A
Plea for Information and Openness
March
3, 2008
This
site was created on February 11 to provide links to factual information
about WNS for the caving community, but the new information on it has
been minimal. Cavers have been trying to get detailed
information about the spread of WNS, but unfortunately their queries
have either been ignored or the responses received were vague and
uninformative. In addition, we are assured that serious, high
priority research is going on, but we have been given almost no details
about it. If anyone can accurately answer the questions below
please do so.
1.
What caves/mines have been found to be clean of White Nose?
2.
What caves/mines have been found to be affected by White Nose?
3.
What exactly was found in those affected caves? Dead bats? How many? A
drop in population? What were the numbers?
4. In both the affected and unaffected caves, what was the past bat
count history? We need these numbers to understand the context of the
situation.
5. What caves/mines have not yet been checked?
In
all cases, we need the name of the caves/mines and their general
locations. Giving the county location is sufficient.
6.
What types of WNS research is being done at the various labs throughout
the country (please be specific)? How will their findings be
disseminated?
Vague
statements or large overstatements of the problem are not helpful.
Instead, they encourage skepticism and resentment among the very people
(cavers) the researchers need the most cooperation from. Precision and
accuracy will be far more effective in garnering the help and support
of the caving community.
If
anyone can provide answers to the questions above for inclusion on this
site it will help quell a growing feeling that there is perhaps a
political component to WNS as well as a scientific one.