JAMESTOWN — The sun was disappearing when 10 volunteers took their places outside an old fluorite mine, headlamps strapped to their heads and clipboards ready. Then, they waited for the bats.
The volunteers were participating in Colorado Bat Watch, a community science program that asks volunteers to count bats as they emerge from mines and other roost sites. The data is helping scientists track Colorado’s bat population across a massive range of landscapes from the Eastern Plains to high alpine forests, and from rural towns to downtown Denver.
The data is vital to protect the roughly 20 species living in Colorado, especially as white-nose syndrome, a fast-moving disease that has killed millions of bats across North America, spreads…