Whereas bats are vital to the sustainability of natural ecosystems, national economies, and human health by controlling damaging insect pests, pollinating plants, such as fruits and vegetables, and dispersing seeds to ensure healthy functioning ecosystems, and research suggests that bats could save the United States farmers more than $3,000,000,000 in pest control every year; Whereas bats have captured the human imagination through backyard sightings, folklore, myths, and legends, and outreach and education efforts about the importance of bats are instrumental to their existence; Whereas bats are present throughout this world, except in extremely cold regions, and are the second-largest order of mammals, with about 1,300 species; Whereas a deadly fungus causing white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed millions of bats in North America, has now spread to 36 States; Whereas the disease has been confirmed in 11 species of hibernating bats in the United States, and is the primary cause for the significant decline in populations of several bat species, especially the tri-colored bat, the little brown bat, and the federally designated as threatened northern long-eared bat; Whereas the Department of the Interior’s participation through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Geological Survey, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management, is leading the international response to the disease in partnership with more than 100 Federal agencies, States, Tribes, nongovernmental organizations, and universities; Whereas the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has entered into an agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to establish a Bats for the Future Fund to raise private funds to curtail the spread of white-nose syndrome and speed the recovery of bat populations