Mysterious Bat Disease Is Spreading

On March 9, 2010, Senator Leahy attended a Senate hearing with Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar. At the hearing, Leahy warned Secretary Salazar that a rapidly spreading bat pandemic continues unchecked and could be on the verge of sweeping across the country. White Nose Syndrome, which was first found in bats in the Northeast, has wiped out millions of bats and was found for the first time last month in Tennessee. Leahy also questioned the Secretary on the Eagle Point property in Derby, Vermont. The 480-acre parcel of land is coming up on a September deadline for the Interior Department to accept the land as a gift from the estate of the late Michael Dunn.