Proposed Obama Budget Calls for WNS Funding Cuts

[Rick Rhinehart]

President Barack Obama's proposed new federal budget calls for eliminating Congressionally-approved research funds for investigating the causes of white-nose syndrome. In October 2009, the Congress appropriated funding for research into the fungus, which is killing millions of bats in the eastern United States and may be spreading south and west. Among the recipients of the funding is former Colorado Grotto Chair Dr. Hazel Barton, currently with Northern Kentucky University.

According to Sylvia Fallon, a staff scientist at the National Resources Defense Council, federal funding will disappear if the budget is approved by Congress. Though approval of the budget by Congress is far from certain, the decision to eliminate federal funding is an indication the current Democratic administration believes there are more pressing needs for the United States than studying the extinction of many North American bat species within the decade.

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http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/sfallon/cutting_research_funding_for_b.html