Birmingham’s Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve could become ground zero in an effort to save the nation’s bat populations threatened by white-nose syndrome.

Tuesday, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced more than $1.1 million in grants to combat the disease. Bat Conservation International at Ruffner is one of the grantees working to defeat the fungus behind the disease found in caves where bats hibernate.

The project dubbed “Bats to the Future Fund” is a partnership of the NFWF, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Southern Company and Avangrid Foundation.

Bat Conservation International is working with ultraviolet light and polyethylene glycol, two nontoxic agents, to fight the disease-causing fungus.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)