Conservation efforts to shore up the habitat of an endangered species of bat may impact development in still-growing suburbs of the Twin Cities.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the northern long-eared bat is at risk of survival as a species because of infection from white-nose syndrome, which has resulted in a dramatic decline. Because of this and other factors, the federal government has designated the northern long-eared as an endangered species.
These protections will include prohibitions on cutting any trees where the bats may nest between April and October. This may have an impact on development, but wildlife conservation experts think it won’t be that dramatic because the species is already so rare.
“Efforts to preserve the species, really, in general, are going to have very minor implications on development projects in general,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist Jill Utrup.
According to Utrup, many developers are aware of the prohibitions and work with conservation officers to make sure they are in compliance if they have any questions. The agency also adjusted some of its restrictions knowing that projects may have already started and there is no way to circumvent the trees. She said the efforts to look at existing records of the bat colonies in certain areas have helped guide efforts to reduce further impacts, also.
“Otherwise, if (developers are) outside of those areas where we know there’s records for the species, their risk is very low,” said Utrup.
In Blaine, Minnesota’s tenth-largest city and one of the fastest-growing cities in the Twin Cities metro area, developers were cautioned as soon as the city found out about the restrictions.
“We took the conservative approach that no trees anywhere could be removed,” said City of Blaine Community Development Director Erik Thorvig. “That was the guidance that we gave developers and that we used for our street project.”
Thorvig said many developers had already begun large-scale projects, and some of the cutting couldn’t be avoided. He also said the city received new guidance from a consultant on Thursday afternoon that the restrictions won’t go into affect now until 2024, and that tree-cutting will be allowed for the most part this year, except June 1 - July 31, prime nesting time for the northern long-eared bat.
“That’s a much smaller window than the March to November,” said Thorvig.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has many online resources for those interested in finding out more about the status of the bats and their habitat. That can be found here.