There are unique techniques and strategies applied when bats use transportation structures. State natural resource agencies and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have been encouraged to collaborate with state Departments of Transportation to consider the presence of bats at all bridge and culvert projects. This training will have valuable insights for both new and experienced practitioners. This training will provide an overview of federal regulations for bat species across the United States and will demonstrate the use of current consultation tools available from USFWS. The training will delve into the details of how to assess transportation structures for bats, how to exclude bats, and how to apply conservation measures to protect bats if they shouldn’t be excluded. The North American Bat Monitoring Program will provide additional training on example data collection, their bridge and culvert assessments and the importance of sharing bat data and how it is used for incorporation into species status and trends and other data visualization products.
Organizers and moderators:
Chris Slesar is the Environmental Resources Coordinator for the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and works closely with a top-notch team of biologists, archaeologists, and architectural historians. Chris is actively engaged with habitat connectivity issues for VTrans and collaborates closely with partners at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Chris is currently the Chair of the ICOET Steering Committee.
Chris Goodson has been with the Georgia Department of Transportation for 18 years and currently serves as the Senior Ecology Section Manager. He works with internal, non-governmental, state, and federal partners to establish efficient policies and procedures that incentivize environmentally sensitive design. Chris is a member of the ICOET Steering and Program Committees
Trainer 1
Sumalee Hoskin is the new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Transportation Liaison. She has worked for the Service for over 20 years, mainly in the Virginia Field Office. A primary focus of her work has been endangered species consultation, especially for federally listed bats. Since 2012 she has been part of the team of biologists that developed the Range-wide programmatic consultation with the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Rail Administration, and Federal Transit for the Indiana and northern long-eared bat.
Trainer 2
Andrea Schuhmann is a Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center and Technical Outreach Coordinator for the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), a collaborative conservation monitoring program. Andrea works in partnership with scientists, resource managers, policy makers, and bat enthusiasts from across North America to understand the status and trends of bat populations.
Trainer 3
Katrina Morris is the Wildlife Conservation Program Manager for the Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Katrina also serves as the Bat Working Group Chair for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.