Butterfly won’t get federal protection

SEATTLE – The Island Marble butterfly, a recently rediscovered species thought to have been extinct for more than 90 years, will not be added to the federal list of threatened and endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday.

Environmental groups that had sought protection for the butterfly condemned the move.

The decision followed a 12-month status review, the agency said. It concluded the species does not warrant listing because threats to its survival are not as great as previously thought. Also, the National Park Service, the primary landowner of Island Marble habitat, is moving to protect the insect.

“The Park Service efforts, and actions taken by private landowners, have reduced the threats to the species,” said Ren Lohoefener, director of the service’s Pacific region.

Protection for the butterfly under the Endangered Species Act was sought in 2002 by the Xerces Society, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the San Juans and the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance.

“We are highly disappointed by this decision,” said Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the Xerces Society. “There are less than a thousand Island Marble butterflies left and there are multiple threats that could lead to their extinction. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the failure of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take protective actions for this rare butterfly.”