Two U.S. Senate subcommittees have scheduled a hearing next week to discuss how to combat the fungus that killed off an estimated 90 percent of North Jersey's bat population last winter and has been associated with the death of more than 1 million bats in nine states over two years.
"We must ensure that everything possible is being done to prevent an ecological disaster," U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., wrote in a letter calling for the hearing. Lautenberg is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's Water and Wildlife subcommittee.
The loss of bats could affect humans, since bats eat enormous quantities of mosquitoes and other bugs, which can attack crops or spread disease.
New Jersey officials reported severe mortality at two major hibernation spots in North Jersey – the Hibernia Mine and the Mount Hope Mine in Morris County. The fungus was first discovered near Albany, N.Y., in 2007.
James M. O'Neill
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!