The Service made the determination after reviewing a petition filed by the Southwest Center for Biodiversity in January 1999, asking the Service to list the species as endangered. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Service is required to review petitions to decide whether they contain substantial information supporting a full review of the species.
"The determination to conduct the full review is the first step in the process," said Nancy Kaufman, the Services regional director of the Southwest Region. "Weve found the petition contains enough information to warrant a more comprehensive look at the species. Our review will include all available information, not just what was in the petition, including information submitted by other government agencies, scientists, and the public.
The Service is inviting the public to provide any additional scientific information on the species or its habitat. Additional information should be post-marked by February 24, 2000 and mailed to: Field Supervisor, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (SMCB), 2105 Osuna NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113.
Once the review is completed, the Service will determine whether to propose the butterfly for listing. The public will have an opportunity to comment on any proposal.
The butterfly has a wingspan of about an inch and its wings are checkered with dark brown, red, orange, white and black spots and lines. Larvae feed on New Mexico penstemon. The species is only known from the vicinity of the Village of Cloudcroft in Otero County, New Mexico. It inhabits mountain meadows and other non-forested openings within mixed-conifer forests between 8,000 and 9,000 feet in elevation.
The petitioner cited several threats to the species, including a proposed land transfer between the Forest Service and the Village of Cloudcroft, residential development, invasive exotic plants, overgrazing by livestock and global climatic change. Biologists are also concerned about the impact of butterfly collection.
The Forest Service has removed three of the eight parcels from consideration in the proposed land transfer to Cloudcroft because they contain high numbers of butterflies. The butterflies have also been observed in three of the five parcels that are still part of the proposed land transfer.
Rare butterflies, such as the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot, are highly prized by some insect collectors. To assist in the protection of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly, the Forest Service banned collecting of all butterflies in portions of the Lincoln National Forest for a period of one year.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management assistance offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
