TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe

FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman

Dear Director Ashe:

We write to express our concerns regarding the potential listing of the northern long-eared bat (NLEB), as well as the proposed 4(d) rule that would accompany such a listing.  We also write to ensure that any efforts to protect the NLEB do not cause undue harm to, or impose unnecessary regulatory burdens on economic development, forestry, wind power generation, energy development, agriculture, and conservation projects - activities that, according to the preamble to the proposed rule "have not independently caused significant, population-level effects on the [NLEB]'' and that are unrelated to the primary threat to this species - white nose syndrome (WNS). 

Read the Chairman's entire letter HERE.