Millions of North American bats gradually have taken refuge in abandoned mines as humans evicted them from natural caves. By the early 1990s, thousands of occupied mines were slated for federal and state-mandated safety closures, threatening many of the continent’s largest remaining bat populations, including federally-listed threatened and endangered species. Threats to these vital bat habitats were so great that, without prompt action, even abundant species could have become endangered.

Separately, an extraordinary bat habitat, Bracken Bat Cave near San Antonio, Texas, has required extensive conservation efforts to protect this vital home to an amazing 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats, the world’s largest remaining community of the mammals. 

Bats and Mines Partnership: Under this cooperative effort, mining companies, state and federal government agencies, and local municipalities have avoided substantial but mandated mine closure costs, protected the public from safety hazards, and addressed critical habitat needs for more than a dozen bat species. The partnership prevented additional species from being federally-listed as endangered, including the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii). Listed species such as the Federally-endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) also have benefited greatly from the project.

Bracken Bat Cave: With assistance from private funding sources, the BCI purchased the Bracken Bat Cave and surrounding acreage in 1992. In 2002, working with private and public interests, BCI was a key force in protecting nearly 700 acres of land in the Edwards Aquifer and Recharge Zone, which serves as a conservation buffer zone around Bracken Cave. The BCI plans to establish a world-class interpretive center about bats on a small part of this land.