[Pollinator] Settlement reached in rare butterfly case

[Scott Black]

LAS CRUCES SUN NEWS

(Also in the Alamogordo Daily News)

http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_8935618

Settlement reached in rare butterfly case

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 04/15/2008 05:33:26 PM MDT


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.­A settlement reached by the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 
environmentalists requires the agency to take the 
first step in determining whether a rare 
butterfly found only in southern New Mexico 
deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act.

WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological 
Diversity sued the federal government in January 
in federal court in Washington, D.C., to force 
the agency to make a decision on the Sacramento 
Mountains checkerspot butterfly­which the federal 
government previously proposed as an endangered species.

The 2-inch butterfly exists only on about 2,000 
acres in high-elevation meadows in the mountains 
near the Sacramento Mountain village of 
Cloudcroft. The groups contend the butterfly is 
being threatened by climate change, insecticides, 
development, off-roading and livestock grazing.

"There's a lot of stress that this butterfly 
faces despite the fact that it does occupy such a 
small corner of the earth," Nicole Rosmarino, 
wildlife program director for WildEarth 
Guardians, said Tuesday. "This butterfly is 
perched on the brink of extinction."
Under the settlement, the Fish and Wildlife 
Service has until late November to review a 
petition filed by the groups that seeks listing 
of the subspecies as either endangered or 
threatened, said Elizabeth Slown, a spokeswoman 
for the agency's regional office in Albuquerque.

If the agency determines the petition is valid, 
it will have until August 2009 to study the 
butterfly and decide whether it should be protected.

Noah Greenwald, a biologist with the Center for 
Biological Diversity, said the settlement means 
the butterfly will get another chance at federal 
protection. The Fish and Wildlife Service in 
September 2001 had proposed listing the butterfly 
as endangered, but he said the agency never 
finalized that decision and withdrew it in December 2004.

The agency said at the time that threats were 
diminishing and the butterfly didn't need 
endangered species protection. But the groups 
renewed their push last summer after the Forest 
Service and the village of Cloudcroft approved 
plans to spray a chemical over thousands of acres 
to combat an infestation of looper caterpillars.

"Even though the Forest Service and the village 
backed off and agreed to spray later, it just 
really highlighted to us that this species is 
clearly imperiled and does need protection," Greenwald said.

Slown said the fact that the butterfly has been 
through the review process before will help 
biologists as they consider the groups' most recent petition.

The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly is 
one of many across the nation that are facing 
threats to their survival, said Scott Hoffman 
Black, executive director of the Xerces Society 
for Invertebrate Conservation in Portland, Ore. 
In fact, the group has 54 butterflies ranging 
from Oregon to North Dakota that are on its "red list."

Black admitted that butterflies are small and 
often overlooked, but he said the role they play 
in the ecosystem is much bigger than their size.

"Many of them pollinate plants, and without our 
pollinators­including butterflies and bees­we're 
not going to have all of the fruits on the plants 
that feed all of the birds and the mammals. 
They're really the backbone of these ecosystems," he said.

Black said one key to ensuring the survival of 
imperiled butterflies is cooperation with land 
managers, including federal agencies, local governments and private landowners.




*************************
Scott Hoffman Black
Ecologist/Entomologist
Executive Director
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
4828 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97215
Direct line (503) 449-3792
sblack at xerces.org

The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit 
organization that protects wildlife through the 
conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.

To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work,
please visit <http://www.xerces.org/>www.xerces.org.


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