 Jif Peanut Butter 16 oz., 2 for $4 Ray’s Food Place Iceberg Lettuce 99¢ each 2 liter Pepsi Beverages Buy 2, Get 2 Free! 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