On November 30, 2022, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a final rule reclassifying the northern long-eared bat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), uplisting the bat from “threatened” to “endangered” status (see 87 FR 73488). The rule becomes effective on January 30, 2023. This reclassification will impact entities engaged in large construction projects and other developments across the U.S. — especially those that require tree removal.Environmental groups have long sought to reclassify the northern long-eared bat due to the impact of white-nose syndrome — a fungal disease that the FWS states has caused declines of 97% to 100% in affected bat populations. Environmental groups eventually challenged the FWS’s decision to list the bat as “threatened” rather than “endangered” in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In 2020, the court held that the FWS had relied on faulty data in making its initial listing decision and remanded the decision to the agency for a do-over (see Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Everson, 435 F. Supp. 3d 69 (D.D.C. 2020)).Now, the FWS has concluded that the northern long-eared bat is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range — whic