With a 99% decline in Pa. bat populations, this local nursery is working to enhance conservation efforts By Marley Parish. November 15, 2019 7:31 AM.

Jason Benner, left, and Mark Kline work on boxes for bat habitat Feb. 10, 2022, at the Howard Nursery in Centre County. The boxes are placed in wilderness areas for bats to occupy.

The nursery generates about 1.5 million tree seedlings in the fields, and about 1 million go out across the state each spring. Some of the trees take longer to grow.

Most female bats use buildings as nurseries where they raise their young during the summer. Few people understand, or even care, what an important role bats play in our ecosystem.

"[Pa. Bat Rescue is] one of the larger bat rehabilitation centers in the Northeast. We take in over 300 bats a year, and our goal is to release them," said Stronsick.