Rare Butterfly May Tie Up Land

A rare butterfly could restrict what residents of Clatsop Plains can do with their land.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy recommend an 800- to 1,000-acre strip be preserved as habitat for the Oregon silverspot butterfly, a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The recommendation could mean landowners may not build on their land.

Clatsop County land-use officials hope to give property owners other options.

One could be transferable development rights in which property owners “sell” the development rights they would have had on their protected land to someone else for use elsewhere.

Curt Schneider, the county’s planning director, says it would protect the butterfly and landowners would get compensation.