Jackson Group was contracted by Raven Crest Mining, LLC., Prichard Mining Company, Inc., and Penn Virginia Operating Co., LLC to conduct summer Indiana and northern long-eared bat (M. septentrionalis) monitoring associated with the Amended Biological Assessment with Incidental Take Statement for Boone North No. 3 Surface Mine and the Protection and Enhancement Plan for Four Miles North Surface Mine in Boone County, West Virginia.
This was a two (2) objective project. The first objective was to provide state and federal agencies with evidence of presence or probable absence of threatened and/or endangered northern long-eared bats and Indiana bats. The second objective was to document the use of previously installed bat roost boxes. Thirty (30) bat boxes were installed between 2009 and 2010.
Acoustic surveys were conducted in May in 2015 with biologists following the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) 2015 Revised Range-Wide Indiana Bat Summer Survey Guidelines, April 2015. This study was conducted under the supervision of a federally permitted bat researcher authorized to work with Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats.
