GET INVOLVED
Many issues brought up at annual meetings cannot be resolved overnight. Therefore dedicated committees or "task forces" are formed so that members can continue their discussion after the NEBWG meeting to accomplish their goal. These committees are informal and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion or be involved Please contact the task leader(*) to be included and see what you can do to help.
This list includes present and past committees, so not all of these groups are necessarily active. Inactive groups may remain listed here in case topics or issues need to be revisited.
Caving in WNS
Purpose: To develop a statement from NEBWG on cave access in the Northeast. Focus on maintaining cave closure during hibernation (prevent disturbance) and review of current FWS cave advisory and any points of disagreement with the NEBWG members
Contact: Greg Turner*, Barb Douglas, Carl Herzog, Craig Stihler, Peter Youngbaer
BMP for Bat Exclusions
Purpose: How to deal with issues that might come up post-listing related to exclusion activities in buildings and to develop criteria to avoid the need for permitting most of these activities.
Contact: Kristen Watrous
Bat Rehabilitation
Purpose: To gather state protocols to look at what is occurring in the Northeast. Review potential effects of listing on rehab, recommendations? ID issues with rehab and find out (if possible) how much rehab is actually occurring in the northeast.
Contact: Christina Kocer*, Leslie Sturges, Mick Valent
WNS Steering Commitee
Contact: Scott Darling*, Carl Herzog
Wind BMPS
Purpose: To address large scale as well as industrial size individual turbines and impacts to bats and management strategies. Committee will review the draft FWS wind guidelines and provide comments. The committee will distribute the comments to state biologists and NEBWG, SBDN and MBWG members.
Contact: Scott Darling*, Carl Herzog
Baseline Data/Summer Survey
Purpose: to recommend and perhaps facilitate that summer mist net surveys in WNS states should begin to radio track non-listed myotids and collect data on summer habitat use in the event they get listed.
Contact: Scott Darling*, Carl Herzog, Mark Ford, Kathy Johnson, Marilyn Kitchel, Holly Niederriter, Susi von Oettingen, John Seese