For the FY 2025 funding cycle, georgia department of natural resources (GA DNR) staff intend to use funding provided through the white-nose syndrome (WNS) grants to states and tribes to partially…

For the FY 2025 funding cycle, georgia department of natural resources (GA DNR) staff intend to use funding provided through the white-nose syndrome (WNS) grants to states and tribes to partially support the work of five staff members. GA DNR will continue to conduct BAT population monitoring within the north american BAT monitoring program (NA BAT) grid cells with 200-300 cells planned for sampling. This includes collecting BAT acoustic data on mobile acoustic routes as well as stationary BAT detectors in selected NA BAT grid cells. These data are collected by GA DNR staff, other agency staff (state and federal) and citizen science volunteers. GA DNR staff will also conduct BAT mist netting at long-term and new monitoring sites across the state. Data collected will be processed and uploaded into the NA BAT database. GA DNR will continue to conduct disease and pathogen surveillance while also collecting winter colony data in both WNS positive and negative regions. This winter, GA DNR staff will complete full cave surveys in the WNS affected areas of the state and continue monitoring significant cave and culvert hibernacula on the leading edge of WNS in the southern portion of the state. GA DNR will also work with the department of transportation to ensure protection of all bats roosting on or within transportation structures. GA DNR will continue to build and maintain local expertise and partnerships, including new technicians and volunteers as well as continued engagement with the caving community. Additionally, GA DNR staff will continue to engage with the WNS national response team, including travel to the WNS annual meeting and regional BAT working groups, such as the southeastern BAT diversity network and the georgia BAT working group. GA DNR staff will ensure efficient data collection, analysis, and entry into the nabat database. Finally, GA DNR staff will update the georgia WNS website and provide information about our work and the status of bats in georgia to the public. All work completed under funding from this grant will follow current USFWS guidelines related to the covid-19 pandemic and sars-COV-2.