North Carolina Forest Plan Harms Endangered Bats, Suit Says

The US Forest Service approved a new Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest plan without considering how extensive logging will effect endangered bats, conservation groups said in a federal complaint.

The western North Carolina forest provides critical habitat for the northern long-eared bat, Indiana bat, Virginia big-eared bat, and gray bat—species which are teetering on the brink of extinction, Defenders of Wildlife and other groups said in their lawsuit.

Protecting the bat habitat is essential to the species’ survival and to the health of the forest ecosystem, as the bats consume tens of thousands of mosquitoes each night, the groups said. Logging can ...