Endangered bats could play role in proposed Mounds Lake reservoir fate

During a panel discussion hosted by reservoir opponents Heart of the River on Wednesday, Jim Carter, a wildlife biologist at Ball State University, said the federal Endangered Species Act could put an end to the proposed $450 million reservoir project.

Carter said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will have to provide a formal consultation on the potential risk to wildlife.

“Normally, changes in the environment are generally temporary,” he said of previous projects that fell under the Endangered Species Act. “A reservoir will be a long-term change.”

Carter said if a reservoir is constructed along the White River from Anderson to Yorktown there will be new habitat created, but it could take hundreds of years to replace the mature trees along the river.

“There are two factors,” he said. “Is the population robust enough to survive the flooding of the area, and is the population strong enough to re-populate the area?”

Carter said the Indiana bat is already on the endangered list. He said the bats normally live in caves during the winter months. In the summer, the females gather in “maternity colonies” in mature forests along rivers.

He said hundreds of female Indiana bats gather in dead trees.

Carter said the northern long-eared bat is in decline and could be added to the endangered-species list in April.

“We will have two endangered species in the habitat area,” he said. “A determination that endangered species are in the area will end the project.”

There is an exemption in the endangered species act, Carter explained. He said exemptions are dependent on whether the project is determined to be important enough to move forward.

“The Endangered Species Committee has never overturned a ruling by the Fish and Wildlife Service,” Carter said.

He said endangered bats are known to live in areas along the White River.