MONT ALTO, Pa. — The Penn State Mont Alto Forestry Club will host Ryan Davis, forests program manager for the Alliance of the Chesapeake Bay, for a talk titled “Forests for Bats” from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the General Studies Building Auditorium on campus. The event is open to the public and free of charge.
Davis works to improve the quantity and quality of forest cover in Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland, using innovative programs for private lands, and Forests for the Bay, an outreach initiative that strives to educate citizens about the potential of forest health.
While bats are typically associated with caves, attics and Halloween, all 15 of the bat species within the Chesapeake Bay watershed use forest habitat for breeding, foraging and shelter, according to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay's website.
Bats are important members of the forest ecosystems, helping to control insect pests that destroy agricultural crops and harvestable timber. Davis will describe the plight of American bat species and provide easy steps landowners can take to improve their properties to meet bats' habitat needs.
This event is sponsored by the Penn State Mont Alto Forestry Club and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
For more information about the event, contact Debra Collins, director of public relations and marketing, at dlc43@psu.edu or 717-749-6112.