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12/22/2008: "Butterfly In Trouble Without Safety Net"

(the Island Marble butterfly photo by Robert M. Pyle)

The island marble butterfly lives on San Juan and Lopez, but it faces multiple threats from development, road maintenance, invasive plants and severe weather events. Can more be done to protect it? Yes says the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

In 2006 a “Parks Service Accused of Destroying Rare Butterfly Habitat” story stated the mismanagement of its habitat at San Juan Island National Historical Park American Camp, where the only known viable populations reside, is the biggest current threat to the butterfly

Concern remains how a butterfly found on San Juan and Lopez can continue to languish without a protection net, even though it may be on the brink of extinction.

This butterfly historically lived along coastal grasslands and adjacent prairies in British Columbia on the Gabriola and Vancouver Islands, and on the San Juan Islands. It was thought to have gone extinct in the early 1900s, but was rediscovered in 1998 on San Juan Island.



The island marble feeds on field mustard and tumble mustard and is dependent on coastal habitat and the adjacent prairies on San Juan Island and Lopez Island.

A new report lists the island marble as one of ten species that have been named the most in-need of protection under the Endangered Species Act. With a population of less than 2,000 individuals and multiple threats to its survival the island marble is one of the most imperiled butterflies in the U.S.

The butterfly is protected , but not on the endangered species list.

"It is extremely clear that this butterfly deserves Endangered Species Act protection," said Scott Hoffman Black, Executive Director of the Xerces Society. "We are very disappointed that politics interfered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to protect this rare butterfly."

In 2006, Fish and Wildlife Service issued a positive 90-day finding, indicating that listing for the butterfly may be warranted and initiated a listing determination process. The review was conducted as the result of a petition submitted by the Xerces Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the San Juans, and Conservation Northwest.

In conversations with the Xerces Society during the review process, Fish and Wildlife Service biologists stated that the butterfly met all of the criteria for listing. However, in September 2006, the same biologists said they were no longer allowed to discuss the listing. In November the Service denied protection to the island marble butterfly without legal or scientific justification.

"The island marble and dozens of other species have been denied the protection they deserve by the federal government," said Noah Greenwald, Biodiversity Program Director for the Center for Biological Diversity. "We look forward to an administration that cares about scientific integrity and wildlife."

The current Bush Administration, has protected the fewest species of any administration since the law was passed, to date only protecting 62 species, compared to 522 under the Clinton Administration and 231 under the senior Bush Administration. All of the 62 species protected by the Bush administration were done so under one or more court orders.