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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Today, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced that the <a href="http://www.xerces.org/island-marble/" target="_blank">island marble butterfly</a> (<i>Euchloe ausonides insulanus</i>) is in danger of extinction but that protection under the Endangered Species Act is “precluded by higher priority listing actions.” The Service declined to grant this butterfly protection through an emergency listing process, as requested in a <a href="http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/island-marble-petition.pdf" target="_blank">2012 petition filed by the Xerces Society</a>, despite recognizing that there is only one remaining population of the island marble butterfly. Rather, this species was placed on a list of candidate species, which do not receive any of the same protections as ESA listed species.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Sarina Jepsen, endangered species program director, said, “We are very disappointed that the protection of the island marble has not been prioritized. This is perhaps the most endangered species I’ve ever worked with. After a decade of falling numbers, this butterfly survives at only one site—and yet our public agency that is responsible for safeguarding wildlife has failed to recognize the urgency of this species’ situation.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Read more on our blog, <a href="http://www.xerces.org/blog/island-marble-butterfly-slipping-towards-extinction/">http://www.xerces.org/blog/island-marble-butterfly-slipping-towards-extinction/</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Matthew</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">________</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Matthew Shepherd</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Communications Director</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"><img border="0" width="128" height="48" id="yiv7410395064_x005f_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D18F22.C6E17760" alt="Xerces-logo-CMYK-email_Outlook"></span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Protecting the Life that Sustains Us</span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Stay in touch</span><span style="color:#1f497d">: </span><b><span style="color:#67cfe3"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#67cfe3">xerces.org</span></a></span></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><u><span style="color:#21ae49"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/blog/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#21ae49">Xerces blog</span></a></span></u></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><span style="color:#acc37e"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/enewsletters/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#acc37e">E-newsletter</span></a></span></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><span style="color:#007298"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Xerces-Society/193182577358618" target="_blank"><span style="color:#007298">Facebook</span></a></span></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><span style="color:black"><a href="https://twitter.com/xerces_society" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">Twitter</span></a></span></b><span style="color:black"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">628 NE Broadway, Ste 200, Portland, OR 97232-1324, USA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Tel: (503) 232-6639 ext. 110; Toll free: 1-855-232 6639 ext. 110; Cell: (503) 807-1577</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#0070c0"><a href="mailto:matthew.shepherd@xerces.org"><span style="color:blue">matthew.shepherd@xerces.org</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></body></html>