Indiana Statewide Bat Conservation Bank

On August 24, 2021, RES received formal approval from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the first endangered bat species conservation bank in Indiana. The Indiana Statewide Bat Conservation Bank (ISBCB) is the first habitat bank in the country to use the protection and restoration of swarming habitat for a federally endangered bat species to generate credits, providing a new option to offset impacts to Indiana Bats.

The ISBCB includes more than 200 acres of high-quality habitat protection and restoration areas in a Priority I hibernaculum and provides staging/swarming habitat for the Indiana bat. The development of the Bank assures that this habitat, which Indiana bats rely on for feeding before entering hibernation and spring migration, will be protected in perpetuity to help preserve this species.

The ISBCB has over 1,200 credits available for project proponents across the state of Indiana.