[Pollinator] Wings Across the Americas 2012 Butterfly Conservation Award

[Matthew Shepherd]

National Forest Service Wings Across the Americas 2012 Butterfly
Conservation Award goes to the Mardon Skipper Work Group

 

Personnel from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Xerces
Society for Invertebrate Conservation share the honor. 

 

The Interagency Mardon Skipper Work Group, facilitated by Interagency
Special Status and Sensitive Species Program (ISSSSP) personnel, was awarded
the National Forest Service Wings Across the Americas 2012 Butterfly
Conservation Award at an award ceremony in Atlanta Georgia on March 14. 

            The work group was formed in 2005 because of concern about the
survival of the mardon skipper (Polites mardon), a small brown butterfly
that is only found on a number of meadows scattered from the mountains of
northern California to the lowlands of Washington's Puget Sound. The goal of
the work group was to learn about conservation gaps regarding this federal
candidate species and to determine what it would take-both in terms of
personnel and funding-to address them across the entire range of the
species. The Group has evolved over the years to include representation from
many other entities including the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and most recently, National
Park Service and U.S. Forest Service from California. In addition to
creating strong interagency cohesion aimed at species conservation, the work
group worked extensively with many partners including the Xerces Society for
Invertebrate Conservation.

As a first step the work group produced a range-wide conservation assessment
that detailed survey and research priorities. Extensive surveys undertaken
by the group have discovered previously overlooked mardon skipper
populations and research completed has helped to understand how management
may impact the species. This new knowledge has been used to develop site
management plans for most southern Oregon sites, as a result of which
extensive restoration actions are being implemented. The work group is
moving ahead to develop and implement management plans for most sites across
the skipper's range.

The efforts of the work group have led to increased protection for
populations of the mardon skipper. A significant outcome has been the
lowering of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing priority for this
species from a 3 to an 8. The mardon skipper now faces a more secure future.


 

The National Forest Service Wings Across the Americas 2012 Butterfly
Conservation Award recognizes the accomplishments of the Interagency Work
Group in the conservation of this rare species. Award recipients include:

Kelli Van Norman, US Forest Service Region 6 Regional Office/BLM Oregon
State Office; 

Rob Huff, US Forest Service Region 6 Regional Office/BLM Oregon State
Office; 

Holly Witt, Coos Bay BLM, (now with the Rogue-River/Siskiyou National
Forest); 

Carole Jorgensen, Medford BLM (now with the U.S. Forest Service, Alaska); 

Tony Kerwin, Medford BLM; 

Steve Godwin, Medford BLM; 

Mitch Wainwright, Gifford Pinchot National Forest; 

Carol Chandler, Gifford Pinchot National Forest; 

Ruby Seitz, Willamette National Forest; 

Joan St. Hilare, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest; 

Vince Harke, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Lacey WA;

Ann Potter, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; and

Scott Hoffman Black, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

 

For more information about the ISSSSP, go to: 

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/species-index/fauna-invertebrates.shtml

 

For details about the mardon skipper, go to:

http://www.xerces.org/mardon-skipper/

 

For more about the Xerces Society and its endangered species program, visit
http://www.xerces.org/ 

 

 

________

 

Matthew Shepherd

Senior Conservation Associate

 

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

628 NE Broadway, Ste 200, Portland, OR 97232-1324, USA

 <mailto:mdshepherd at xerces.org> mdshepherd at xerces.org 

Tel: (503) 232-6639 ext. 110

Toll free: 1-855-232 6639 ext. 110

Cell: (503) 807-1577

Fax: (503) 233-6794

 

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

 

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

 

Do you have a copy of our best selling book?

 
<http://www.xerces.org/announcing-the-publication-of-attracting-native-polli
nators/> Attracting Native Pollinators. Protecting North America's Bees and
Butterflies

 

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