WASHINGTON, D.C. – During ‘Bat Week,’ U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Representative Becca Balint (D-Vt.) in celebrating the Senate’s passage of their bipartisan, bicameral resolution supporting the federal designation of ‘Bat Week’ for the week of October 24 to October 31, 2024. The resolution emphasizes the importance of conserving bat species and habitats to the environment, national economies, and public health, and calls on Congress to continue working to defeat White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that threatens bats’ key role as pollinators and pest control for agriculture. The bipartisan resolution was passed with bipartisan, unanimous support.
“In Vermont and across the country, bats have a significant impact on the health of our environment. But as a result of White-nose Syndrome, more than half of Vermont’s bat species are now endangered, threatening the benefits bats provide to our ecosystems, our farms, and our nation,” said Sen. Welch. “Encouraging national observance of ‘Bat Week’ will revive efforts to conserve and protect of bats, their habitats, and their crucial role in Vermonters’ health.”
“From pollinating plants to controlling pests on our farms, bats play an important role in supporting agriculture and our environment. But bats across the country, including the ten different species found in Maryland, are at risk due to threats from climate change and disease. This resolution recognizes the importance of our native bat species and critical conservation efforts to protect them,” said Senator Van Hollen.
“In Vermont, we rely on bats to keep forests and fields pollinated and healthy for our environment and farms. Bats play a critical role in our ecosystem,” said Rep. Balint (VT-AL). “Unfortunately, a significant amount of Vermont’s bats species are endangered, posing risk to the environmental benefits bats provide. This resolution stands to highlight the importance of bats, support the work it takes to protect them, and advance Vermont’s values of conservation and a diverse ecosystem.”
Bats are present throughout the world and are the second-largest order of mammals with over 1,400 species. Bats play an important role in pollination and pest control, with recent studies estimating that bats save more than $1 billion annually in crop damage and pesticide costs in the United States corn industry.
These benefits are threatened by the spread of WNS, which has killed millions of bats in North America, including over 5.7 million bats in the northeastern United States since 2006. The disease has affected all six of Vermont’s cave bat species, and populations of cave bats have significantly declined since the disease was first reported in the state.
Read the full text of the resolution.
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