Details - Assessment of abandoned mines for bat use on Bureau of Land Management lands in the Phillipsburg, Montana area, 1999

Assessment of abandoned mines for bat use on Bureau of Land Management lands in the Phillipsburg, Montana area, 1999

Title

Assessment of abandoned mines for bat use on Bureau of Land Management lands in the Phillipsburg, Montana area, 1999

By

Hendricks, P.

Montana Natural Heritage Program.
United States. Bureau of Land Management.

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

Helena, Mont, Montana Natural Heritage Program, c2000

Notes

Cover title.

"January, 2000."

In July 1999, three groups of abandoned mine workings on BLM lands in the Philipsburg, Granite County, Montana area were inspected for their potential use by bats. Site groups included the Russian Gulch Mine (2 adits), Frost Creek group adjacent to Philipsburg (5 adits), and the Cliff Creek group, also adjacent to Philipsburg (7 adits, 1 shaft). Where possible, workings were inspected internally for bats and bat spoor; at sites suitable and with greatest potential, mist nets were set across portals and monitored for two hours after sunset. All but the Russian Gulch Mine were shallow workings or inaccessible, and all workings exhibited low activity or low potential for significant use by bats. The Russian Gulch Mine could be made more accessible to bats, and has the greatest potential for significant use, but another nearby working (Silver King Mine) showed current bat activity (as of 1997) and is preferable for bat-friendly reclamation if limited funds preclude management for bats at both mines. Five bat species that use caves and mines as primary hibernation habitat have been recorded from Granite County, and have the potential to occur in abandoned mine workings in the Philipsburg area. These species include the Western Small-footed Myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum), Western Long-eared Myotis (M. evotis), Little Brown Myotis (M. lucifugus), Long-legged Myotis (M. volans) and the Townsend Big-eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii). All but the Little Brown Myotis are U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Concern species, and the Townsend Big-eared Bat is also a BLM Special Status species in Montana.