Jackson Group was contracted by Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. of Bloomington, Indiana to complete surveys designed to determine if northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) were present or probably absent within the Gratiot County Wind Energy Facility. An 800 meter (0.5 mile) radius buffer surrounding each turbine was used to define the project area.
All surveys were conducted by biologists permitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to conduct northern long-eared bat surveys. Biologists followed the USFWS 2015 Range-Wide Indiana Bat Summer Survey Guidelines, April 2015 and the Northern Long-Eared Bat Interim Conference and Planning Guidance, January 2014 to conduct all surveys. Work was done in coordination with the USFWS East Lansing Field Office.
Sixteen (16) sites were located within the project area for netting. Forty-two (42) individual bats representing two (2) species were captured during this survey: big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) (88%, n = 37) and eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) (12%, n = 5). This project was completed on time and within budget.
