(Washington, DC)  --  U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Concord) said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has agreed to expedite the scheduling of a meeting to discuss the Indiana bat situation at Lakeside High School, and promised to have an answer Monday about conducting additional bat surveys at the 123-acre site in Saybrook Township.

 LaTourette said the meeting will be held at noon Monday at the school site.

 “I was pleased with the responsiveness of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and we should have a better handle on Monday about whether work can proceed at the school site,” LaTourette said.  “I made the case that holding up this project until the fall could be catastrophic in terms of costs, and we need to have a better grasp of where this bat lives.”

 LaTourette said Fish and Wildlife officials conveyed to him that they are primarily concerned with locating the maternal roosting colony of the pregnant Indiana bat, an endangered species.  The colony will likely be found within a few miles of where the endangered bat was found foraging.  Officials were unable to tag the pregnant bat with a transmitter due to health concerns.

 “My hope is that they find a maternal colony far from the site, but I also realize it’s going to be tough to find that colony if we don’t do additional bat surveys,” LaTourette said.  “My hope is by Monday we’ll have an answer on additional surveys so we can find a healthy female bat that will lead us to the colony.”

 LaTourette said the district will still need to obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction on the site, and that permit was conditioned on a clean bat survey.   Fish and Wildlife does not have regulatory authority to prevent construction on the site, LaTourette said.