Bat Final Rule Released
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The interim section 4(d) rule contains the same elements as the proposed rule:
* No prohibitions on forest management outside the white-nose syndrome buffer zone
* No prohibitions on forest management outside 0.25 mile (0.4 kilometer) from a known, occupied hibernacula
* Avoid clearcuts (and similar harvest methods, e.g., seed tree, shelterwood, and coppice) within 0.25 mile (0.4 kilometer) of known, occupied roost trees during the pup season (June 1–July 31)
* Avoid cutting or destroying known, occupied roost trees during the pup season (June 1–July 31)
The preamble also retains the exclusion from the exemption of the conversion of mature hardwood, or mixed, forest into intensively managed monoculture pine plantation stands, or non-forested landscape. However, the preamble also states: "Continued forest management and silviculture is vital to the conservation and recovery of the northern long-eared bat."
