Jackson Group was contracted by Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC) in 2013 to aid in management and conducting Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) mist net and acoustic presence/absence surveys of the Bluegrass Pipeline. The project, a proposed Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) pipeline, is approximately 625 miles in length originating in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and ending along the Gulf Coast. CEC and Jackson Group were tasked with conducting mist net surveys (and corresponding acoustic surveys, radiotelemtry, and emergence counts, where applicable) in forested areas along the proposed pipeline route in four states: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.
Jackson Group was one of several bat survey subcontractors to help complete 752 mist net sites (3,084 net nights) during the summer of 2013. The data is currently being compiled with hundreds of bats captured, including 47 Indiana bats, and processed using 2013 US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) protocols.
A total of 40 of the 47 Indiana bats (including all reproductive females and juveniles) were fitted with transmitters and tracked to 59 roosts at a 97% success rate (39 out of 40 bats found in 59 roosts). Emergence counts were conducted at 54 accessible roosts using 2013 USFWS protocols.
This project is currently being completed on time and within budget.
