USFWS Assistant Field Supervisor Joyce Collins provides remarks at the Unimin Award Ceremony. USFWS Photo.

USFWS Director Dale Hall congratulates Unimin Corporation on receiving the Service's Corporate Wildlife Stewardship Award. USFWS Photo.

USFWS Director Dale Hall presents Unimin Corporation - Tamms-Elco Facility with the Corporate Wildlife Stewardship Award Citation. USFWS Photo.

USFWS Director Dale Hall presents Unimin Corporation Tamms-Elco Facility with the Director's 2007 Corporate Wildlife Stewardship Award. USFWS Photo.

On November 15, 2007, Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall recognized Unimin Corporation – Tamms/Elco Facility with the Service’s Corporate Wildlife Stewardship Award.  Since the mid-1990’s, Marion, Illinois Ecological Service’s Sub-Office (MISO) staff has been working with Unimin Corporation to protect endangered Indiana bats hibernating in abandoned silica mines.  The most important of these abandoned mines is Magazine Mine.

Indiana bats were found in Magazine Mine in the 1990s, and by 1999, there were 9,000 Indiana bats using the mine as a hibernating site.  By 2001, the number had grown to more than 14,000 bats, a 61 percent increase.  That same year, the entrance of the mine began to give way, threatening ideal airflow and temperature conditions.  Many, if not most, companies would have stuck out the “No Trespassing” sign in hopes that both the bats and the biologists would just go away.  But Unimin put out the welcome mat, and with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Bat Conservation International (BCI), worked out a plan to fix the entrance. 

Unimin worked with the IDNR, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC), Wildlife Forever, and BCI to reinforce the entry so that airflow and temperature would be maintained.  They gated the entrance so that bats could continue to access the mine, but humans could not disturb the hibernating bats.  Unimin provided resources – technical advice, equipment, and people. 

Today, that mine supports 33,000 endangered Indiana bats.  It is among only 23 Priority 1 hibernating sites for this species across its wide range, making a significant contribution to recovery of the Indiana bat. 

Unimin’s work to conserve endangered bats did not stop at the entrance to Magazine Mine.  In three other abandoned mines Unimin has partnered with state and federal agencies to ensure conditions are maintained or improved to help bats.  These efforts have secured hibernating habitat for more than 3,500 wintering Indiana bats, and several thousand Indiana bats using the mine during summer months.

Unimin’s work to conserve wildlife goes beyond the Indiana bat.  The Tamms/Elco facility is located on 2,000 acres in southern Illinois.  Of this, 1,950 acres of habitat is managed for a wide variety of wildlife species including migratory birds, pollinators and the under-appreciated timber rattlesnake.  This area is certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council.  This certification recognizes wildlife habitat management and environmental education programs and adds value to programs by providing third-party credibility and an objective evaluation of projects.

Through the Corporate Lands for Learning Program, Unimin’s Tamms/Elco Facility works in partnership with SIUC.  Undergraduate and graduate students regularly visit Unimin’s habitats for educational and research purposes.  In FY 2008, MISO staff participated in an educational program for mammalogy students from SIUC and Ball State University.