Last updated on: 27-01-2011 10:36 AM

Bat Blitz 2010

September 20, 2010

More than 100 biologists, researchers, managers, and students gathered at Fort Mountain State Park in northwest Georgia last month to provide a needed snapshot of the area’s bat populations.   The Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests and Georgia Department of Natural Resources hosted the four-day event.

The Southeastern Bat Diversity Network’s 9th annual Bat Blitz drew volunteers from 34 agencies, corporations, universities and organizations and 19 states – from Texas to Oregon to Wisconsin – who gave their time and shared survey equipment for a landscape-scale survey of bats in Chattahoochee National Forest and adjacent state and federal lands. Using mist nets strung across roads and streams, workers caught  nearly 300 bats, two of them federally endangered gray bats.

The event began with a family education night attended by nearly 100 people. Bat Conservation International, Southeastern Cave Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Habitat for Bats and others provided displays and activities for children, from an echolocation game to a mist-netting and Anabat demonstration. Vicky Smith of A-Z Animals gave a general bat presentation and Weyerhaeuser’s Darren Miller, president of the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network, discussed bat conservation in Georgia.

Over the three nights of sampling, 292 bats representing nine species were captured. The numbers: 89 northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis), 73 red bats (Lasiurus borealis), 65 tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus), 41 big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), nine little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), five small-footed myotis (Myotis lebieii – a state species of concern), seven evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis), one hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) and the two endangered gray bats (Myotis grisescens).

Genetics samples taken from each bat will go to the American Museum of Natural History. Fecal samples were collected for dietary analysis. Occurrence data will be used in making management decisions and will also provide baseline data in the race for information to combat the threat of white-nose syndrome, a disease threatening bat populations.

Southern Region Unveils its New Outdoor Safety Website

August 13, 2010

The Southern Region unveiled its new web section focused on the safety needs of our visitors. The new site covers a wide range of safety topics including weather, wildlife, water safety, and safety in the great outdoors.  Although the site's scope is extensive, it will continue to evolve over the next few months as new safety issues are added and current ones are expanded and modified.

One of the best features of the site is that each safety topic includes a portable format. Visitors can download a PDF copy of each safety topic and take it with them when they travel to one of our national forests here in the South.  As one camper put it, "I can download and print these safety tips and then give them to my children to read. This will be educational and give them something to do while we're on the road."  The site also allows our visitors to be selective about what they want and need to read.  "We don't force people to wade through a lot of information to find what they're looking for," explains Russ Chaffin, the regional web manager. "We let them pick and choose what's relevant for their recreational needs and goals."

Since a number of safety issues have a seasonal component--such as weather and wildlife--the site will also have a seasonal format. The topics and focus on the home page will change depending on the time of year. Currently the site is focused on severe weather issues, especially flash floods, heat waves, and lightning strikes. Later on in the year we can expect to see more focus on hurricanes, wildfires, and the dangers of frostbite and hypothermia as winter sets in.

Public safety--especially outdoor safety--represents a core value for the U.S. Forest Service.  Recent events over the past few months have demonstrated the need for reliable, accurate, and accessible safety information that the public can use whenever they venture out into the great outdoors. The Southern Region is committed to protecting the welfare of its visitors and promoting good safety practices throughout the South.

The public is encouraged to provide feedback.  If you have a suggestion, or if you see a correction that needs to be made, feel free to contact the web manager.

Region 8 Cartographer Assists in Haitian Relief Efforts

May 10, 2010

Eric Schmeckpeper, the regional GIS Coordinator located at the Atlanta-based Regional Office of the U.S. Forest Service, played an important role in relief efforts during the recent natural disaster in Haiti. When a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, the damage to the country’s infrastructure was extensive. Telecommunications, transportation, hospitals, and the nation’s electrical network bore the brunt of the earthquake’s wrath, making it difficult for relief agencies to perform their duties. The day after the earthquake Eric received a call from the Disaster Assistance Support Program (DASP) requesting his cartographic services to help rebuild the battered infrastructure in Haiti.  He was stationed at the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) in Washington D.C. during his ten day detail.

Given the poor condition of Haiti’s infrastructure, finding reliable data on existing roads became a critical issue to relief workers involved in recovery efforts.  Eric’s first assignment was to find GPS road data so that local relief workers could download the data to their GPS units. Without adequate information on road conditions, rescue workers from a wide variety of international relief organizations couldn’t transport supplies, medicine, food, and other equipment to those areas hardest hit from the earthquake.
Eric’s second assignment involved a grassroots effort to rebuild the nation’s healthcare infrastructure. “You had a huge earthquake occur in a major populated area which had essentially no building codes,” Eric explained. “As a result, in Haiti, you had a very strong earthquake next to the capitol city and it crumbled millions of concrete structures.” 
Essentially the medical infrastructure in Haiti had to be rebuilt.  Eric’s job was to find information about existing medical facilities and then assess which facilities were still functioning. Fortunately the Haitian Administrator of Health did keep a database of hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies—all places where people could get medical attention. “Pharmacies in Third World counties sometimes have many more services than pharmacies here in the United States,” Eric pointed out, “and in clinics, some of the clinics had beds, some didn’t have beds …  more than [what is offered  at] doctors’ offices you see here.”

Eric was able to obtain a copy of a health facility database that was five years old, which contained the locations of about 800 medical facilities across the country.  From this database Eric was able to create a GIS data layer that contained a comprehensive map of all the health facilities in Haiti. The GIS data included locational information, type of facility, damage assessment, and contact information. Such information was critical for relief efforts; since most of the government buildings were destroyed by the earthquake, a single comprehensive map or listing of health facilities didn’t exit. “There really wasn’t a functioning government for the first couple of weeks,” said Eric, “it was severely damaged.”

After the database was mapped into a GIS data layer, Eric and his colleagues started collecting information from reports on the ground such as locations of newly built field hospitals, damage assessment of existing hospitals, and so on. Such information was also added to the health facilities database to make it current and timely.

The final step was to publish the GIS data online so that relief organizations could use the information in their recovery efforts. On the last day of his detail Eric turned over the revised and updated health facilities database to the pan-american health agency for them to maintain until it could be finally returned to the Haitian government once it became fully functional again.

When asked what was most gratifying about his volunteer experience, Eric replied that he was very pleased about creating a product that the Haitian government could actually use. He and his colleagues worked very closely with Haitian officials during the crisis via conference calls. The intent was not to create a database or map products that didn’t suit their purpose. Everything was geared towards the needs of the Haitian health agency so the agency could move forward in redeveloping their healthcare  infrastructure, using the products developed and updated by Eric and his colleagues.

Eric is no stranger to volunteering. He worked as a Peace Corp volunteer in Central America in the 1980s.  Upon returning to the United States to attend college--earning a graduate degree in forestry--he also worked on international development projects in Mexico, including several habitats for humanity projects.  Eric also speaks Spanish fluently.