|
 The
Karner blue butterfly habitat conservation plan is the first state-wide
habitat conservation plan developed in the nation.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources led the
effort to develop this state-wide habitat conservation plan, in cooperation
with a diverse group of 26 partners, including major forestry stakeholders,
conservation organizations, county forests, utility companies, private
landowners, and the Wisconsin Departments of Agriculture and Transportation.
The Karner blue butterfly requires that its habitat
be disturbed periodically. This makes it a good species for a habitat
conservation plan, since landowners can manage their activities in
ways that benefit the species by disturbing its habitat in specified
ways.
The habitat conservation plan is one of the first true
landscape-wide habitat plans for an endangered species. Lands supporting
the Karner blue butterfly include utility rights-of-way, abandoned
agricultural fields, managed forest lands, military training areas
and bombing ranges, and managed and un-managed barrens, savannas,
and prairie areas that support wild lupine plants. The plan will ensure
the continued existence of the Karner blue butterfly on more than
260,000 acres of land in Wisconsin.
Partners in the habitat conservation plan have voluntarily
entered into legally binding species and habitat conservation agreements
with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The 26 partners will conduct education programs to
encourage private landowners to participate in the conservation of
the Karner blue butterfly throughout Wisconsin on a voluntary basis.
Conservation efforts by private landowners will be
optional.
Any loss of the Karner blue butterfly is expected to
be offset by the conservation activities on lands owned and managed
by the Wisconsin DNR and the partner groups and by the voluntary conservation
efforts of private landowners. The partners have agreed to more rigorous
conservation efforts and alternative management regimes should the
species need them in the future.
Links
to more information
Habitat Conservation
Plans and the Endangered Species Act
HCP database
Karner Blue Butterfly - information on this
website
Questions and Answers about the Karner
Blue Butterfly Habitat Conservation Plan
Wisconsin DNR's
Karner Blue Butterfly HCP
Updated
September 1999
Back
Home |
