For construction to move forward on the Rockies Express Pipeline, about two dozen surveys of the thumb-sized bat's habitat must be completed, The Indianapolis Star reported Monday.

The Indiana bat population has declined nearly 60 percent since it was listed as endangered in 1967, the newspaper reported.

"If it's a highway or a pipeline, it doesn't matter," said Rob Mies, director of Organization for Bat Conservation in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "When their habitat is taken away, your chances of those bats finding a new place are slim."

The Indiana bat is just one of 149 environmental issues the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has placed on the pipeline before final approval.

Officials for the pipeline say the project will tap into supply-rich areas in Colorado and Wyoming.

"It's important that as we try to rely more on clean sources of energy, this natural gas pipeline will transport natural gas from where it's plentiful throughout the country, including Indiana," said Allen Fore, a spokesman for Rockies Express Pipeline.