Mission 2

Protect and Restore Landscapes

Mexican long-nosed bat
(Leptonycteris nivalis)
Photo by J. Scott Altenbach

Nectar-feeding bats and agave have a symbiotic relationship. Without flowering agaves, Mexican long-nosed bats cannot survive. And without pollinating bats, the health and survival of agaves are in jeopardy.”

—Dr. Kristen Lear, Agave Restoration Program Manager

Agave Corridor Restoration: Saving the Last Remaining Mexican Long-nosed Bats

Under a scorching sun in the Mexican state of Coahuila, Bat Conservation International’s (BCI) partner Especies, Sociedad y Hábitat, A.C. works alongside the communities of Estanque de Norias, Ejido La Reforma, Ejido 20 de noviembre, La Victoria, and Rancho La Rita to plant over 7,700 native agaves. The work is brutally hot, physically demanding, and necessary to save Endangered Mexican long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis).

Pregnant Mexican long-nosed bats leave their winter roost in central Mexico and migrate hundreds of miles north along “nectar corridors” to give birth.
Photo by Dr. Kristen Lear

Mission 2

Protect and Restore Landscapes

desert landscape in the Mexican state of Coahuila

Pregnant Mexican long-nosed bats leave their winter roost in central Mexico and migrate hundreds of miles north along “nectar corridors” to give birth.
Photo by Dr. Kristen Lear

Agave Corridor Restoration: Saving the Last Remaining Mexican Long-nosed Bats

Under a scorching sun in the Mexican state of Coahuila, Bat Conservation International’s (BCI) partner Especies, Sociedad y Hábitat, A.C. works alongside the communities of Estanque de Norias, Ejido La Reforma, Ejido 20 de noviembre, La Victoria, and Rancho La Rita to plant over 7,700 native agaves. The work is brutally hot, physically demanding, and necessary to save Endangered Mexican long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis).

Nectar-feeding bats and agave have a symbiotic relationship. Without flowering agaves, Mexican long-nosed bats cannot survive. And without pollinating bats, the health and survival of agaves are in jeopardy.”

—Dr. Kristen Lear, Agave Restoration Program Manager

Mexican long-nosed bat
(Leptonycteris nivalis)
Photo by J. Scott Altenbach

BCI staff collect seeds from a native agave in Texas. Agaves generally bloom after 5 to 20 years, and then the plant dies. Bats serve a critical role in dispersing pollen from the blooming agaves.
Photo by Dr. Kristen Lear

Racing Against Time

Changes in climate, loss of habitat due to human encroachment and unsustainable land use practices, and rising sales in agave spirits—tequila, mezcal and bacanora—have reduced agave vegetation across the U.S. Southwest and parts of Mexico, threatening the survival of Mexican long-nosed bats and wild agaves as well.

BCI continues five years of agave restoration work with an increasing number of partners, including private landowners and Mexican ejido communities, conservation NGOs, federal and state agencies, universities, industry, and agave spirits producers. But we’re racing against time.

8,706
agaves were planted as a result of restoration activities in seven U.S. states and Mexico

conservation member planting and growing agaves

Planting and growing agaves takes time and patience.
Photo by Dr. Kristen Lear

Racing Against Time

Changes in climate, loss of habitat due to human encroachment and unsustainable land use practices, and rising sales in agave spirits—tequila, mezcal and bacanora—have reduced agave vegetation across the U.S. Southwest and parts of Mexico, threatening the survival of Mexican long-nosed bats and wild agaves as well.

BCI continues five years of agave restoration work with an increasing number of partners, including private landowners and Mexican ejido communities, conservation NGOs, federal and state agencies, universities, industry, and agave spirits producers. But we’re racing against time.

8,706
agaves were planted as a result of restoration activities in seven U.S. states and Mexico

Planting and growing agaves takes time and patience.
Photo by Dr. Kristen Lear

BCI staff collecting seeds from a native agave in Texas

BCI staff collect seeds from a native agave in Texas. Agaves generally bloom after 5 to 20 years, and then the plant dies. Bats serve a critical role in dispersing pollen from the blooming agaves.
Photo by Dr. Kristen Lear

Shaping Water Restoration

The U.S. Southwest has the highest diversity of bats with the lowest density of water.

Water restoration projects during increasing drought conditions are essential to maintaining bat populations. Anticipating the need to ensure water-resilient habitats, a well-respected team of BCI specialists assesses habitat conditions; develops practical plans; and builds climate-resilient water features.

Springs near Canyonlands National Park in Southern Utah

In an arid corridor between Canyonlands National Park and the Colorado River, BCI’s water restoration team is engaged to assess 65 small water features for their potential for bat use. BCI sees restoration potential in 15 of the springs. Erosion control and pond reconstruction are among the strategies BCI employs to build resilient habitats for area bats. Restoration work also benefits other imperiled species like the federally Threatened Navajo sedge (Carex specuicola).

Jaguar Pond in Southern Arizona

Between the Patagonia and Santa Rita mountains along the U.S.-Mexico border—within the most bat biodiverse region in America—BCI reshapes an old stock pond by doubling its depth and compacting it with the moistened native soil to improve water retention. Around the pond, logs and native vegetation are added. Within a month, the first monsoon fills the pond and it becomes an important part of a riparian corridor.

Hassayampa Springs in Central Arizona

In the Sonoran Desert northwest of Phoenix, where the 100-mile Hassayampa River flows mostly underground, BCI is partnering with the Bureau of Land Management to restore 10 clear water springs imperiled by invasive species, grazing stock, and human misuse. BCI removes water-consuming tamarisk trees, builds stream stabilization features, adds fencing, and creates small spring-fed pools to support bats and other native wildlife.

BCI’s water restoration team works to reshape an old stock pond by doubling its depth and compacting it with the moistened native soil to improve water retention at Jaguar Pond in southern Arizona.
Photo by Montana Horchler

BCI’s water restoration team working to reshape an old stock pond

BCI’s water restoration team works to reshape an old stock pond by doubling its depth and compacting it with the moistened native soil to improve water retention at Jaguar Pond in southern Arizona.
Photo by Montana Horchler

Shaping Water Restoration

The U.S. Southwest has the highest diversity of bats with the lowest density of water.

Water restoration projects during increasing drought conditions are essential to maintaining bat populations. Anticipating the need to ensure water-resilient habitats, a well-respected team of BCI specialists assesses habitat conditions; develops practical plans; and builds climate-resilient water features.

Springs near Canyonlands National Park in Southern Utah

In an arid corridor between Canyonlands National Park and the Colorado River, BCI’s water restoration team is engaged to assess 65 small water features for their potential for bat use. BCI sees restoration potential in 15 of the springs. Erosion control and pond reconstruction are among the strategies BCI employs to build resilient habitats for area bats. Restoration work also benefits other imperiled species like the federally Threatened Navajo sedge (Carex specuicola).

Jaguar Pond in Southern Arizona

Between the Patagonia and Santa Rita mountains along the U.S.-Mexico border—within the most bat biodiverse region in America—BCI reshapes an old stock pond by doubling its depth and compacting it with the moistened native soil to improve water retention. Around the pond, logs and native vegetation are added. Within a month, the first monsoon fills the pond and it becomes an important part of a riparian corridor.

Hassayampa Springs in Central Arizona

In the Sonoran Desert northwest of Phoenix, where the 100-mile Hassayampa River flows mostly underground, BCI is partnering with the Bureau of Land Management to restore 10 clear water springs imperiled by invasive species, grazing stock, and human misuse. BCI removes water-consuming tamarisk trees, builds stream stabilization features, adds fencing, and creates small spring-fed pools to support bats and other native wildlife.

BCI’s team of cave and mine specialists suit up in protective gear before dropping into an abandoned, potentially dangerous uranium mine in Colorado.
Photo by Josh Hydeman

Townsend’s big-eared bat
(Corynorhinus townsendii)
Michael Durham / Minden Pictures

BCI serves as a valued partner in surveying mines for bats and other wildlife. View near an abandoned uranium mine in Colorado.
Photo by Josh Hydeman

Into the Dark Unknown

Surveying Abandoned Mines

Priyesh Patel, Geospatial Resources Lead for BCI, suits up to survey an abandoned mine. Laser distance meter: check. An infrared thermometer to measure surface temperatures: check. Anemometer to determine air flows: check. And, most importantly: a portable gas detector clipped within quick reach.

Surveying abandoned mines is work that requires highly specialized skills. Patel and his colleagues on the BCI subterranean team don’t often know the conditions of the underground places they survey until they crawl in—nor what they will find.

BCI’s goal in surveying abandoned mines is to identify and protect bat roosting habitats. It is a goal that fits well with mandates by federal agencies to close thousands of abandoned mines for public safety reasons. BCI’s subterranean experts provide the necessary documentation to close a mine permanently or recommend solutions where there is evidence of bats or other wildlife. In many cases, a locked gate across the mine entrance allows bats to enter and exit while safeguarding the public.

Increasingly, federal and state land managers—the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and several state agencies—partner with BCI to provide surface and subsurface assessments of caves and abandoned mines.

548
Biological assessments of abandoned mine features

223
Biological assessments of defense-related uranium mines

In FY22, BCI began a five-year contract with the Department of Energy to survey thousands of uranium mines that, at one time, provided uranium ore to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission for defense reasons. The mines present substantial human and environmental risks but also tend to be roost habitats for several species of Myotids and Townsend’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii).

121
Identified roosts for permanent protection

Dozens
of federal and state partnerships

Added Value:
Cultural Resource Assessment

In FY22, BCI added a cultural resource specialist to our team to enhance our overall work on federal and state lands. The specialist and field technicians identify anthropogenic sites, structures and objects, and provide management recommendations for cultural resources as required by the National Environmental Protection Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.

BCI surveying mines for bats and other wildlife