Meeting Announcements 2008



MISSOURI-BWG BAT BLITZ 2008
May 15 - 18, 2008
Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri

Download: MO-BWG_Bat_Blitz_2008 Bat Blitz DOC .

Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri The Missouri Bat Working Group is organizing an in-state bat blitz on the Mark Twain National Forest in May 2008 in southwest Missouri. This effort is being organized by the Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs Ranger District. The weekend dates for mist-netting will be Thurs-Sun nights, May 15-18. The Mark Twain National Forest and MO Bat Working Group would like to invite any neighboring volunteers to join us for the weekend netting event.

The goal will be to survey the Ava and Cassville units of the District on the National Forest for presence/use of Indiana bats and possibly Ozark big-eared bats. The Ava unit has an area of influence around Tumbling Creek Cave where there have been occurrences of hibernating Indiana bats. The Cassville unit is in the range of both Indiana bats and Ozark big-eared bats. These two units do not have much collected survey data and this would be a good chance to get a presence/absence call on the units. Any Indiana bats captured, male or female, will be fitted with radio transmitters and followed throughout the duration of signal by USFS personnel (and any interested volunteers!).

Areas to be surveyed would be determined based upon the location of timber harvesting and prescribed burn projects being planned for the two units. Prior to mistnetting, locations would be field-checked by USFS personnel to determine their suitability for surveying. There will likely be a total of 20 netting sites identified. Data on all species sampled will be collected. Mist-netting and Anabat recordings will be the sampling methodology.

Click here for lodging info and directions.

Free limited lodging will be available at the Bull Shoals Field Station for the Ava unit and Camp Smokey at Roaring River State Park for the Cassville unit. There are kitchen and shower facilities on both sites, but you'll need to bring your own bedding, towels, and food. There is limited reimbursement for meals. Everyone will need to fill out a volunteer agreement before they can participate.

Roaring River State Park is roughly 15 minutes from Cassville, MO, 1.5 hours drive from Springfield, MO and 5 hours from St. Louis, MO and 4 hours from Kansas City, MO. Bull Shoals Field Station is 1.5 hours from Springfield, 1 hour from Ava, Mo, and 5 hours from Kansas City or St. Louis, MO. Please refer to websites for more detailed information.

If you have an interest in participating, please contact Nettie ASAP! Teams are being formed and sites grouped based on the amount of participation. We'd appreciate your help and hope you can come to enjoy the Ozarks in May!

Contact information:

Nettie Sitting Up Perez
USFS Wildlife Biologist
Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs RD
Mark Twain National Forest
Phone: 417-683-4428
asittingup@fs.fed.us

Ty Swirin
Wildlife/Range Tech on the District
Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs RD
Mark Twain National Forest
tswirin@fs.fed.us

BAT BLITZ 2008
August 11 - 14, 2008
Bankhead National Forest, Alabama

Download: 2008 Bat Blitz flyer (PDF - Updated 11-24-07).

Bankhead National Forest The 2008 SBDN Bat Blitz will take place at the 182,000 acres Bankhead National Forest, Alabama from August 11th to the 14th. The Bankhead is in northwest Alabama, about an hours drive north of Birmingham. The forest contains over 150 known caves and the 22,000 acres Sipsey Wildnerness Area. It is a diverse landscape with longleaf pine in the south and cove hardwoods to the north.

Bankhead National Forest

Blitz Headquarters will be at Camp McDowell which is located 15 minutes south of Double Springs and 30 minutes north of Jasper. Arrival is set for Sunday (10th). Netting will occur Monday thru Wednesday (11th - 13th) and departure will be on Thursday morning (14th).

Potential species include Indiana, Gray, Red, Big Brown, Northern long-eared, Eastern Pipistrelle, Hoary, Rafineque's big-eared, Evening, Silver-haired, Seminole, Southeastern, and Little Brown bats.

For more information, contact Tom Counts (phone: 205-489-5111, Ext 142; tcounts@fs.fed.us) or Allison Cochran (phone: 205-489-5111, Ext. 141; jacochran@fs.fed.us).

WANTED: SBDN Bat Blitz Hosts - The annual Bat Blitz is one of our most successful programs. This program brings together biologists and land managers to gather important information on the bat fauna of a selected area. Learn more: Bat Blitz Information and FAQs

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