SCIENCE BRIEFING
The U.S. Forest Service is preparing to close thousands of caves and former mines across the eastern United States to control a bat-killing fungus.
Forest Service biologist Becky Ewing said caves from New England to West Virginia were closed last week, and an order for Southeastern states will be issued soon.
The caves will be closed for a year as wildlife biologists try to get a handle on a fungus that has been linked to the deaths of 500,000 bats.
The decision to close the caves came after the fungus was reported near large populations of endangered bats.
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