Grant Awarded by the NFWF

10/30/2018

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports conservation efforts, and is currently the nation's largest private conservation grant-maker.

The Bats for the Future Fund was launched in the fall of 2016 to provide grant funding for existing and novel disease treatments and management strategies urgently needed to stem the impacts of WNS at the leading edge of the disease; areas with a mosaic of contaminated and uncontaminated sites on the front line of the fungus’ invasion. Major funding for the Bats for the Future Fund is provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with additional funding from the U.S. Forest Service and Southern Company.

On October 30th, 2018, the NFWF announced more than $1.1. million in grant awards, which includes $559,949 awarded to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, in collaboration with the BioInnovation lab at Kennesaw State University, for their proposal to develop an Integrated Disease Management System Approach to Reduce White-Nose Syndrome Mortality in Texas.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in collaboration with Kennesaw State University, Texas A&M University and Lockhaven University will implement an integrated disease management approach aimed at minimizing WNS mortality amongst tricolored bats in Texas. The project will use multiple mitigation approaches, including high-pressure steam cleaning, application of polyethylene glycol, and anti-fungal fumigants, to delay the establishment of Pd, the causal agent of WNS, reduce WNS-related mortality, and slow the spread of the pathogen.