DNR: Bat disease limited to Grant Co. mine

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin wildlife officials say a deadly bat disease hasn’t spread beyond a single Grant County mine.

The Department of Natural Resources found signs of white-nose syndrome in the mine during surveys of 135 mines and caves between January and March. Test results released in April showed 2 percent of bats in the mine had the disease.

The DNR received the last results from the surveys in early June. Those results showed no signs of the disease.

Erin Crain, director of the Natural Heritage Conservation Bureau, says her division didn’t publicize the results until now because it’s been busy trying to persuade federal officials to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened rather than endangered. DNR officials worry an endangered restriction would prohibit loggers from cutting trees the bats use.