Climbers for Bat Conservation

To the Colorado climbing community,

The Climbers for Bat Conservation stands by it's mission to better understand and conserve bat populations through a collaboration between climbers, biologists, and land owners. As both a climber, and biologist, I have had the opportunity to study some of the Colorado bat populations through field surveys, and also on days climbing. What Climbers for Bat Conservation needs from us as climbers is the observational data we collect when we are lucky enough to notice a bat utilizing a crack/crevice habitat. These reports are valued by the biologists and land owners because it furthers our understanding of the habitat use and roost preference by bats in Colorado. Knowledge is power, and through our collaborative efforts we can have a voice on bat conservation efforts throughout the state. I hope we can all chip in our wealth of knowledge and personal anecdotes for the greater cause of preserving and improving our state's biodiversity. Here is a link to the Climbers for Bat Conservation webpage: climbersforbats.colostate.edu/"

The website says climbers can help by submit bat sightings, but it doesn't say where or how we can submit this data?

aikibujin wrote:The website says climbers can help by submit bat sightings, but it doesn't say where or how we can submit this data?

This link will take you the Climbers for Bat Conservation project webpage supported by iNaturalist.org, you will need create an account to add an observation.

inaturalist.org/projects/cl…

This is a great program.

The NCCC (nococlimbing.org) has consulted on this project and the biologists are really great people to work with. Its a great opportunity for them to find new habitats to do their research. Nothing to do with closing climbing areas, just scientists looking for new locations and habitats.

If you see a bat, send them a message!

Ben Scott wrote:Nothing to do with closing climbing areas

I think you are being incredibly naive.
Why don't you ask the caving community how 'helpful' the bat scientists were in closing caves?

Mark E Dixon wrote: I think you are being incredibly naive. Why don't you ask the caving community how 'helpful' the bat scientists were in closing caves?

I would not recommend showing any of these folks any climbing areas where a bat might exist. Seen far too many closures in my neck of the woods because of this.

Cave closures were taken as a proactive measure in response to the rapid spread of a fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome (WNS). Here's some WNS info taken from a scientific article. "Since it was first discovered in New York State during the winter of 2006–07, WNS has since spread to 27 additional states and five Canadian provinces, and is known to affect at least seven species of hibernating bats. Mortality rates vary considerably among species but can be very high (>90% for little brown bats, Myotis lucifugus, and northern long-eared bats, M. septentrionalis), and cumulative mortality of all affected bat species has been estimated at 5.7 to 6.7 million individuals as of January 2012". ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl…

Climbers for Bat Conservation clearly lists it's goals in order to be as transparent as possible. Taken directly from the website,
Mission: To better understand and conserve bat populations by building connections with rock climbers, land managers, and biologists.

The goals of our project are simply to:
1.Improve knowledge of bat roost locations;
2.Develop relationships among climbers, biologists, and land managers;
3.Empower climbers as ambassadors for bat conservation; and
4.Develop a model collaboration that can be used for gaining data on bat crevice use.

The goal here is not to create closures. If you choose not to share your observational data, that is your decision. We hope that there are climbers out there who have a personal interest in preserving our bat populations and wish to contribute their knowledge.

Thanks for your input.

andrew.reed wrote:The goal here is not to create closures.

Just a by-product.

andrew.reed wrote: The goal here is not to create closures. If you choose not to share your observational data, that is your decision.

Caves were closed for several years here in Colorado, and as far as I know, are still only partially open, despite the fact that White Nose has never been found here, and the closest approach was in Oklahoma and that case was very questionable. Nevertheless, bat scientists here in Colorado sent countless letters to state and federal officials successfully advocating widespread closures.

Bat scientists do not care about climbing access.
Do not kid yourselves- they will invoke the precautionary principle and close your crag for the slightest excuse.

I like bats. I'd like to see them protected. But the way cavers were treated was not reasonable and I don't believe anything has changed. I don't want to see climbers hit next.

Ben Scott wrote:.... biologists are really great people to work with....

Like at Ralston Buttes.

mountainproject.com/v/ralst…

If you see a bat while climbing.
1. Enjoy it but give it space.
2. Take a picture
3. Keep it to yourself.