News Releases from the Southern Research Station

Annual Southeastern Bat Blitz Draws National Interest

Asheville, NC -- The 5^th Annual Southeastern Bat Diversity Network Bat Blitz will be held August 6-10, 2006, in the mountains of northwestern South Carolina and northeastern Georgia. Sponsored by the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network, the blitz provides opportunity for state and federal agencies, universities, and private industry to exchange information, ideas, and techniques surrounding bat communities for a brief, but intensive period of time.

"This is an excellent way to inventory the bat community of a specific area," says Dr. Susan Loeb, who specializes in endangered, threatened, and sensitive wildlife research for the USDA Forest Service’s Southern Research Station (SRS). "Biologists from around the country will network, receive training, and share current research methods beneficial to ongoing and new bat studies." SRS will jointly host the event with the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests, the Chattahoochee National Forest, and the South Carolina and Georgia Departments of Natural Resources.

The blitz strives to increase bat knowledge in a particular area, educate the public about bats and related sciences, and train students and agency biologists to capture, handle, and record bats. Surveys will be conducted on the Andrew Pickens District (Sumter National Forest), the Tallulah Ranger District (Chattahoochee National Forest), and some of the state lands surrounding the national forests.

Camp Chatuga, located in Mountain Rest, SC, will serve as headquarters for the blitz. For additional information, please contact Susan Loeb at (864) 656-4865 or by email at sloeb@fs.fed.us .