Program Overview

BCI volunteer Emily Lawson helps clear a passage from Abe's Room in Saltpetre Cave, Kentucky, to the surface to improve airflow.

The Imperiled Species Program works with federal, state, local and private organizations in team-based efforts to conserve, protect, enhance and restore habitat that is crucial to the recovery of Threatened and Endangered species and the health of other rare species.

The program emphasizes re-discovery, protection, enhancement, restoration and proactive management of roosting and foraging habitats critical to the recovery of federally threatened and endangered species and the maintenance of healthy populations of other rare-bat species in North America.

Program Goals
Our goal is to delist bat species and subspecies from the Federal Endangered Species list and to conserve healthy populations of other rare species.

Program Objectives

• Conservation, protection, enhancement and restoration of cave and mine habitats across North America.



• Increase public awareness and improve habitat management through workshops, symposia, educational materials and outreach programs.



• Support targeted research to refine management, conservation and habitat restoration actions.

Geographic Area
We work in major forest, mountain, desert, and karst ecoregions, primarily in North America. We seek to expand this program internationally, while retaining a strong focus on North American imperiled species. 

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