Endangered Bats Under Threat?

Conservation organizations have initiated legal action against the U.S. Forest Service, asserting that the existence of endangered bats is under threat. The Center for Biological Diversity stated on April 19, 2024, highlighting deficiencies in the Nantahala-Pisgah forest plan that jeopardize federally protected bat species such as the northern long-eared bat, Indiana bat, Virginia big-eared bat, and gray bat. The finalized plan for Nantahala and Pisgah Forest was released by the US Forest Service in February 2023. Critics contend that the plan failed to adequately consider the long-term safeguarding of specific wildlife and forested regions, especially old-growth forests, and exposed them to logging activities. Another lawsuit, filed separately in February, argued that the Southside timber project is “inconsistent with the Nantahala National Forest’s governing management plan and therefore violates the National Forest Management Act.”