Protecting Beneficial Bats Outdoors

Michigan's Upper Peninsulas abandoned iron and copper mines no longer yield mineral riches, but they are a valuable resource for the Midwests bat population. Each fall, thousands of bats from Michigan, surrounding States, and Canada come to the western Upper Peninsula to hibernate. The abandoned mines, with their miles of underground tunnels and adits, offer an ideal environment for hibernating big and little brown bats. The mines are also attractive to curiosity seekers, vandals, mineral hunters, and other trespassers who create an accident and liability potential. As a result, mine owners have traditionally bulldozed mine openings closed keeping out bats.

Realizing the need to protect this important habitat, NRCS in Michigan requested Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) funds to install a bat friendly closures for abandoned iron and copper mines. The program gained national attention from the when Radio Expeditions, a radio program produced by National Public Radio and the National Geographic Society, did a two part feature on the project in June of 2000. Since then, NRCS has continued the practice, using matching funds through WHIP.

To date, 18 mines in the western Upper Peninsula have had the closures installed, said Lynn Sampson, NRCS State biologist.

The most recent closure was completed in the fall of 2004 at the Seneca #3 mine near Mohawk on the Keweenaw Peninsula, that may become a local tourist attraction, according to District Conservationist Bruce Petersen. The newly completed bat closure is located just off of U.S. 41 -- the major road to the tip of the peninsula. Keweenaw County has agreed to build a paved tourist turnout and an educational kiosk to educate the public about the areas mining heritage and the importance of bats. The county has also approached the company which holds the surface rights to the site for a gift of four acres to construct the tourist turnout.

Installing the bat friendly closures will be a long-time project for the partners involved. The western Upper Peninsula contains a vast number of closed mines, many in isolated and almost inaccessible areas. A bat working group, made up of representatives from NRCS, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Bat Conservation International, and the Organization for Bat Conservation has worked together to design bat friendly closures and determine what mines contain bat populations that need protecting.