.png?width=40&height=40&name=Caitlin%20Burke%20(1).png){kind=small}
Indiana bats, a federally endangered species, depend on specific habitats for feeding, staging before hibernation, and preparation for spring migration. These bats roost under the peeling bark of trees like shagbark hickories or in snags (dead trees) and forage along corridors provided by streams.
Here's how a statewide conservation bank has created regulatory certainty for developers across an entire region.
On August 24, 2021, RES received formal approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the first endangered bat species conservation bank in Indiana. The Indiana Statewide Bat Conservation Bank (ISBCB) is located in Greene County, Indiana.
READ NEXT > Proactive conservation in action: RES expands bat bank to meet current and future regulatory needs
The site provides critical summer and roosting habitat, while its network of perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams offers vital foraging corridors. The bank includes more than 200 acres of high-quality habitat protection and restoration areas in a Priority I hibernaculum, and it provides staging and swarming habitat for the Indiana bat. This comprehensive approach ensures that the bats have the resources they need throughout their seasonal cycles.
This groundbreaking project, created in collaboration with the USFWS, is the first habitat bank in the country to generate credits through the protection and restoration of swarming habitat for a federally endangered bat species, giving project developers a new option for offsetting impacts to Indiana bats. By combining restoration and conservation of swarming habitats, the bank supports both immediate and long-term population needs for the Indiana bat.
WATCH NEXT > Pennsylvania Bat Bank provides strategic location for regional populations
Because Indiana bats rely on this habitat to feed before hibernation and before spring migration, the bank’s development ensures the land will be protected in perpetuity to help preserve the species.
The ISBCB has more than 1,200 credits available for project proponents across Indiana.
Need Credits? Check out our Credit Map.
READ NEXT > Case Study: Indiana Statewide Bat Conservation Bank
