The National Park Service announced in September that the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats was found at San Juan Island National Historical Park in Washington and on bat droppings at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in Oregon. Both the fungus and the disease, however, have been in Washington for nearly a decade.

“We’ve had white-nose syndrome in Washington since 2016,” said Abigail Tobin, white-nose syndrome coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.

White-nose syndrome is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans and is responsible for the deaths of about 7 million bats across North America since 2006. The fungus has been found in 22 counties, including Clark County, and white-nose syndrome has been identified in 10 counties.

Tobin said

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