Northern Colorado Grotto

There have been a number of updates in recent weeks regarding the tragic outbreak of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). This has been especially devastating to bat populations in eastern caves. Caused by a fungus, WNS impacts the hibernation of bats causing them to consume calories at a faster than normal rate. This seems to lead to the bats waking from hibernation prematurely without an adequate food supply. Subsequently the bats starve to death. With over 500,000 bat casulties thus far, WNS has become a serious threat to bat populations throughout the eastern US. While bat-to-bat transmission has been confirmed, it isn't yet know if cavers also spread the fungus responsible for WNS by physically spreading it to new caves. As a precaution, the U.S. Forrest Service has closed all caves and mines on USFS lands in the eastern region. Further closure orders are expected in the coming weeks for the southern region as well. It took a little hunting, but I was able to find the USFS website with the closure order and some additional information. To read more about the closures, and WNS click the following link: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/.