The Kentucky Division of Forestry has signed an agreement with federal officials that will help protect the endangered Indiana bat.

The Courier-Journal reports the conservation memorandum of agreement aims to aid the survival and recovery of the creature through actions such as improving its habitat, focusing land purchases on areas where the bat is known to live and maintaining current habitat in state forests.

Lee Andrews, who supervises the Kentucky Field Office for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says the agreement will assure that state forest lands will be managed in a way that is beneficial to the bat.

Indiana bats have been encountered in five of the state's 10 forests — Big Rivers, Green River, Kentenia, Kentucky Ridge, and Tygarts State Forests.