Mississippi
Bat Working Group

Held 7 February 2008
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
Jackson, Mississippi

The Sixth Annual Meeting of the MBWG began with a welcome by Charles Knight, Assistant Director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (MMNS). Chester Martin, MBWG Chair and recently retired from the U. S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, presided over the meeting and introduced the other officers of the MBWG. Other participants were invited to introduce themselves and include their affiliations. Attendance totaled 29 people from 2 states (Mississippi and Louisiana). Public agencies represented included the U. S. Department of Defense- Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-National Forests in Mississippi and De Soto National Forest, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, U. S. Department of the Interior- Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. Private companies Bowhead Technology & Information Systems and Weyerhaeuser both sent participants. Institutions of higher learning represented were the University of Louisiana at Monroe, the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and Mississippi State University.

• Chester reviewed the many contributions (including publications in peer-reviewed and technical journals) made during 2007 by the MBWG membership toward bat research and conservation.
• Alison McCartney (BLM), MBWG Vice-Chair, summarized the 2007 Summer Mist Net Event held at Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex and Delta National Forest. Alison also discussed the upcoming Mist Net Event to be held in July 2008 on the Homochitto National Forest near Natchez. The MBWG is seeking sponsors and a coordinator for the event.
• MBWG discussed the suggestion that to raise the working groupÕs profile, they hold their membership meeting to coincide with the annual meeting of the state chapter of The Wildlife Society, possibly as soon as October 2008. The MBWG will hold further discussions to evaluate the merits of the recommendation.
• The group discussed ideas for improvement of its website.
• David Richardson (USFWS) discussed plans to secure a maternity roost of RafinesqueÕs big-eared bats, Corynorhinus rafinesquii, in an abandoned house in Pheba. He will personally purchase the materials and coordinate the labor to stabilize the deteriorating structure. David also updated the group on his efforts to safely exclude a colony of Brazilian free-tailed bats from a church in Macon.
• Austin Trousdale (USM) received the Chester O. Martin Award for his service to the MBWG and contributions to the study of bats in Mississippi.

Our meetingÕs sponsors (BLM, Bowhead, Tara Wildlife, and Weyerhaeuser) provided a delicious lunch during which Chester was honored with an often-humorous retrospective of his life and career. Thanks to Mandy Callender (ERDC) for putting this together.

After lunch the meeting resumed for a review of recent research and conservation actions regarding bats in MS. This consisted of oral presentations and a poster session.

• Austin updated the group on efforts to deploy artificial roosts on the De Soto National Forest following Hurricane Katrina.
• Alison summarized bat surveys that she had conducted on the Theodore Roosevelt NWR Complex.
• Chris Rice (UL-Monroe) discussed his research on effects of ambient temperature on roost selection by C. rafinesquii.
• Chester summarized bat surveys on military installations within MS that he had coordinated.
• Posters by Austin, Alison, Chris, Monica, and Bruce Sabol (ERDC) were also displayed.

In the open discussion that concluded the meeting, Shauna Ginger (USFWS) informed the group that she is leading the effort by her agency to review the potential need for federally listing C. rafinesquii and the southeastern myotis, Myotis austroriparius. Across their ranges, these two species are designated by individual states as worthy of special conservation concern (or in some cases, more serious need). Shauna requested that investigators and wildlife managers share with her evidence of any trends in the populations that they have studied and/or managed. When compiled. These data should allow the agency to gain a clearer picture of whether these species continue to decline in abundance.