LAUTENBERG WORKS TO PROTECT NEW JERSEY BATS FROM DANGEROUS WHITE NOSE SYNDROMEWASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today announced that legislation to fund the Interior Department for the upcoming fiscal year was approved in the Senate.  As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Lautenberg supported $500,000 for research to protect New Jersey's bat population from a mysterious and deadly illness called White Nose Syndrome (WNS). "This federal funding will help scientists research and work to prevent the disease responsible for a dangerously steep decline of New Jersey's bat population," stated Lautenberg.  "Bats play a vital role in our ecosystem by preying on insects that destroy crops and carry disease.  There is an urgent need to fund WNS research so that bat populations in New Jersey and throughout the country are not further threatened by this illness.  The funding in this bill is a start, but I will continue to fight to increase our investment in WNS research before this measure is signed into law."     WNS is named for white fungal growth around the noses and on the bodies of affected animals.  It first appeared in caves near Albany, New York in February 2006 and was confirmed in New Jersey in 2009.  Since bats are slow breeders and produce only one pup per year on average, scientists fear WNS could cause the extinction of many bat species.  Over the last two winters, more than one million hibernating bats have died.  This map details the spread of WNS across the Northeast. On July 8 Lautenberg, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Water and Wildlife Subcommittee, highlighted the threat of WNS on bat populations during a Senate hearing that he called for to examine threats to native wildlife species.Bats play a critical role in North American ecosystems.  They prey almost exclusively on insects such as mosquitoes, which spread disease, and moths and beetles, which damage crops.  A single bat can easily eat more than 3,000 insects a night and an entire colony will consume hundreds of millions.  Bats reduce the need for pesticides, which cost farmers billions of dollars every year and are harmful to human health.In addition to funding research for WNS, the Senate Interior Appropriations funding measure includes $10 million in federal funding for New Jersey programs to preserve open space and help local communities provide clean water to their residents.  ###