Texas Receives $50,000 Grant to Work onDeadly White-Nose Syndrome Bat Disease

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced grant awards totaling $1,276,088 to 30
states for white-nose syndrome (WNS) projects. State natural resource agencies will use the
funds to support research, monitor bat populations and detect and respond to white-nose
syndrome, a disease that afflicts bats.
“Although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leads the national response to white-nose
syndrome, we can’t do this alone,” said Wendi Weber, co-chair of the White-Nose Syndrome
Executive Committee and Service northeast regional director. “State agency partners are critical
in the united fight against this devastating disease.”
“White-nose syndrome has spread rapidly from one state in 2007 to 25 states and five Canadian
provinces this year,” said Dr. Jeremy Coleman, the Service’s national WNS coordinator. “These
grants provide essential support to our state partners in preparing for and responding to this
disease. The research, monitoring, and actions made possible by these grants have yielded
valuable results and insights for our national response to white-nose syndrome.”
First discovered in New York in the winter of 2006-2007, the disease spread through the eastern
U.S. and parts of Canada, and continues to move westward. The Service is leading a cooperative
effort with federal and state agencies, tribes, researchers, universities and other nongovernmental
organizations to investigate and manage WNS. In addition to developing sciencebased
protocols and guidance for land management agencies and other partners to slow the
spread of WNS, the Service has funded many research projects to support management of the
disease and improve understanding of it.
Funding for grants was provided through the Endangered Species Recovery and Science
Applications programs. Thirty states submitted proposals requesting $1,284,048. All eligible
requests were given at least partial awards, ranging from about $11,500 to $52,500, for a total of
$1,276,088.
Additional information about WNS is available at www.whitenosesyndrome.org/. Connect with
our white-nose syndrome Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfwswns, follow our tweets at
www.twitter.com/usfws_wns and download photos from our Flickr page at
www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/collections/72157626455036388/