01/04/02
The Mission Blue Butterfly( Icaricia icarioides missionensis) is an endangered species of butterfly that lives in Northern California, along the coast from the Marin Headlands to Pacifica. The male is dark blue with their wings outlined in black. The female butterfly is brown-blue with occasional black spots. The wingspan of the Mission Blue Butterfly is approximately 2.5 to 3.6 inches wide. Fortunately , the Mission Blue Butterfly was announced as endangered on June 1, 1976 by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The habitat of the Mission Blue Butterfly is now restricted to a few sites in the San Bruno Mountains and Golden National Recreation area. In both areas the endangered species is being protected through habitat restoration.
There are several reasons the population is endangered. The habitat of the butterfly has been destroyed over time by construction, agricultural development and the project to retrofit the Golden Gate Bridge to make it safer for earthquakes. However, a main reason the butterfly being endangered is that the habitat of the Mission Blue Butterfly's host plant, the lupine, is threatened. The Mission Blue Butterfly needs the lupine to survive. The lupine is where the larvae of the butterfly live and the butterflies eat the lupine leaves. The amount of lupine available is less than before because the habitat has many non-native species which are hurting the growth of the lupine. These include broom, pampas and fennel, and the Monterey Pine. These plants grow quickly and because of them the lupine does not have adequate sunshine, water, and space. This threatens the butterflies because if the lupines die, then they will also. Fire also has destroyed the butterfly's habitat.
There are two examples of projects currently protecting and restoring the habitat for the Mission Blue Butterfly. One is in Marin at the Golden Gate National Park(GGNP). The other is in San Bruno. However, basically, their process for recovering the Mission Blue Butterfly is very similar.
According to the GGNP service, the Restoration project for the endangered Mission blue butterfly usually involves actively removing non-native plants which threaten to crowd-out or shade- out the host plant of the butterfly, the silver lupine. The rangers remove the non-native plants. They do this in a way that does not hurt the habitat. For example, they do not use heavy machinery. They reuse what they cut down in other ways. After removing the non-native trees, there is space for the lupine to grow. And then the mission blue butterfly can live successfully there.
In the San Bruno Mountains, one of the main habitats of the Mission Blue Butterfly, the restoration project is under the Habitat Conservation Plan(HCP). This was the first HCP in the country. HCP's can be a useful process when considering new land development, and other construction that might effect the habitat of endangered species. So when the HCP in the San Bruno Mountains allowed landowners to build in the Mission Blue Butterfly's habitat, they required money to be paid by the landowners to create a new habitat for the butterfly close by. According to Paul Reeber, a botanist, "The idea of trading habitat is scientifically flawed and very dangerous."(Rasa Gustaitis,3) However, others consider the HCP a positive step. According to Koberuns, an ecologist "the HCP has achieved its primary goal by finding a permanent source of funding for alien species removal. Without that money, he says, dozens of invasive plants-including fennel, broom, eucalyptus, and gorse-would have overwhelmed the butterfly habitat." (Rasa Gastaitis,3)
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area(GGNRA) and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District(GGBHTD) are working on a similar project in the national park area. They are protecting the habitat from further damage and restoring the habitat, as well. Because work was to be conducted on the Golden Gate Bridge that would effect the Mission Blue Butterfly's habitat there, they relocated the habitat to the park area. To protect this habitat, a park ranger at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center explains that they recently cut 175 trees in order to help restore the lupine. The trees were making it difficult for the lupine to grow. After the trees and other non-native plants have been successfully removed, the rangers will replant native plant species, especially the silver-leafed lupine. She did not believe there had been an increase in the number of butterflies yet, as it is too early for the project to have this effect.
The GGNRA and the San Bruno (HCP) are in the process of restoring and protecting the Mission Blue Butterfly habitat. In order to continue this work for long term, volunteers will help replant native plants and maintain the habitat. According to the GGNRA, It is only with constant protection and obligation that this area will be restored as a main habitat for the endangered Mission Blue Butterfly.
Relies on Habitat Protected by Golden Gate National Recreation Area.” National Park v72 No. ½, January/February,p38.