Collaboration between government agencies and a mining company has transformed a dangerous but valuable property
Flying high: Bats in Idaho have a new home. File photo: Paul Cryan/USGS/Flickr
PUBLISHER’S NOTE : Columbia Insight relies on reader donations to exist. From now until December 31, NewsMatch and a local supporter will match your new monthly donation 12 times, or double your one-time gift, up to $1,000. Through these matches, you can help us can earn up to $22,000. We hope you can help us take advantage of this great opportunity to strengthen our nonprofit newsroom by supporting our work .
By Kendra Chamberlain. November 18, 2024. The bats of Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge have a new roost to call home this winter.
An orphan mine, located on protected land around Bear Lake in southeast Idaho, was sealed up years ago to protect humans from wandering in. That meant the mine was also off limits to wildlife like bats.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USWS) partnered with Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Department of Lands and the mining company Synesco to open the mine entrance so that bats can roost in the mine’s long, twisting tunnels.